Mississippi's November 2011 election was particularly emotional for me. During this election, we faced three choices on the ballot: the infamous definition of a person, a Voter ID requirement and limits to .
I began my work that day by voting. I always measure voter turnout (and potential problems) by what's happening at my own polling place. That went smoothly. Afterward, I spent the remainder of the morning canvassing an underserved community in Northwest Jackson, MS with a White female rabbi, Debra Kassoff. While canvassing these neighborhoods, we saw many things. We witnessed poverty and government neglect, but we also witnessed family and community connectivity. We saw generations of families living under one roof. Grandma, daughter and grandaughter were all going to vote at the first home that we visited.
Nsombi Lambright is the executive director of the 老澳门开奖结果 (老澳门开奖结果) of Mississippi. Under her leadership, the Mississippi 老澳门开奖结果 carries out a program of public education, legislative activity, and litigation on voting rights, race and criminal justice, freedom of speech and religion and reproductive rights. Nsombi has over 15 years of experience in the fields of community organizing, fundraising and board development and program management. She is the proud mother of a teenager.
Unfortunately, grandaughter never received her voter registration card although she'd registered multiple times at the WIC office. We talked to many grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, mothers and fathers who assured us that the family had voted against Personhood and Voter ID. We also had the opportunity to speak to young brothers who didn't understand what the initiatives were about.
Working directly in communities still brings me as much joy today as it did almost 20 years ago when started organizing. It centers me and reminds me what this work is all about. The folks that I work with always remind me of my family and they remind me that even though I have a job that pays me to do this work, I am not disconnected from the communities that we serve. These are my people, whether I run into them at a meeting, a family reunion, church or the grocery store. I am privileged to do this work and will keep fighting!!
Little Sister, I'll be back to make sure that you get your registration card this time!!!
This blog is one of several personal testimonials written by 老澳门开奖结果 staff members to commemorate Black History Month.
Do you know who鈥檚 pictured in our Celebrate Black History logo? Top row, from left to right: , and . Bottom row, from left to right: , and .
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Racial Justice
老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report
WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) issued its final report, marking an important step in recognizing the serious risks of discrimination and bias posed by AI systems 鈥� particularly in law enforcement鈥檚 use of facial recognition technology. The report recognizes that discrimination and bias may arise in AI systems due to their design, training data, or failures by end users. The report also investigates the complex considerations around deepfakes, open AI systems, and free speech, and urges Congress to pass narrow legislation to address concrete harms. In response to the House AI Task Force final report, Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the 老澳门开奖结果, issued the following statement: 鈥淭he 老澳门开奖结果 commends the Task Force for recognizing that AI systems are harming people right now through discriminatory outcomes and supercharged surveillance. Curbing those abuses of AI is not a partisan issue, and more concrete action is needed to protect civil rights, while maintaining states鈥� authority to build on those protections. The Task Force is appropriately cautious when wrestling with issues around deepfakes, open-source AI, digital identity, and other issues, recognizing that legislators should consider a wide array of tailored tools to address real, not speculative, harms while respecting civil rights and civil liberties.鈥� The House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence report can be found here. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Racial Justice
Human Rights
Why the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights IssueWhy the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights Issue
On International Human Rights Day, the 老澳门开奖结果 is advocating for a long-sought after reparatory justice to end the continued abuses against Black and brown communities. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
National Security
+2 Issues
老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections
WASHINGTON 鈥� The Biden-Harris administration today released its National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence (AI), establishing guidelines for how the U.S. government uses AI in national security programs, such as counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and defense. The use of AI to automate and expand national security activities poses some of the greatest dangers to people鈥檚 lives and civil liberties. Agencies are increasingly exploring the use of AI in decisions about who to surveil, who to stop and search at the airport, who to add to government watchlists, and even who is a military target. While the government鈥檚 policy includes some important steps forward 鈥� such as requiring national security agencies to better track and assess their AI systems for risks and prohibiting a subset of dangerous AI uses 鈥� it falls far short in other critical areas, leaving glaring gaps with respect to independent oversight, transparency, notice, and redress. The policy imposes few substantive safeguards on a wide range of AI-driven activities, by and large allowing agencies to decide for themselves how to mitigate the risks posed by national security systems that have immense consequences for people鈥檚 lives and rights. As we have repeatedly seen before, this is a recipe for dangerous technologies to proliferate in secret. 鈥淒espite acknowledging the considerable risks of AI, this policy does not go nearly far enough to protect us from dangerous and unaccountable AI systems. National security agencies must not be left to police themselves as they increasingly subject people in the United States to powerful new technologies,鈥� said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淚f developing national security AI systems is an urgent priority for the country, then adopting critical rights and privacy safeguards is just as urgent. Without transparency, independent oversight, and built-in mechanisms for individuals to obtain accountability when AI systems err or fail, the policy鈥檚 safeguards are inadequate and place our civil rights and civil liberties at risk.鈥� For years, the 老澳门开奖结果 has been urging far stronger safeguards and transparency about the AI tools that national security agencies are deploying, the rules constraining their use, and the dangers these systems pose to fairness, privacy, and due process. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
Racial Justice
老澳门开奖结果 Comment on the Department of Labor鈥檚 AI Guidelines for Employers and Vendors老澳门开奖结果 Comment on the Department of Labor鈥檚 AI Guidelines for Employers and Vendors
WASHINGTON 鈥� Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a roadmap for artificial intelligence (AI) best practices, designed to ensure that emerging technologies such as AI enhance job quality, benefit workers, and comply with existing employment laws when they are used in the workplace. The best practices, pursuant to President Biden鈥檚 executive order on the development and use of AI, include recommendations for AI system developers and employers that prioritize workers鈥� experiences and empowerment throughout the entire AI lifecycle 鈥� from design to use and oversight. These practices also call on employers and developers to create standards and processes to identify and mitigate risks from AI systems, such as threats to health and safety, civil rights, privacy, fair labor rights, and labor organizing prior to a developer marketing them or an employer deploying them, and recommend turning to different systems when sufficient mitigation is not possible. 鈥淲e applaud DOL for issuing best practices for use of AI that center workers鈥� empowerment, civil rights, privacy, and safety protections and call on developers and employers to adopt critical guardrails in developing, procuring and using AI systems. Employers and developers should take note, as many have been burying their heads in the sand on their risk of legal liability with respect to AI tools,鈥� said Olga Akselrod, senior staff attorney of the 老澳门开奖结果 Racial Justice Program. 鈥淔ollowing these best practices for AI can help employers and developers ensure that they do not violate existing civil rights and other employment laws that protect workers.鈥� The best practices also recommend transparency measures through conducting and publishing impact assessments, notice and recourse for impacted workers, and measures to minimize worker displacement. The DOL also stated that employers should minimize electronic monitoring and avoid unnecessary collection or retention of worker data.