Author Archives: Benjamin Todd Jealous

“I am fighting for my father. He is undocumented. I am fighting for all of the children who don’t have their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters.” That was the speech I heard last Wednesday from Yahir Servin, an 11-year-old who participated in a civil disobedience on Capitol Hill with the Fair Immigration Reform […]

Two decades ago, as a young organizer in Mississippi, I learned that there are only two types of temporal power: organized people and organized money. I also learned that in a democracy, the people can win every time—but only if we are organized. Today, when I reflect back on my half-decade at the helm of […]

Remember the March on Washington? August 28, 1963. Tens of thousands of activists on the National Mall. A preacher’s son from Atlanta talking about his dream for the country. We don’t need a history lesson. Even if we weren’t at the March itself – even for those like me, who were not yet born – […]

One year later, the Trayvon Martin tragedy still stings, and some people are still throwing salt on the open wound. Last week George Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman, posted a tweet comparing Trayvon Martin to De’Marquis Elkins, 17-year-old black teenager charged with fatally shooting a one-year-old baby. The tweet showed a photo of Elkins side by […]

There is a missing component to the national discussion concerning how to strengthen and rebuild the American economy. It is true that high unemployment, a weak national infrastructure, the need for stronger public education, the concentration of wealth and the deficit are all challenges to the nation’s economy but being left out of the discussion […]

All of last week, I was in Sanford, Florida, pursuing justice for Trayvon Martin. I listened to community concerns about the Sanford Police Department, and rallied with Trayvon’s parents and 30,000 others in Sanford, a town with only 50,000 residents. As a son, father, brother and uncle, the loss of another young black man in […]

This year, on the day our nation celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I proudly stood alongside NAACP State Conference presidents on the steps of the capitol building in Columbia, S.C. for the annual King Day at the Dome March and Rally. The event has grown into a massive commemoration over the years, but this […]

Our voting rights are under attack. In legislatures across the county, misguided state politicians have proposed, and in too many cases have passed, laws that create obstacles to voting.  That is why on Dec. 10 – International Human Rights Day – we are taking a principled stand for freedom in New York City to let […]

New York City has become the latest battleground in the national fight for education equality. In some schools, hallways serve as a stark dividing line. Classrooms with peeling paint and insufficient resources sit on one side, while new computers, smartboards and up-to-date textbooks line the other. One group of students is taught in hallways and […]