MISSION STATEMENT

Law for Black Lives is a national community of radical lawyers and legal workers committed to transforming the law and building the power of organizing to defend, protect and advance Black Liberation across the globe. 

Law for Black Lives is the Black femme led legal arm of the Black Liberation movement. Through the coordination and provision of legal support, training, mentorship, research, political education, policy and popular education tools, we are building a legal infrastructure that is responsive, action oriented and collaborative.

Transform the Law

Law for Black Lives is committed to providing needed legal and policy research to movement organizations in order to implement long-term transformation. Following the lead of the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table and other close partners, Law for Black Lives has prioritized invest/divest, bail reform, decriminalization, land reform/co-operatives and reparations. We provide technical assistance to over a dozen partners through our L4BL Movement Lawyering Squad and by leveraging the brilliance and capacity of our members. In addition to providing technical assistance to individual partner organizations, Law for Black Lives has co-created easily digestible resources that can be used across the field including our Freedom to Thrive: Invest/Divest Report, our Reparations Now Toolkit, our Until Freedom Comes: Bail Out Toolkit, our Transformational Bail Curriculum and more.

Transform the Legal Field

Law for Black Lives is fostering a community of movement lawyers and legal workers who are committed to practicing law in ways that build the power and sustainability of movement. Traditionally, those in the legal profession have served as gatekeepers and often offer stale, top-down and outdated solutions. Through our annual Legal and Organizing fellowship, our bi-monthly webinars, our trainings at law schools and legal institutions, and our CLEs, we are training a new generation of lawyers in the politics and practices of movement lawyering. We also just launched our Law for Black Lives membership, which offers members opportunities to build relationships, strengthen their analysis and sharpen their skills.

Support Black led base building organizations

Law for Black Lives believes that transformative change only happens through effective organizing and power building. As a result, the majority of our work is focused on how we can support local base building groups to build power and transform the conditions of their community. We do this through deep relationship building, legal representation in rapid response moments, resource creation, technical assistance and the collective development of collaborative spaces such as the Black Freedom Project, National Bail Out space and the People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom.