Announcing BLACK, Initiative by National Black Worker Center & National Legal Advocacy Network

We want you to be amongst the first to know: this Black History Month, standing on the shoulders of giants, the National Black Worker Center and National Legal Advocacy Network launched the Black Legal Action & Community Knowledge (BLACK) Initiative. 

We recognize and unapologetically reject white supremacy in all of its forms, whether in the workplace, the courtroom or the streets. The BLACK Initiative seeks equity and dignity for all Black workers, who disproportionately suffer from exploitative and predatory workplace practices. It is our goal to ensure that the Black working class thrives. 

For the past eight months, we have been engaged in strategic planning to develop a comprehensive approach to supporting and empowering Black workers in low-wage industries. The BLACK Initiative is designed to build the power of Black workers by using legal strategies to engage and educate Black workers about their rights and how they can take action to hold abusive employers accountable, build power with and for National Black Worker Center’s base, identify and expose anti-Black business practices, add leverage to workplace and sectoral campaigns, and increase the quantity and quality of legal support available to the Black working class. We do this so Black workers can take an active role in shaping the economy and build power, both on and off the job. 

Please stay tuned as we prepare to formally launch the BLACK Initiative this Spring. In the meantime, please consider supporting our work by making a donation here. 

In Solidarity, 

Tanya Wallace-Gobern, Executive Director of the National Black Worker Center 

Sheila Maddali, Executive Director of the National Legal Advocacy Network 

"In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed... It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system." -- Ella Baker