Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante
OAKLAND, Calif. – May 11, 2026
Dear Beloved Community,
There are moments in our nation’s life that ask something deeper of us. This is one of those moments.
In the wake of the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (PLC), and the devastating ruling impacting voting rights protections in Louisiana, many of us are feeling what generations before us have felt: grief, anger, confusion, and a righteous concern about what these moments signal for the future of our democracy. The recent court decisions have raised new barriers for communities of color seeking fair representation, and all of us who work for liberation. These combined court decisions bring grave concerns from many that this is part of a broader effort to weaken institutions that have long stood against hate and injustice. It is normal to be afraid and outraged.
And yet I remain hopeful.
I come from people who knew what it meant to stand in the face of impossible odds and choose courage anyway. My grandmother was among those who participated in the Bus Boycotts in Alabama, ordinary people doing extraordinary things through discipline, sacrifice, and collective resolve. She understood something I carry with me now: justice has never moved forward because systems suddenly became fair. Justice moved because people organized, people loved fiercely, people refused to surrender, and people believed in a future they could not yet see. That legacy lives in me, and that legacy lives in us.
So today, I write not with despair, but with conviction. We have weathered storms before. We know how to build power in community. We know how to protect one another. We know how to organize, vote, advocate, and speak truth, even when powerful institutions attempt to narrow the path toward freedom. Our ancestors planted trees whose canopy they would never sit under. We are living beneath that canopy now, and it is our turn to plant again.
Do not mistake this moment for the end of the story.
This is a chapter that calls us back to one another, to courage, to solidarity, and to the long work of democracy. We will keep building. We will keep fighting for justice. We will keep defending the dignity and humanity of our people. And we will do so with the unshakable belief that hope is not passive, it is practiced.
Now is the time for action. If you are able to add your voice, here is a sign-on that the Leadership Conference and Nonprofits Together have co-authored regarding the brazen attacks against Southern Poverty Law Center. If you are in a position to give, fund the organizations doing the hard, daily work on the ground in communities under pressure. Support grassroots leaders, mutual aid networks, legal defense efforts, and local organizing that protects people’s rights and dignity. If financial giving is not within reach, make a commitment to care for your neighbor. Check in on an elder. Offer childcare to a family in need. Bring food to someone struggling. Volunteer your time. Extend grace, protection, and love where you live. Justice is not only built in courtrooms and capitol buildings, it is built block by block, neighbor by neighbor, through acts of courage and care.
The road ahead may be hard, but we do not walk it alone.
With faith in our people, and in what is still possible,
Kim Bailey
