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Color of Change is a grassroots organization that aims to strengthen the political voice of black America. It was formed after the events of Hurricane Katrina, a powerful storm that devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast. Color of Change is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation that engages in lobbying and public education. Color Of Change PAC is a Political Action Committee registered with the Federal Elections Commission.

Background [link]

Color of Change was co-founded in 2005 by James Rucker and Van Jones. Rucker had previously been Director of Grassroots Mobilization for MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action (2003–2005). Van Jones is the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and was executive director at the time.^[1] Van Jones left the organization several years later to move on to other pursuits, such as Green For All.^[2] Rashad Robinson is the Executive Director of Color of Change, having joined the organization in May 2011.

Color of Change emerged in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, creating campaigns to help the hurricane's survivors. Color of Change was a leading advocate of the Jena Six, helping that cause gain increased media, national, and international attention.

Color of Change utilizes the Internet, and specifically e-mail, as its main conduit for communicating with its members. Web 2.0 developments such as social networking sites also contributed to the organization's scope and public impact, particularly in the case of the Jena Six.^[3] Rucker attributes the viral-nature of e-communications with helping promote the case of the Jena Six, and sees the Internet as a powerful resource for activists looking to garner attention for causes.^[4] The Democratic Strategist also noted that major blogs and supposedly liberal media outlets were largely silent on the case of the Jena Six,^[5] while The Cornell Daily Sun wrote that web-savvy organizations like Color of Change have been able to adopt new Internet technologies for causes of civic protest, but indicated that these new technologies should not be thought of as a total replacement for concrete grassroots work.^[6] They also use aggressive boycotts to achieve their goals. They recently (April, 2012) forced several companies, e.g. Wendy's, CocaCola, Pepsi, to withdraw funding of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council, a political action group that supports voter ID laws), while other companies, e.g., Walmart, Johnson & Johnson refuse to bow to such tactics and continue their support of ALEC.

History [link]

American Legislative Exchange Council [link]

Color of Change began a campaign against American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on December 8, 2011, objecting to its Voter ID initiatives.^[7]. The group is targeting ALEC's financial sponsors. After the campaign was expanded to protest of Stand Your Ground initiatives, following the Trayvon Martin shooting, a growing number of major companies began to pull their funding from ALEC^[8]. Color of Change has played a critical role in mobilizing its members to take online and offline action to convince corporations to quit ALEC. More than a dozen ALEC corporate members, including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Intuit, and Kraft Foods, have left the group^[9].

Congressional Black Caucus [link]

The organization also heavily lobbied the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 2007 to not host a Democratic presidential debate with the Fox network, which it argued "consistently marginalizes... Black leaders and the Black community.".^[10] Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama eventually decided to shun the Congressional Black Caucus/Fox debate. James Rucker, one of the founders of Color of Change, argued that Fox was using its partnership with the CBC as part of an image building campaign to make itself appear more "Black-friendly." ^[11]

In 2008, Color of Change began an e-mail campaign to urge members of the CBC (those who are superdelegates) to endorse candidates according to how their districts voted.^[12] In February, 2008, Representative John Lewis, a senior member in Congress and the CBC, declared that he would switch his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama because his district overwhelmingly supported Obama in its primary.^[13]

Glenn Beck [link]

In 2009 Color of Change launched a campaign urging advertisers on Glenn Beck's Fox News show to pull their ads, in response to comments by Beck in which he called President Obama "a racist" who has a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture".^[14] Affected advertisers switched their ads to different Fox programs.^[15].

Fox News announced Glenn Beck's transition off air on April 6, 2011.^[16] Glenn Beck's last day on Fox News was June 30, 2011.^[17]

Hurricane Katrina [link]

Color of Change was involved with helping resolve issues associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They advocated for the availability of housing to those whose homes were lost or damaged. One of COC's past campaigns involved garnering support for Senate bill S.1668, which would have repaired and opened thousands of minimally damaged public housing units.^[18] This bill was not enacted.^[19]

Other related campaigns included the support of satellite voting for disenfranchised voters^[20], advocating justice for Algiers Point shooting victims^[21], and advocating against the construction of a 5,800-bed prison in New Orleans^[22].

Jena Six [link]

The Jena Six are a group of six black teenagers who were charged with the beating of Justin Barker, a white teenager at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, United States, on December 4, 2006. The beating followed a number of incidents in the town; the earliest reported was that of three white students hanging painted nooses from a tree at Jena High School in August, after a black student asked permission from a school administrator to sit under it.^[23] The Jena Six case sparked protests by those viewing the arrests and subsequent charges as excessive and racially discriminatory.

Before advocacy and grassroots groups began circulating information about the Jena Six case, it received little press of any kind. Advocacy groups such as Color of Change heard about the case from dedicated bloggers and activists who were following it closely.

The Jena campaign was such a galvanizing force that it tripled Color of Change's membership.^[24] According to the Chicago Tribune, COC raised over $200,000 for the Jena Six defense.^[25] A petition created by Color Of Change called for District Attorney Walters to drop all charges and for Governor Kathleen Blanco to investigate his conduct.^[26] The Color of Change petition had received 318,420 signatures as of March 25, 2008.

In the months following the Jena Six rally, controversy arose about accounting and dispersal of the legal defense funds. Questions about the money were first sparked by photos posted to the former MySpace account of Robert Bailey (one of the Jena Six), which showed him with quantities of hundred dollar bills stuffed in his mouth, an episode reported by the Town Talk.^[27]

In his November 10 report, the Chicago Tribune's Howard Witt noted that Color of Change were the only national civil rights group to be fully transparent with their use of the funds.^[28] Witt also raised broader questions about the funds, which totaled more than half a million dollars, reporting that attorneys for Bell claimed that they have yet to receive any money from him, and that the families had refused to publicly account for the donations.^[28]

Nas & Fox News [link]

A campaign against Fox News was developed in protest of recurring racist remarks^[29] , including negative comments directed at President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama^{[30][31] [32] [33]}. This campaign was lead by hip hop artist Nas, Color of Change, Moveon.org, and Brave New Films. The campaign collected 620,000 petition signatures, which were delivered to Fox News headquarters in July, 2008^[34].

Pat Buchanan [link]

In 2011 Color of Change launched a campaign urging MSNBC to fire Pat Buchanan for his remarks about white supremacy^[35] and his affiliation with a white supremacist radio program^[36] .

MSNBC suspended Pat Buchanan's show for four months before cancelling it in February, 2012^[37].

Trayvon Martin [link]

Color of Change began a campaign advocating justice for murder victim Trayvon Martin on March 19, 2012^[38].

Troy Davis [link]

In September, 2008, Color of Change began a campaign in support of Troy Davis. Over 666,000 petitions urging clemency for Mr. Davis were delivered to the Georgia pardons board^[39]. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency to Troy Davis^[40]. Color of Change released a formal statement after Troy Davis' death^[41].

Wall Street [link]

Color of Change advocated for the investigation of Wall Street banks in wake of a national housing and foreclosure crisis^[42].

References [link]

External links [link]

• Color of Change