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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

  • Criminal Justice

NYPD Officer Fired for Murdering Eric Garner

Five years after the tragic and unnecessary death of Eric Garner, NYC mayor and police commissioner fired Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put Garner in a chokehold and refused to let him go. COC members were part of a powerful coalition with dozens of groups around New York demanding justice. Though Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, until now the officers who restrained him had walked away with no consequences and their jobs intact.

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  • Criminal Justice

Holding Central Park 5 Prosecutor Accountable

Far too often, prosecutors prioritize conviction rates over the truth, ruining the lives of innocent Black and Brown people. Linda Fairstein prosecuted the Central Park Five, coercing confessions and wrongfully convicting five boys from Harlem for a brutal rape they knew nothing about. They spent years in prison before being exonerated. We went after Fairstein and persuaded Simon & Schuster to stop publishing her popular crime novels, telling the company it can’t profit off someone who reinforces racist ideas of crime and justice.

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  • Criminal Justice

Google Bans Bail Ads

Color Of Change has been working to end money bail, which is one of the largest drivers of incarceration of Brown and Black people. People should never be locked up simply because they can’t afford to pay bail. We’ve gone after the predatory bail bonds industry, partnering with Jay-Z on a video, publishing an op-ed in the New York Times, and successfully pressing Google to pull its ads for bail. This makes it harder for bail agencies to exploit people and sets a new norm that major companies should steer clear of those profiteering from mass incarceration.

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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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August 20, 2020

Rashad Robinson on How Everyone Wins When Black People Do

The Advocate interviews Color Of Change’s president about going head-to-head with Facebook to stop hate speech. Facebook has such a behemoth of an institution with 2.6B users that its misuse helped carve a path for Donald Trump. “It’s about holding powerful institutions accountable and forcing them to do things that they don’t want to do,” Robinson says. “What we’ve been doing at Facebook over the last several years is trying to build the energy and focus so that when we have the political power in Washington we can create new rules of the road for technology. How Facebook operates the platform day in and day out is weaponized against our communities.”

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August 20, 2020

Abrupt Change to Census Deadline Could Result in an Undercount of Latino and Black Communities

Trump’s decision to end the Census a month early will almost certainly result in a dramatic undercount of Black and Latino communities, reducing federal funding and political representation for them. Many say it’s a blatant attempt to suppress the political power of communities of color, especially in areas where coronavirus put a halt to Census outreach. Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson is quoted, “At this point, we’re seeing an undercount of Black communities everywhere. Deep undercounts in the South. As COVID continues to rip through those communities, it is a very challenging thing to see communities that absolutely need resources that could be left out.”

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August 20, 2020

Contact Tracing, The Commissioner’s Resignation, The Next Federal Relief Deal

Rashad Robinson is interviewed on National Public Radio on economic relief for workers during the pandemic and why lawmakers have been so slow to act. “The president has been a master at blaming other people for problems placing the burden or the problem on other people besides himself. Right now, he has no one else to blame for the economic insecurity. $600 a week to individuals when corporations have been getting huge breaks throughout this whole process… At the end of the day, still means that communities are really being kept in limbo. We do not know how much longer they’re actually going to extend it if they do.”

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August 18, 2020

Prince Harry Says It Is ‘Down To Every Single Person’ to Act Against Racial Injustice

Recently the Duke of Sussex sat down with Color for Change President Rashad Robinson to discuss “systemic racism, compassion, hate online and using privilege for change.” Doing a livestream interview from his home in Los Angeles, Harry said, in the great uprising for racial justice, it is not “down to the Black community” but on everyone’s shoulder to take action to undo a legacy of racism in the UK and US. He says, “Charity is crucial in so many areas but it can’t fix the problem. The problems are already too big. it’s basically like bringing a bucket of water to a forest fire.” See video clips from the discuss between Prince Harry and Rashad Robinson in the original article.

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August 15, 2020

Prince Harry Reveals It Will Take ‘Every Single Person On The Planet’ To Defeat Racism

Prince Harry recently held a virtual discussion with Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson on how to be a true ally in the Black Lives Matter movement, how to combat systemic racism, and how to eliminate online hate. Harry repeatedly echoed Robinson’s sentiments about racial justice. “Inequality is not unfortunate like a car accident, it has been manufactured.” Harry said, “We have to go to the root of the problem, to the source of the problem, and actually fix it there. It’s going to take every single one of us.” While crediting the younger generation for embracing the core values of activism, and continuously demanding change, he added: “[Now is the time] to act rather than just say.”

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August 15, 2020

Facebook Gets Bad Grades on Report from Civil Rights Groups Behind Ad Boycott

The groups behind #StopHateForProfit say even after the ad boycott, Facebook has failed to take the kind of action needed to stop the spread of hate speech on its platform. Color Of Change’s Rashad Robinson is quoted, “We put out an assessment to clarify what civil rights groups have been demanding for several years versus what Facebook has done. Despite a sweeping statement from corporate leaders that Facebook must do better to protect its Black users, the company has failed to address our demands.” For example, Facebook did not follow Color Of Change’s recommendations on how to shut down hate speech, yet told advertisers it leads the industry and its artificial intelligence is getting better and faster all the time. It also failed to add a civil rights executive to its leadership team.

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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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