The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multidisciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.
Some of their current efforts include these interrelated issues:
Mission
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.
Vision
Communities will succeed in realizing their own goals and people will know from experience that they can make a difference on issues that matter to them.
Core Values
They are committed to:
Goals
They seek to:
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice promotes justice by empowering minority and low-income communities to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights. They view local social justice struggles from a global, international and human rights perspective, and believe it takes a holistic, collective and interdisciplinary approach to address issues at their core, bring sustained structural change, and alter power relations. They use the combined skills of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media experts to help underrepresented people develop strategies to achieve their visions for themselves and their communities.
Their five main program areas are voting rights, environmental justice, criminal justice, immigrants’ rights and human rights.
