We Were Built For This Naacpldf Org

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 28, 2025, 7:38 AM

Louisiana v. Callais: Fighting for Fair Maps The Ugly Truth About Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" Tracking LDF's Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration The Voting Rights Act at 60: History and Timeline Recollection: A Digital Civil Rights Legal Archive

Happy holidays ❤️ Today we celebrate community, rest, and Black joy.️ When we take time to recharge, we returned grounded, stronger, and ready to advocate for a better, more just world. Wishing everyone a beautiful holiday! Happy birthday to the iconic Madame C.J. Walker! Using hair care to showcase Black joy and pride, Madame C.J. Walker not only built a beauty empire, but a legacy of liberation.

As Black students continue to face discrimination because of their hair, Madame C.J. Walker’s legacy reminds us of the power Black hair holds. Because Black hair isn’t a distraction, it isn’t offensive – it's identity, culture, and strength. Giving back is better than any gift. From volunteering to supporting causes you care about, there are countless ways to give back. What’s your favorite way to make a difference?

This holiday season, consider supporting our work and helping to protect civil rights. Every contribution makes a difference. Click the link: https://lnkd.in/etWCf65p We sat down with James Pickens, Jr. to discuss his new short film, “Albert’s Flower,” which confronts America’s deep-rooted history of housing discrimination. This powerful film reminds us that the struggle for fair housing isn’t a relic of the past, but an injustice we all must fight against today.

Our 2026 scholarship applications are now open! For decades, our programs have helped transform the promise of racial equality into a social, economic, and political reality by supporting talented undergraduate students and law students. Learn more and apply at: https://lnkd.in/eKg4eee4 Today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Ironically, Trump’s inauguration falls on the same day that we commemorate the service and sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy of civil rights advocacy stands in stark contrast to that of the incoming president.

Where Trump and his allies seek to bury this country’s sordid past and repeat some of its most abhorrent mistakes, the legacy of Dr. King and those of us who stand upon his shoulders is one of shining a coruscant light on historical injustices and formulating a potent antidote that can be absorbed into our national bloodstream —... The fact that we are on the precipice of returning to a particularly grim version of contemporary American life, despite having narrowly escaped its trenches a mere four years ago, is, frankly, daunting. But, as the people of this country, people upon whom the fate of our democracy ultimately rests, it will be up to us to defend the norms we hold dear, disrupt the myriad threats... Defending and disrupting has been the business of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) for the past 85 years, and, for as long as our organization exists, we will continue confronting and thwarting the targeted... But dreaming must be the work of the collective.

It will take each and every person for whom justice is nonnegotiable, for whom there is no alternative to universal liberation, to hold fast to the dream of a nation, and indeed a world,... “We must come to see that social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. And so, we must help time, and we must realize the time is always right to do right.” There will be wrongs aplenty in the coming weeks, months, and years: that much we know for sure.

But we also know there will be ample opportunities to do right. LDF has every intention to seize them, to challenge the status quo, and, ultimately, to help bring forth an era that will lay the foundation for a future we can all be proud of. Now is not the time for despair or, worse, despondency. Now is the time to defend, disrupt, and dream. Revenue: $150,001,178 Expenses: $26,839,473 Assets: $209,550,791 The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is the litigation and legal policy affiliate of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

LDF uses strategic litigation and legal advocacy to advance a left-of-center agenda focused on issues related to African American and ethnic minority interests.1 1 The NAACP LDF was founded as a part of the NAACP in 1940 by civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who would later serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.1 In... Early in its history, the LDF advocated for the desegregation of public schools and the overturn of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, which legalized “separate but equal” segregation laws.3 The organization’s advocacy and litigation resulted in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which overturned the previous Plessy decision and segregation precedent. Afterwards, intense opposition to the ruling resulted in the LDF filing and litigating several more lawsuits in order to enforce the new Brown standard.3

The organization later played a role in advocating for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.3 The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP.[1] Although LDF can trace its origins to the legal department of the NAACP created by Charles Hamilton Houston in the 1930s,[2][3] Thurgood Marshall founded LDF... Janai Nelson serves as the eighth President and Director-Counsel, since March 2022.[4] Previous Director-Counsels include Sherrilyn Ifill (2012–2022), John Payton (2008–2012), Ted Shaw (2004–2008), Elaine Jones (1993–2004), Julius Levonne Chambers (1984–1993), Jack Greenberg (1961–1984),... While primarily focused on the civil rights of African Americans in the U.S., LDF states it has "been instrumental in the formation of similar organizations that have replicated its organizational model in order to...

LDF's national office is in Manhattan, with regional offices in Washington, D.C. LDF has nearly two dozen staff lawyers and hundreds of cooperating attorneys across the nation.[1] The Trump administration has made it clear through the Project 2025 agenda and executive action that their focus is weakening civil rights protections. For 85 years, the Legal Defense Fund has worked tirelessly to defend the humanity and advance the rights of Black people in America. We were built to meet this moment with the same force, tenacity that has driven our relentless fight for justice, equality, and full citizenship for Black people. Our litigation, research, organizing, and policy teams are steeped in the information and methods that will protect the civil rights of Black Americans and all Americans.

To get the latest about LDF’s work, subscribe to our Substack. On Oct. 15, LDF returned to the Supreme Court to reargue Louisiana v. Callais and to defend and protect the rights of Black Louisiana voters. This case is about more than just maps — it is about the future of a multi-racial democracy and the commitment to ensure that every vote counts and every voice is heard in the... Louisiana v.

Callais: Fighting for Fair Maps The Ugly Truth About Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" Tracking LDF's Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration The Voting Rights Act at 60: History and Timeline Recollection: A Digital Civil Rights Legal Archive As the legal arm of the civil rights movement, LDF has a tradition of expert legal advocacy in the Supreme Court and other courts across the nation.

LDF’s victories established the foundations for the civil rights that all Americans enjoy today. In its first two decades, LDF undertook a coordinated legal assault against officially enforced public school segregation. This campaign culminated in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision in 1954 that has been described as “the most important American governmental act of any kind since the Emancipation Proclamation.” The Court’s unanimous decision overturned the... A strong democracy requires an informed electorate participating in the political process. LDF pursues efforts to support democracy by building, promoting, and protecting Black political power.

Poverty isolates people and communities from opportunity. LDF advocates for economic security in Black communities by challenging and dismantling racial barriers that have impeded progress and prolonged economic disparities LDF works to end the oppression, control, and dehumanization of people of color across the criminal legal system and to advance a new vision for the future of justice and safety that affirms everyone’s... LDF works tirelessly to advance educational equity and ensure that all students have access to a safe, truthful, inclusive, and comprehensive education.

We Were Built For This Naacpldf Org

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