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NAACP LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute Launches New Website
Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.’s (LDF) Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) has launched its new website. Through the new website, users will be able to access and download reports, explore LDF’s historical records, and learn more about TMI’s advocacy campaigns and organizing efforts.
TMI is LDF’s multidisciplinary research and advocacy center. Launched in 2015, the Institute undertakes research and executes advocacy initiatives that seek to end racial disparities in the United States.
“This Institute is a formal extension of what LDF has been doing for nearly 80 years,” said James Cadogan, Director of TMI. “It goes without saying that a strong digital presence is an essential part of engaging the public and building bridges with diverse communities today. Launching TMI’s new website and building our footprint on social media gives us the platforms we need to hear the broadest range of perspectives and bring our research and advocacy to new audiences.”
LDF has long understood the importance of social science research as a powerful tool to advocate for racial equality. LDF is known for its pioneering use of social science research in winning landmark racial discrimination cases like Brown v. Board of Education, Griggs v. Duke Power, and Shelley v. Kraemer. As one of the architects of the civil rights movement, Thurgood Marshall famously enlisted sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and educators to testify and evaluate how racist laws, policies, and sanctioned norms affected Black children and adults.
The Institute complements LDF’s traditional advocacy through litigation in three capacities: research, advocacy campaigns, and organizing. TMI also houses LDF’s rich, historical archives. Through the Institute, LDF deepens its partnerships with local communities, policy makers, and academic institutions to comprehensively to advance LDF’s modern version of racial equality and justice.
“Litigation is only one face of the law,” said Janai Nelson, LDF’s Associate Director-Counsel. “Academics, researchers, and organizers are also as vital to driving social change.”
For more information about LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute, visit www.tminstituteldf.org.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.
