February 2024

Dear Friend,

Throughout Black History Month, we stand alongside and amplify the voices of Black individuals, families, and communities. Their stories hold the power to educate, inspire, and ignite change. North Carolina’s Black history is filled with stories of struggle and triumph that serve as a reminder that our daily actions, no matter how mundane they may seem, can shape the future in remarkable ways.

There is the history of Black Wall Street in Durham and the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins at Woolworth’s. Our state is home to 10 HBCUs, including N.C. A&T, which has the highest enrollment of any HBCU in the country. Black musicians Nina Simone, John Coltrane, and George Clinton all hail from North Carolina. John Chavis and Pauli Murray were North Carolina faith leaders, scholars, and educators who influenced generations of learners and civil rights advocates.  

And before Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks, there were Sarah Louise Keys and Dorothy Counts. In 1952, Private First-Class Keys refused to give up her seat to a white marine on her bus ride home from Fort Dix to Washington, NC. In 1957, Counts entered Charlotte’s Harry Harding High as its first Black student. Henry E. Frye, who hired me as a law clerk for my first job after law school, was the first Black justice and chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. 

We are grateful for their courage and for the courage of countless others who stood for justice. We also acknowledge the work that remains.  

Black North Carolinians are—and have been—living, creating, working, and thriving in our state. Still, the legacy of racism and white supremacy shapes our communities. The Massacre of 1898, in my hometown Wilmington, is but one example. Much work remains to dismantle barriers to equity and prosperity for Black people in North Carolina and beyond.

The North Carolina Justice Center is proud to play a role in this work and is grateful to have you standing with us. This month, we honor the past by building a more just present and future. Join us by getting engaged - attend a local event, write to your lawmakers, and please donate to support our work. 

In solidarity, 

Reggie Shuford, Executive Director 

Join us on February 22nd for the Day of Action for Education Rights

On Thursday, February 22, join the NC Justice Center Education team and our coalition partners at Every Child NC for the Day of Action for Education Rights. On February 22nd, the State Supreme Court will again hear oral arguments on the Leandro school funding case. Despite the historic ruling in 2022 upholding Leandro, changes in the political makeup of the court have prompted an unprecedented and unjust rehearing of the case.

Advocates will gather throughout the day, starting at 10 AM at the NC Capital grounds on the Morgan Street side, followed by a march to the NC General Assembly. At 12 PM a press conference will be held in front of the NC Legislature building. We will gather for a community lunch & learn / Black History teach-in at 12:30 PM and will end the day with a virtual debrief at 2:30 PM. View a livestream of the event throughout the day on

the Every Child NC Facebook page.

Greetings on behalf of the NC Justice Center’s Executive Committee! We are excited this year to welcome several new members to our Board of Directors, and we want to express our deepest thanks to Dean Patricia Timmons-Goodson and Dean Melissa Essary, the Board’s immediate past Co-Chairs. Their tremendous leadership, alongside our incredible Executive Director, Reggie Shuford, has left the Board with a blueprint for success for years to come. 

The start of a new year is always an opportunity for renewed commitment to core values and, for our Board, that means a renewed commitment to our mission of ending poverty in North Carolina. Amidst the increasingly difficult climate in our state, renewing that commitment is all the more important.   

As a Board of Directors, one way we intend to rededicate ourselves to the mission is by continuing to lift up the NC Justice Center’s staff.  Their indefatigable public policy advocacy, change-making community outreach, impactful research, influential communications work, and high-impact wins in the courtroom continue to leave us in awe. Consider this for a moment: This is a team that has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.   

That team is what the NC Justice Center is all about. As our Executive Director Reggie Shuford has inspired us to remember, we are “One JC” here at the NC Justice Center, and that includes the Board. To the NC Justice Center’s amazing staff: Thank you for everything you do. We see your work and we renew our commitment to supporting you in every way we can. 

