John,

Today is National Black Giving Day to support Black-led organizations, which are often underfunded and get only 1-2% of philanthropic funding.¹ We must correct this disparity, as part of the urgent work to close the still-growing racial wealth gap between white and Black communities.

I want to lift up the Detroit Justice Center, a Black-led non-profit law firm that’s a national leader in transforming our unjust criminal legal system. They’ve won meaningful policy changes, including securing our right to protest.

Detroit Justice Center uplifts the unique needs of formerly and currently incarcerated people, and has helped shape policies I have introduced in Congress to end mass incarceration and bring about housing justice.

They’ve represented 10,000 clients, including people caught up in the legal system due to poverty, people struggling to keep their water on and stay in their homes, and anti-war student protesters who’ve been targeted because of their advocacy for Palestinian liberation. Their work is urgently needed as those in power increase political repression and aggressive law enforcement.

Last month, Detroit Justice Center got a notification that an environmental justice grant they applied for was unlawfully terminated by the current administration. As the administration targets funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Detroit Justice Center is also facing a downturn in philanthropic support for racial justice work. We need to counter these attacks by the Trump administration with thousands of grassroots donations.

For National Black Giving Day, will you donate now to support Detroit Justice Center and build the movement for Black liberation?

Photo of me with Detroit Justice Center Community Legal Advocate Sonja Bonnet, after she spoke at a rally about the struggle Black Detroiters face with illegal tax foreclosures.

Together, we’ve rallied and educated local residents on alternatives to incarceration—and each year Detroit Justice Center educates the next generation of freedom fighters at our Youth Civic Engagement Fellowship.

Detroit Justice Center has won fights to secure our right to protest and to expand criminal record expungement opportunities. They’re providing urgent legal services to keep clients out of jail—through helping pay off people’s court debt, reinstating licenses, and removing obstacles such as warrants for unpaid fees.

They’re also reuniting families involved in the criminal legal system, and keeping people in their homes by assisting in eviction cases and helping people keep their water on.  

Detroit Justice Center’s initiatives include shifting funds out of policing and increasing investment in non-carceral solutions, training residents on how to mediate harm without relying on police (also known as restorative justice), and helping people imagine a world without prisons or police.

They envision a “future where every life is valued equally,” including “affordable and safe housing for all.”² As part of that vision, Detroit Justice Center pushes for economic self-determination, providing legal support to:

• Community land trusts, which allow residents to own land and decide what development looks like in their neighborhoods so they don’t get pushed out.

• Worker-owned cooperatives, where all members get an equal share of profits and an equal voice in how things run.

• Returning citizens who are pursuing dreams of entrepreneurship.

As Detroit Justice Center explains on their website: “We help establish new ways of organizing society… Resistance, in its most potent form, is not only clear about what it is against, but also specific in what it is aiming for. …We’re actively building up new structures defined by democracy and dignity.”³

The group has established six community land trusts for community-owned affordable housing in majority-Black Detroit, and helped establish 12 worker-owned cooperatives that are BIPOC* woman-led—including a childcare collective, green grocer, and mobile wellness hub. They’re sharing these models with groups building solidarity economies around the country.

Please chip in today to fund Detroit Justice Center’s life-giving work for justice and equity for all.

Thank you,

Rashida

P.S. Whether or not you can donate, you can also support Detroit Justice Center by forwarding this email to your friends and asking them if they can chip in, or by following and sharing posts from Detroit Justice Center on Instagram or Facebook.

*BIPOC means Black, Indigenous, and people of color

¹ Why Give Black?
² DJC Client Goes from Being Unhoused to First-Time Homeowner
³ Commemorating Black August and the Ongoing Fight for Freedom