Race Equity

PJC Anti-Racism Vision

The Public Justice Center envisions a just society where Black, Latine, Indigenous, Asian, and other historically exploited people are free from systems of oppression, exploitation, and all expressions of discrimination. This will shift power and resources to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) across Maryland.

We envision that our organization is actively anti-racist and perpetually learns and applies anti-racist principles to our internal work and our advocacy as we partner with our clients and communities in pursuit of liberation.

Finally, we envision the individuals within our organization are liberated themselves, and we recognize that all liberation (our own, our clients’, our communities’) is intertwined.

PJC Anti-Racism Mission

To end oppression and dismantle racist systems and institutions that perpetuate oppression in any form, including white supremacy, both internally at the PJC and externally in our broader communities, by dedicating funds, time, and staff to follow through with these commitments.

PJC strives to be anti-racist, and there’s a long road ahead.

To our clients, our partners and our general community, we commit to:

1. Partnering with organizations and funders with anti-racist values, and calling out (or in) partners who express anti-Blackness or racism;
2. Developing authentic, non-transactional relationships with Black-led organizations and institutions;
3. Soliciting and incorporating feedback from our clients, partners, and the broader community about our approach, our work, our interactions, and our outcomes. We will use this feedback to:
   1. identify which systemic changes our clients want us to help advance; and
   2. better our client interactions to ensure we’re useful partners and assistants.
4. Advancing and initiating efforts to achieve justice for all people in contact with the legal system, and which challenge white supremacy in the legal profession and justice system, by:
   1. taking cases which attack white supremacist and racist systems and defaults;
   2. incorporating an anti-racist analysis in our work;
   3. advancing race-equity arguments in our cases; and
   4. taking small and big actions as part of our anti-racism work.
5. Building solidarity by joining our clients and community for moments of joy, and not just responding to crisis.
6. Implementing community lawyering practices.