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Color Of Change helps you do something real about injustice.

We design campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real.
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  • Student Debt Elimination Survey

    Student Debt Elimination Survey

    Color Of Change commissioned Global Strategy Group to conduct a poll of registered voters to better understand sentiments regarding student loan debt cancellation and elimination with an oversampling of Black registered voters.
    Read it here!

  • Tell Congress to Eliminate Student Debt

    For too long, Black people have been trapped in lifelong, impossible-to-repay student loans. With the pandemic, people are struggling to make rent and stay afloat. Now's the time to cancel student debt.
    Take Action

  • 9-year-old Girl Pepper Sprayed

    Hold Rochester police accountable for attacking a Black girl. When officers responded to a family dispute, instead of deescalating things, they handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old. We need trauma-informed care, not state-sanctioned violence.
    Take Action

  • Include Monthly Checks in COVID Relief Package

    U.S. households spend $1709 on housing, $414 on healthcare and $660 on food on average each month. It's been a year. A one-time $1400 check is insulting. We need real relief.
    Take Action

  • Break Up Big Tech!

    For years, we’ve wondered why Google, Facebook, and Twitter won’t stop promoting the kinds of conspiracy theories that led to the attack on the Capitol. The reason? Their platforms are built to foster engagement and growth--at ALL costs. It's time for legislation.
    Take Action

  • Justice for Keyon

    Keyon Harrold's son was attacked by a white woman as the SoHo hotel as security staff did nothing. The woman falsely accused the boy of stealing her phone, later returned by an Uber driver. It's time for racial bias training.
    Take Action

  • Investigate White Supremacist Ties with Capitol Police

    It's clear: the police charged with securing the U.S. Capitol Complex allowed white supremacists to run wild through the halls of Congress, leading to 5 deaths and putting democracy at risk. Tell Congress to investigate, stat.
    Sign Our Petition

  • Tell Us About Your Fav Black-Owned Business

    This Black history month, we want to feature your Black-owned business in our green book and online. Record a video about your favorite business and the importance of building Black wealth!
    Record A Video

RECENT VICTORIES

  • Tech Justice

Proud Boys Defunded & Kicked Off Social Media

A few days before a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol, Stripe processed $100,000 in donations to the Proud Boys, the white nationalist group Trump gave a shout-out to on live TV during the debates. Stripe put profit over public safety – funneling money to the group that funded interstate travel, tactical gear, and legal expenses. But after tens of thousands of Color Of Change members took action, Stripe decided to permanently suspend donations to the Proud Boys and indefinitely ban all accounts affiliated with the hate group. Our No Blood Money campaign to stop financial companies from profiting off of hate continues as we make sure Stripe keeps its promise to working with violent hate groups and GiveSendGo, the fundraising site used by white nationalists like Kyle Rittenhouse and Officer Derek Chauvin. 

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  • Tech Justice

Social Media Sites Ban Trump

Last week, Twitter, the social media site instrumental to President Trump’s rise, permanently banned his account. This is huge. For the last 4 years, Trump has turned to Twitter to spread misinformation and lies, incite violence, announce ad hoc policies, and antagonize those who disagree with him. For years, Color Of Change has been working to hold Twitter and Facebook accountable for white nationalist organizing on their platforms. And for weeks, groups like the Proud Boys were plotting their attack on the Capitol on social media. Finally, tech execs are listening. After Trump’s armed followers broke into the Capitol and Congress had to be evacuated, we reached out leaders at both companies, telling them to shut Trump down. Facebook has suspended Trump until the end of his term. This is where real accountability begins. For too long, we’d been warning this was bound to happen. We cannot afford to let Americans live in two realities, undermining the sovereignty of our elections, peddling hate for profit, and enabling armed revolt against peaceful leaders.

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  • Voting & Democracy

Victory for Poll Workers in GA

All eyes are on Georgia’s runoff elections where the fate of the Senate hangs in the balance. After poll workers–many of whom are Black women–were harassed, Color Of Change launched a campaign with UltraViolet. Together we demanded Facebook shut down the right-wing groups targeting poll workers, reminding execs that online harassment leads to real-world violence. Some poll workers received death threats; one even found a noose outside his home with his name on it. Recently Facebook announced poll workers will now be included in their Protect Program, given extra safety and privacy protections. Poll workers defend our democracy; they should never have to live in fear. The fight is not over as the move came only after immense pressure from Color Of Change and partners. We continue to press Facebook to stop putting Black lives and votes at risk. 

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Color Of Change helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 7 million members, we move decision makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people, and all people. Until justice is real.

IN THE MEDIA

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February 21, 2021

Most Black Voters Support Eliminating Student Loan Debt, New Survey Finds

Color Of Change’s newest survey shows Black voters consider student loan debt forgiveness crucial to addressing racism and inequality. 9 in 10 Black women support some form of debt forgiveness; 5 in 10 support total loan forgiveness. 40% of Black people say they wouldn’t vote for someone who opposes it. Color Of Change Vice President Arisha Hatch is quoted, “The elimination of student loan debt is incredibly related to the eradication of racial wealth disparities. It is impossible to talk about an economic justice agenda that doesn’t include… how Black people in this country are indebted in ways that require them to not realize their dreams, or to stay in discriminatory workplace situations.”

