Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Today, we're excited to share our final intern spotlight featuring Trenaj Mongo, our Justice System Reform Law Intern this past summer! Tre, a NAACP Legal Defense Fund Marshall-Motley Scholar and 2nd-year law student at Yale Law School, played an important role on our Justice System Reform team, advocating for racial justice. As we wrap up our intern spotlight series, we're excited to see the lasting impact Arianna Mackey, Miranda van Dijk, and Trenaj Mongo will have on the world through their work. Their passion, dedication, and perspectives will no doubt continue to drive change in the fight for justice, and we’re proud to have been a part of their journey this summer. Watch Tre’s spotlight video to learn more about his work and commitment to justice system reform:

Thanks to NC Newsline for letting me sound off about the dire state of our voting access in the South and the report I recently wrote for Southern Coalition for Social Justice. I was fired up! https://lnkd.in/gt9qfDrE

We had the privilege of working with three outstanding interns this summer who brought fresh perspectives and purpose to our organization. Today, we're thrilled to present the second of our three intern spotlights featuring Miranda van Dijk, our Voting Rights Law Intern! Miranda, a Furman Public Policy Scholar and 3rd-year law student at New York University School of Law, played a key role on our Voting Rights team, advocating for equal access to the ballot for all. Check out Miranda’s spotlight video to learn more about her dedication to protecting voting rights: https://lnkd.in/eKMRdDap

This summer, we were fortunate to have three talented interns, each contributing to our program areas with dedication and passion. We're excited to kick off our intern spotlight series with Arianna Mackey, our Environmental Justice Law Intern! Arianna, a NAACP Legal Defense Fund Marshall-Motley Scholar and 2nd-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center, played a vital role on our Environmental Justice team, advocating for communities facing environmental challenges. While our summer with these amazing interns has come to an end, we’re excited to look back on the work they accomplished during their time with us. Stay tuned for more spotlights on our talented summer interns. Watch Arianna’s spotlight video to learn more about her time with us: https://lnkd.in/dxvv9yPy

Wrapping up a big week of work, after releasing the "State of the South: Voting Rights Under Assault" report for Southern Coalition for Social Justice. The South has been subjected to more voter suppression tactics than any other region of the country - an attack steeped in white supremacy that keeps Black and Brown voters in particular from demanding change in their communities. The report dives into the particulars - how the entire South has been exposed to rigged voting maps that mute the voting strength of Black and Brown citizens how states like Alabama and Mississippi have no early voting options and you can't register to vote online in Texas(!). Florida "leads" the nation with felony disenfranchisement with 1.15 MILLION people unable to vote. Take a read, get mad, and join me and others who are calling for federal voting rights protections! https://lnkd.in/gf7gYUn7

Join us on Aug 30th for a screening and Q&A of The Smell of Money! 🎥🌿 This powerful documentary follows Elsie Herring and her North Carolina community as they take on the world's largest pork corporation in a fight for clean air, freshwater, and freedom from the stench of manure. Panelists will include film writer and producer Jamie Berger and Maia Hutt from the Southern Environmental Law Center. Light refreshments will be provided. 🔗 RSVP: https://bit.ly/SCSJ-SoM

I had the pleasure of designing the “State of the South: Voting Rights Under Assault” report for Southern Coalition for Social Justice's SOLVE Network! Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/ewcFmuQE. --- 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵: 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘪𝘮 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸. “𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩: 𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵,” 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘳𝘢. 𝘕𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 10-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵: 𝘈𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢, 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘢, 𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢.

Super cool event for the folks in Durham! Southern Coalition for Social Justice is hosting a screening of The Smell Of Money at their office on August 30th -- check it out! https://lnkd.in/e37mmEQs

Thank you to everyone who joined us for an evening of networking and fun! 🎉 We were thrilled to see so many faces, new and familiar, come together to network, share stories, and build connections. Held at Namu in Durham, this event was part of our Summer 24 Intern Experience, and we were excited to welcome interns, along with their partners, kids, and friends, from various organizations we collaborate with. Our goal was to create a welcoming and fun space for everyone to enjoy, and we hope you had as much fun as we did! 🎉 Special thanks to our incredible Communications Director, Melissa Boughton, for organizing this event and spearheading a series of engaging activities for our interns this summer. It's inspiring to see our team work so hard to make everyone feel included and valued. At SCSJ, we strive to bring people together and build a sense of community. This event was a step towards strengthening those bonds and facilitating friendships in shared spaces.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that penalizing unhoused people for sleeping outside when there is no available shelter does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual” punishment. “Today’s opinion leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: stay awake or face arrest,” says Ian Courts, SCSJ’s Counsel for Justice System Reform. “For those with nowhere else to go, this is a cruel and unusual punishment — another coercive tool for those who want to look away from poverty instead of being their neighbor’s keeper.” While this decision is distressing, local and state governments must act responsibly and compassionately. We urge policymakers to turn away from criminalizing poverty and instead focus on humane solutions. At the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, we remain committed to protecting and defending the most vulnerable populations across the South. Together, we can stop the criminalization of poverty and ensure justice for all. https://lnkd.in/edxeTK3X