How Do You Get Started in Civil Rights Work?

How do you get involved in civil rights work? How do you get started as an activist, an attorney, or social entrepreneur? Also what are the different career paths and what advice is available from those who are already working in the space? What advice is there to help you navigate the civil rights career path?

All of these questions are very good questions. A good place to start is with a series of webinars that were presented by the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (CRSJ). I think the first one aired like last year and it is a series on a topic that I think is very very interesting. I've only gotten through about 2 and 1/4 of the series, called The Civil Rights Lawyer.

One of the first things to remember for young lawyers or young activists is that it is possible to do this work and still make a living. For instance, executives employed with organizations like the National Action Network (NAN), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other national organizations, make a very good living. You can confirm this, if you check out their Form 990, which is the filing for 501(c)(3) charities with the IRS. You can find these forms here. On these forms, you can see what the expenses were and the income. Many nonprofits just publish them anyway for the public or their donors to see. Looking at these forms, you can see what the administrators and CEOs earn. This is good data on the potential for a civil rights attorney or activist, on what they could likely earn in a similar position. This is not to criticize any of these organizations, as it is true that many of them have hundreds of employees and/or volunteers with multiple chapters all across the country. Therefore, these executives of these large organizations should receive comparable pay. It is true that one should not have to fight poverty while trying to fight for civil rights and social justice. The main thing to remember, and my point here is that it is possible to do this work and still earn and live a great life. Thus, I definitely recommend that you check out those 990 forms.

Attorney and Activist Michael Coard X, says he's an African, he's an attorney and really he's the angriest black man in America told a story of how when he went to Ohio State Law School, he thought that all African American attorneys were there to fight discrimination and racism, all the women with their to fight gender equality issues, all disabled people were there to fight disability issues, all LGBTQ folks were there to fight these issues, but he realized that everyone was there to make money and just become a part of the machine. I believe that is a powerful indictment of many lawyers, and society. That does not mean I am attacking lawyers for their career choices, I think what it means is that we have to create spaces and career paths that are just as attractive and comprehensively rewarding as other fields of the law. I think that's one thing today that I have heard mentioned before is that in law school for various reasons there is a tremendous push toward obtaining a judicial clerkship, or going to BigLaw. While there is nothing wrong with these choices, I do think it is important that these are not the only choices available to law students and even activists in general.

One of the goals of Civil Rights University is to provide a clearinghouse of information regarding the career path, rewards, benefits, and burdens of a career and life dedicated to the cause of civil rights and social justice.

I think a good place to start with being a civil rights activist, attorney or social entrepreneur is to decide which area you would like to focus on. While I've done a lot of different things in terms of practicing law, one of the things that I never thought about that the ABA’s webinar broke down for me was considering the different types of work that you can get involved in. Essentially, the panelists boiled the areas down to three distinct areas: Impact Litigation, Policy Advocacy, and Direct Services. An example of Impact litigation are those where they are the class-actions, where you end up going to the Supreme Court, or federal or state courts of appeal, or state supreme courts. Organizations that engage in impact litigation include, the NAACP-LDF, the ACLU, Disability Rights organizations, Lambda Legal, and similar organizations, These cases deal with wide-ranging issues that impact large groups of people on a grand scale. On the other hand, you have policy work which involves getting lots of new laws on the books, and getting old laws taken out, and also includes administrative actions. Most of the national civil rights organizations also engage in policy work as well. Next there are direct services which include legal services that are provided to certain groups, or people with a certain economic status. A great example of organizations that engage in direct services is any legal aid organization. From my perspective I am probably more passionate and a better fit for impact litigation as that is the best place that I feel like I could be most most used

Thus, those are good examples of different career paths allowing you to decide for yourself what you are going to do and what you would like to go into. However, it should be noted that there is no set linear path to take more. Instead it is sort of the collection of experiences and things that you have done. Again our goal is for Civil Rights University to be this Consolidated Central Clearinghouse of information on this and similar subjects.

It is also worth noting that a lot of things happen at the state and local level so you can be an activist in your own community and you can be an activist in your own area, or your own State. I also want to make sure that you're aware that there are way too many issues, way too many problems and circumstances to say there is not enough room for everybody.

In addition, also, don’t ever feel that what you want to do is already done because you can carve out your own niche. I think that there are all kinds of intersections in terms of crossing different areas and different spaces and different groups. For example, if you are female and of color, a African-American, and perhaps a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, then, there’s at least three different issue groups. The need is great and I think that is what I hope you notice. The Bible talks about the harvest being plenty,but the laborers are few. One thing the late great, Julian Bond, indicated was that he did not wait until the torch passed to him, but when he was ready he grabbed the torch. At the recent March on Washington Joe Madison Hall of Fame radio host, indicated that he would not give up his torch but he would help you light yours when you got your torch.

So I encourage you to get involved, no matter what area of focus you choose. One of the things that we hope is that Civil Rights University will be the premier provider of high quality content for you in this space. Always remember no matter what you choose and this is what I've learned the hard way, it takes time. You need to know that it's okay if you don't know right away. You have lots of tools to find out, ike informational interviews. Believe it or not, if you call people up and ask them about themselves very seldom are they not willing to do so. The main thing is that if you want to be an activist, civil rights attorneys, or social entrepreneur, you CAN do it. There are many examples to follow. Go forward in civil rights and social justice! Until next time

Brian