Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

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With generous funding from the Ford Foundation, SCSJ is working to increase the practice of community lawyering throughout the South, as well as the resources available to community-lawyering organizations.  Community lawyers represent marginalized individuals and community-based organizations in their efforts to advance community-driven solutions to the problems that those individuals and organizations identify and prioritize.  At its core, community lawyering is about creating lasting systemic change by building power in marginalized communities.

In June 2018, SCLC held an initial planning retreat in Durham, NC.  In addition to SCSJ leadership and staff, the following advocates from around the South attended:

  • Natalie Barefoot, Associate Director, Practitioner in Residence & Lecturer in Law, Environmental Justice Clinic, University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL
  • Marissa Dodson, Public Policy Director, Southern Center for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA
  • Chuck Elsesser, Co-Founder, Community Justice Project, Miami, FL
  • Alana Greer, Co-Founder, Community Justice Project, Miami, FL
  • Charles Irvin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Irvin Law PLLC; Staff Attorney, Southern Echo, Jackson, MS
  • Meena Jagannath, Co-Founder, Community Justice Project, Miami, FL
  • Lauren Sudeall Lucas, Director, Center for Access to Justice, Georgia State, Atlanta, GA
  • Mimi Marziani, President, Texas Civil Rights Project, Austin, TX
  • Rachel Mayes, Executive Director, Southern Echo, Jackson, MS
  • Reilly Morse, CEO, Mississippi Center for Justice, Jackson, MS
  • Erica Perry, Assistant Partnerships Director, Law for Black Lives, Memphis, TN
  • Tiffany Williams Roberts, Community Engagement and Movement Building Counsel, Southern Center for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA
  • Kristina Scott, Executive Director, Alabama Possible, Birmingham, AL
  • Purvi Shah, Founder and Executive Director, Movement Law Lab, Baltimore, MD
  • Azadeh Shahshahani, Legal and Advocacy Director, Project South, Atlanta, GA
  • Ariel Test, Supervising Attorney, Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, New Orleans, LA
Last Updated: July 28, 2020