How We Move Forward as a City and a Nation

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Like most of the country, we are reflecting on the results from Tuesday's elections. How far have we come since last November? What is the work ahead?

It is easy to lose hope.

In suburban communities across the country, parents have been weaponized to fight critical race theory ([link removed]) and LGBTQ-friendly books from the school curriculum, to decry accommodations for transgender students, and to ridicule vaccine and mask mandates. In the South, voting protections are being fundamentally gutted, putting vulnerable communities even more at risk.

In the face of this struggle, I want to lift some of the work that my NCLEJ colleagues have been doing over these long months:
* In North Brooklyn, the United States Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s actions ([link removed]) in approving National Grid’s North Brooklyn natural gas pipeline, following a federal civil rights complaint that we filed in August alleging that the pipeline discriminated against communities of color.
* As winter nears, thousands of Louisiana residents continue to struggle to access unemployment insurance due to the state’s failure to prioritize and address refusals in the system. NCLEJ continues to advocate for Louisiana residents ([link removed]) to access these essential benefits by having filed opposition to the state’s second attempt to have our May lawsuit tossed out of court.
* And on the advocacy front, we are pushing back against work requirements that are being introduced to the monumental expanded Child Tax Credit. ([link removed])

The more we look, the more we are reminded: democracy is a verb, an action that must be nurtured and reinforced every single day, in every town and every state, when things are going well and especially, when there is so much at stake.

Frontline communities are at the heart of this work. Frontline communities will continue to organize and protest and hold elected officials accountable regardless of who is in office. At NCLEJ, we are proud to be in partnership with frontline communities and we will continue taking direction as we put forward our advocacy and litigation strategies.
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ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING & SUMMER INTERNS.
We are committed to building a pipeline of dynamic and diverse movement lawyers who are pushing for economic and racial justice change from Missouri to Buffalo. Visit our website ([link removed]) to see postings for spring and summer internships.

SAVE THE DATE: NCLEJ Catalyst Awards: A  Celebration of Changemakers ([link removed])
The virtual event will take place on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at 7 PM ET. The 60-minute livestream fundraiser will feature a dynamic celebration of thought-leaders, including our incredible partners advancing community-centered solutions to public safety in Buffalo. Our star-studded evening will showcase that there is joy in justice-making.
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