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February 3, 2021

I’m a Writer on Emily in Paris. I May Destroy You Deserved a Golden Globe Nomination.

Color Of Change’s reporting on Hollywood — where 91% of showrunners are white and 80% are male — is cited in this article on how the film, TV, and music are still held back by largely white (and often close-minded) gatekeepers. Emily in Paris writer Deborah Copaken says the fact that her show was nominated for a Golden Globe for best comedy while I May Destroy You was passed over completely for nominations reveals “what is wrong with everything.” After a year of uprisings for racial justice, it turns out, when it comes to our cultural industries, America still has a long way to go. She asks: when we will start giving awards to shows that deserve them, no matter the color of the skin of their creators?

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February 3, 2021

For Black Pioneers Harris and Obama, Different Times Mean Different Approaches on Race

While Barack Obama campaigned for president in 2008 with explicit advice from his inner circle to downplay anything “that might be labeled racial grievance” or would emphasize him as a “the Black candidate,” things are different now. A dozen years later, Kamala Harris is able to lean harder into her public identity as a Black woman taking her place as second-in-command in an administration that has made closing the racial wealth gap one of its policy pillars. Color Of Change Chief of Campaigns Arisha Hatch is quoted. “Both of them are candidates that act as translators on race. We’re just in a different place as a country.” Democrats have realized they would not have won the presidency or control of Congress without the high turnout among Black voters and Black women in particular.

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February 1, 2021

PPP Loans Failed to Reach Communities in Most Need

Truthout republished this investigation by the Center for Public Integrity citing Color Of Change’s survey on the Paycheck Protection Program. The program, intended as pandemic relief for small businesses, never reached most minority-owned businesses. Entrepreneurs say the process felt Byzantine and inequitable. Most loans went to businesses in communities that already had access to resources according to the Center for Public Integrity. Meanwhile Black-, Brown-, women-owned businesses and those in lower income communities have gone under or hover on the verge of bankruptcy. COC Vice President Arisha Hatch is quoted. “We believe that instead of providing desperately needed relief to qualifying small businesses, the PPP propped up so many barriers and reinforced so many racial inequities.”

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February 1, 2021

Rashad Robinson Has Had Enough of Corporate America’s Empty Platitudes

Fast Company features Color Of Change’s work to push companies to get on the right side of history—whether they’re ready or not. What began 15 years ago as a scrappy digital upstart focused on mounting an online response to racial injustice is now one of the heavy hitters in American activism. Their latest victory is getting COPS taken off the air. It also led the charges to demand Facebook and other social media companies take aggressive action to rid their platforms of hate speech, pressuring hundreds of advertisers to temporarily pull their money. And now it’s targeting fast-food companies like McDonald’s and Burger King and retailers such as Nike for talking about racial justice without paying its workers a living wage.

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February 1, 2021

The Loudest Voice: Corporate America Needs to Get on the Right Side of History. Color Of Change Gets It There.

Fast Company profiles Color Of Change’s 15 years of groundbreaking to build a new racial justice movement and hold corporate America responsible for their role in holding back change. Our work to harness the uprisings after George Floyd’s death and turn that into real victories, from the cancelation of Cops to a corporate reckoning on race and equity is described in this article. “The organization’s presence can be felt in nearly every racial civil rights battle currently taking place in America—from corporate boardrooms to television sets to prosecutors’ offices and judges’ chambers.”

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Strategic Initiatives

Democracy & Census

Black people have the power to shape our democracy and set the agenda when they speak up and turn out in elections. Through our Black Brunches we have brought together more than 20,000 people across 20 cities—including many new to politics. Going into 2020, we have tremendous opportunities to register new voters, protect voting rights, and make sure our communities are counted and represented in the 2020 Census. We are engaging local leaders and our 1.7M members to help set a progressive agenda around criminal justice reform and boost civic participation in Black communities.

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Winning Justice

No one holds more power in our justice system than prosecutors. They decide who to prosecute, what the charges will be, and routinely make decisions that destroy Black people’s lives. We are ushering in a new era of prosecutor accountability by mobilizing Black communities across the country. Already, we've pushed prosecutors and candidates in a dozen cities make pledges to cut incarceration. We continue to build momentum to end the most unjust, destructive and racist practices in our system from money bail to over-sentencing, over-policing, and sending our children to adult prisons.

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COC Hollywood

TV and film play a profound role in shaping American culture. Yet, when it comes to representation of Black people, culture, and issues, far too much of the content Hollywood produces promotes dangerous misunderstandings that holds back racial justice in the real world. COC Hollywood is our initiative to change the rules in Hollywood by ensuring accurate, diverse, empathetic and human portrayals of Black people onscreen. We consult on film and TV projects, partner with changemakers inside the industry, work to raise standards around hiring and diversity, and elevate Black stories.

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