As we begin 2024, we are so grateful that the NC Justice Center continues to be one of our state’s leading voices for economic and social justice, with a voice as strong as ever. Here’s to another successful year for the NC Justice Center, in which we get ever closer to our goal of ensuring the economic security of all North Carolinians. 

Sincerely,

Matt Case (Co-Chair), Drew Erteschik (Co-Chair), Sam Cone (Treasurer),

Letha Muhammad (Secretary) 

Join the NC Justice Center in welcoming our new board members! We look forward to continuing the mission to make North Carolina a more just place for all with their guidance and expertise behind us. 

Dreama J. Caldwell is the co-director of Down Home North Carolina, a grassroots organizing group that is dedicated to serving communities in small towns and rural areas across the state.

Dr. Chi Huang has spent the last several decades as a practicing physician, health care leader and social entrepreneur. He is currently the Advocate Health Southeast Region Hospital Medicine Specialty Medical Director among many other roles.

Hon. Robin E. Hudson is a former North Carolina Supreme court judge, serving from January 2007 until her second term ended December 31, 2022.

Prof. Irving L. Joyner has worked as a professor at the North Carolina Central School of Law since 1982. From 1984 to 1992, he served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. 

Join the NC Justice Center and our partners at the North Carolina Poor People's Campaign on March 2nd, for the Moral March on Raleigh. After another year of missed opportunities on the part of the NC General Assembly to support working families and individuals struggling with poverty, North Carolinians are rallying together to demand progress. With over 40% of the state struggling with poverty or low-income status, and significant gaps in healthcare and wages affecting millions, the need for action is urgent. That’s why we’re calling for a Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ State House Assembly and Moral March on Raleigh on March 2nd, 2024! North Carolina is joining thirty states across the nation holding simultaneous assemblies and marches at their state capitals on March 2nd, as a part of 40 weeks of action. 

After months of preparation, NC Justice Center attorney Clermont Ripley, Co-Director of our Workers’ Rights team, recently argued before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, (one step below the US Supreme Court!). She represented our client, along with Carol Brooke, who was disciplined and then fired from his job at a chicken processing plant after he filed an OSHA complaint over unsafe working conditions.

Our team filed a lawsuit on his behalf, alleging that the discipline and discharge were retaliatory acts in violation of the NC Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act and that the firing violated our state’s public policy of encouraging employees to report unsafe working conditions. A favorable decision in this case would set new precedent and benefit workers throughout our state. This tremendous advocacy is emblematic of the commitment the NC Justice Center holds to ensuring all North Carolinians receive the quality, steadfast representation they deserve to see their case through. 

On January 29th, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 303, signaling a commitment to transform statewide reentry coordination and reduce recidivism in North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes measurable goals to improve outcomes for individuals transitioning through the criminal legal system, including access to Medicaid before release and driver’s license restoration assistance. Furthermore, it commits to expanding vocational training, increasing educational credentials earned by incarcerated people, and reducing homelessness upon release.

Establishing Local Reentry Councils and the focus on second-chance hiring demonstrates a comprehensive approach to supporting successful reintegration into society. The NC Justice Center has long advocated for more accessible, fully funded reentry services across the state, and we will continue our efforts to fight for fair chances in North Carolina. Our next steps for justice reforms include lifting the SNAP felony ban and passing comprehensive mugshot reform to ensure fair chances for all North Carolinians.

Just over two months into implementation, we are happy to announce that 349,000 North Carolinians have enrolled in Medicaid expansion—a policy that the NC Justice Center has advocated and lobbied for over the last decade. Our team has been hard at work to support enrollment, planning and supporting 23 outreach and enrollment events in the first two weeks of Medicaid expansion’s launch, as well as creating 60,000 Medicaid expansion coloring books and wallet cards (co-branded with DHHS) that have been mailed to 840+ organizations, physicians, and providers for the first quarter of 2024. 

The North Carolina Justice Center
224 S. Dawson Street  | Raleigh, North Carolina 27601
919-856-2570 | contact@ncjustice.org

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please (Unsubscribing is not supported in previews).