FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

CJ Frogozo, 310 570 2622

Tim Rusch, 917 399 0236

NEW YORK – The following is a statement from ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson:

“We welcome Coca-Cola’s decision to stop supporting the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization which has worked to disenfranchise African Americans, Latinos, students, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. We confirmed with Coca-Cola that they are no longer a member of ALEC and no longer fund the group in any capacity.

“We reached out to Coca-Cola last year and have been in dialogue with them since then to convey the concerns of more than 85,000 ColorOfChange members who called on major corporations to stop supporting ALEC. Hundreds of ColorOfChange members began making phone calls to Coca-Cola this morning, and the company listened to their voices.

“We continue to call on all major corporations to stop supporting voter suppression through ALEC. Our members are prepared to hold accountable companies that continue to participate in ALEC’s attack on voting rights.

“The tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death – and the law that has prevented his killer from being arrested – is another example of how ALEC’s agenda is dangerous for people of color. The NRA and ALEC exported Florida’s “stand your ground” law to more than 20 states across the country, jeopardizing the safety of Americans nationwide.

“We want to thank Coca-Cola for making the right decision, and we want to thank ColorOfChange members and our partners.”

More than 85,000 CoC members signed an earlier petition targeting ALEC’s corporate partners for their role in suppressing Black votes. That petition can be found here:: https://colorofchange.org/campaign/alec/

In addition, more than 170,000 CoC members have signed the petition calling on the Department of Justice to take over the Trayvon Martin case, arrest Martin’s killer, and launch an independent investigation into the Sanford police department’s mishandling of the case. The petition can be found here: https://colorofchange.org/campaign/trayvon/

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With more than 800,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest African-American online civil rights organization.