LDF has had a transformative vision to advance the dignity and citizenship rights of Black people and directly challenge regressive attacks like those we see in Project 2025 since our founding. Our latest report is the most in-depth legal analysis of Project 2025’s impact on Black communities. It also offers an affirmative vision for how Black communities can thrive.
As alarming as the threat of Project 2025 is, it does not have to be our destiny. At this critical moment, when Project 2025 aims to reverse civil rights protections for Black people and concentrate power in the hands of the privileged few to the detriment of our democracy as a whole, all communities must come together to fight for truth, justice, and equality as the cornerstones of our shared future.
Building Black political power and protecting access to the ballot has been central to LDF’s work since our founding.
In 2024, LDF kicked off our Black Voters on the Rise initiative to advance Black voters’ rights and the promise of a free and fair democracy. Along with partners in voter protection, Black Voters on the Rise monitored the November election implemented rapid response tactics to identify and combat Black voter suppression in seven core states across the South: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.
Photo: Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) law students in South Carolina on Election Day. LDF partnered with YBLOC to fund the travel of more than two dozen law students to critical parts of Texas and South Carolina to do election protection and voter engagement work. (Photo for LDF)
As a result of LDF’s strategic litigation challenging discriminatory redistricting maps, voters in Alabama and Louisiana had an equal opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice in two new congressional districts in the 2024 election.
In spring 2024, the Supreme Court issued a ruling ensuring that Black voters in Louisiana would have a fair chance to elect candidates of their choice for the first time. The ruling was a follow-up to LDF’s historic win in Allen v. Milligan which required Alabama to have fair maps for congressional elections.
Newbern, Alabama’s first Black mayor, Patrick Braxton, was elected in November 2020. After his election, he never got the opportunity to properly serve in his office with his majority-Black town council due to another mayor and town council being installed after he was elected, without his knowledge. Newbern is a majority Black community, but for decades Black residents have been denied an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice. Newbern officials repeatedly failed to hold or give notice for municipal elections. Until 2020, Newbern had not held mayoral elections since 1965.
LDF and co-counsel Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davis, & Rouco LLP represented Patrick Braxton and other Black Newbern residents in a lawsuit challenging racially discriminatory voting and electoral practices in Newbern. In June 2024, LDF and co-counsel reached a settlement agreement that reinstated Mayor Braxton as Mayor of Newbern. Under Mayor Braxton’s leadership, Newbern will hold its first ever regularly scheduled municipal elections in 2025, conducted in accordance with Alabama law.
In the fight for an inclusive democracy in Texas, civil rights organizations are working together to fight S.B. 1 and bring forth justice. The law severely impacts Black voters and voters with disabilities, making our coalition more critical than ever.
2024 marked the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer, and its legacy and impact is central to today’s fight for voting rights. Freedom Summer mobilized a coalition of young people and emphasized the power of collective, multiracial, and intergenerational organizing
In 2020 Andrew Smith, who is Black, was attacked by an NYPD officer who forcibly removed Mr. Smith’s mask – which he was wearing to protect himself and others from COVID-19 – and sprayed him in the face with pepper spray. The officer did not confront or forcibly remove the masks of white protesters near Smith. Video of Mr. Smith’s assault went viral, illustrating the violent behavior of NYPD officers against racial justice protesters, especially Black protesters.
LDF represented Smith along with co-counsels with Massena Law, P.C.; The Vessup Law Firm; and the Initiative for a Just Society to sue the City of New York in June 2021, for race discrimination, police brutality, and violating his right to free speech. This year in March, LDF and co-counsel reached a settlement of $212,500 for Smith.
Photo: Youth in Miami, Florida protest against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (Photo by Adam DelGiudice / AFP via Getty)
On April 9, 2024, civil rights and legal groups filed a challenge to California’s death penalty system in the State Supreme Court. The lawsuit asserts the state’s death penalty statute is racially discriminatory, as applied, and therefore unconstitutional under the Equal Protection guarantees of the California Constitution. This petition draws from numerous statewide and county-level studies, all of which show that the death penalty is imposed disproportionately on people of color. This extraordinary petition is the first of its kind to be filed in the California Supreme Court.
New research by the Thurgood Marshall Institute shows that the elimination of gang databases in Portland and Chicago did not result in an increase in crime, refuting claims that such databases reduce crime.
Through litigation, policy advocacy, and community organizing, LDF works to ensure protestors can fight for change without police violence. Defending the right to protest is a central piece of LDF’s history.
In 2024 we celebrated 70 years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional. LDF hosted a series of events to reflect on the legacy of Brown and the future of education equity. The events convened students, advocates, educators, organizers, and leaders committed to fulfilling the Brown’s promise.
The event series included:
Photo: Spelman College graduates at the 136th Spelmen Commencement Ceremony on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The 2024 National Equal Justice Awards Dinner celebrated the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that transformed America and its enduring legacy. Every year, this signature LDF event is an opportunity to recognize and honor leaders in law, the arts, business, and philanthropy who have demonstrated a commitment to the promotion of racial justice and equality.
On December 6, 2024, a federal court issued a ruling upholding the U.S. Naval Academy’s limited consideration of race in admissions, concluding that the program is constitutional because it is narrowly tailored to meet mission-critical national security interests. LDF filed an amicus brief with the ACLU and the National Association of Black Military Women defending the military academy’s programs. This outcome recognizes that diversity plays an important role in our nation’s security.
Launched in January 2024, LDF’s interdisciplinary Equal Protection Initiative (EPI) aims to fully realize the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equal protection under law by safeguarding, expanding, and deepening efforts to remove and remediate barriers to opportunity for Black people in the economy, our educational systems, and other areas through race-conscious and race-neutral means. As part of this initiative, LDF released comprehensive recommendations for advancing equal opportunity in the workplace, business, and philanthropy. This guidance serves as a call to action for companies to recognize that opening the doors of opportunity boosts innovation and success.
In addition this year EPI:
Photo via shutterstock
LDF has risen to meet unprecedented challenges and remained unwavering in our commitment to advance a multiracial democracy where power is shared, dignity is sacred, and thriving is the standard. The vision of an inclusive, multi-racial democracy that offers equal opportunities for all is not just a goal, but a mandate—one that requires vigilance, advocacy, and the same enduring strength and resilience that have guided previous generations.
