By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has launched “The Pact: A Civil Rights Coalition Unity Commitment,” a declaration of mutual support among dozens of major nonprofit organizations representing millions of people nationwide. The coalition said it’s responding directly to escalating threats and retaliatory actions by the White House and federal agencies targeting groups engaged in public service, advocacy, and civil rights work. The Leadership Conference said that for 75 years, it has helped secure every major federal civil rights law enacted in the United States. It warned that the same government systems used to advance justice are being weaponized to suppress it. “Today we face a campaign by the government to interrupt and intimidate the ability of those who represent the vulnerable, ensure people know their rights, have a voice to make demands of their government, organize unions and speak freely and have their rights protected,” the Pact states. “We will not be silent, divided, or stop serving the public or allow the people we serve to be harmed.”
The coalition cited specific government actions that it says are designed to dismantle public services, eliminate oversight, and undermine nonprofit organizations. These actions include the termination of grants without cause, politically motivated investigations into climate and civil rights groups, threats to tax-exempt status, and a chilling effect on pro bono legal support out of fear of retribution. “The administration has made clear it will attack organizations that speak truth to power, defend the vulnerable, petition and sue the government, preserve and share knowledge, and fight for our freedoms,” the Pact continues. “They want us to fight alone, hoping we’ll stay silent as others are targeted. Not us.” The Pact outlines a series of commitments among the signatories. If any organization is unjustly targeted, the others have pledged to stand with it. They will share knowledge and resources, refuse to censor their missions, and continue advocating for the communities they serve—regardless of political pressure.
The coalition includes organizations representing people who are Black, Latino, White, Asian, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant, working-class, and of all faiths and backgrounds. Together, they reaffirm their support for basic rights and services, including access to healthcare, quality education, legal representation, clean air and water, the right to vote, and protection from discrimination.The Leadership Conference said the government’s current actions seek to isolate and silence advocates while concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few. “We will not be divided,” the Pact declares. “We will not be intimidated into silence or abandoning our communities.” More than 70 civil rights, labor, faith-based, and public interest organizations signed the Pact. Among them are the ACLU, National Urban League, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, UnidosUS, National Organization for Women, People for the American Way, and the League of Women Voters. “We have the right to assemble—and we will continue to do just that, and we will encourage and support people and allied organizations to do the same, uniting across communities, sectors, issue areas, and identities,” the coalition said. “We will not be silenced. We will continue to do the work that puts people over power.”
