WASHINGTON, D.C — Today, Just Democracy, a coalition of over 30 grassroots racial and social justice organizations mobilizing to change the rules, announced the addition of four new members. The organizations — Demos, Stand Up America, Black Male Voter Project, and Center for Popular Democracy — join a growing coalition advocating for structural democracy reforms to achieve progress on some of our nation’s most pressing issues. Black Male Voter Project and Center for Popular Democracy will become the newest coalition members of Just Democracy, while Demos and Stand Up America will join as partners of the group. The new additions will work alongside Working Families Party, Truth and Conciliation, the National Black Justice Coalition, among many other groups, to push for the following four foundational structural changes:

• Eliminating the filibuster, which President Obama recently called a Jim Crow relic;
• Granting statehood to Washington, D.C.;
• Reforming the federal courts, including court expansion, and 
• Abolishing the electoral college.

 

“The transformation of our democracy must start with reforming the underlying structures of racism, power, and wealth that make up the fabric of our society,” said K. Sabeel Rahman, President of Demos. “We are facing a critical moment where it is within our grasp to dismantle the very structures that have blocked Black and brown people from the freedom to thrive for far too long. This is why Demos is proud to be a part of the Just Democracy coalition, so that together we can advance a bold new vision for an inclusive America.”

“Right now the rules of our democracy are written for white, well-connected, and wealthy Americans who want to maintain the status quo. If we want to make real progress in this country, then we must dismantle the racist systems standing in the way, including the filibuster and the Electoral College,” said Sean Eldridge, Founder and President of Stand Up America. “Stand Up America is proud to join this powerful coalition fighting for bold, structural reforms to build a democracy where ‘we the people’ means every American.”

“The fight for Black lives is happening right before our eyes and without structural democracy reform, we won’t see the sort of progress needed to change our country for future generations,” said Mondale Robinson, founder of Black Male Voter Project. “The Black Male Voter Project is a movement that encourages black men to regularly and actively engage in the voting and electoral process. We look forward to joining the Just Democracy coalition because we know that there is so much work to be done to ensure that America’s promise of freedom and opportunity is afforded to everyone.” 

“If we are going to transform local and state policy, we must first fight for bold structural democracy reform,” said Jennifer Epps-Addison of Center for Popular Democracy. “As our country faces a reckoning on race, we have an opportunity to affect real change that will impact the lives of Black and Brown people in this country. We joined Just Democracy to seize the opportunity to make structural change — to join the chorus of groups coming together to say we’ll no longer accept a system that was designed to exclude us from the start.”

Just Democracy will continue to work as a coalition to spread the word about our efforts to pursue structural democracy reforms. 

To speak with a Just Democracy spokesperson, please email press@justdemocracy.us.

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