open to all two women

Blog

We can be pretty sure that each new day will bring two things: new threats to our civil liberties, and new stories of people standing up for their rights and winning. Behind every court ruling is a person. Behind every landmark law is a movement. Read the stories and hear the voices that ground our work.

Sera and Frankie of band Unsung Lilly in pose where their foreheads are touching
Blog

Facebook Blocked My Ad, Mislabeled it "Sexually Explicit"

Sep 23, 2020
My wife and I have made music together for the past 8 years, in an independent band named Unsung Lilly. We are passionate about creating epic, empowering pop music. As a same-sex couple, we have been heartened recently by the improved representation of LGBTQ people on television, and we are grateful that most people we meet are accepting of our relationship. It’s enough to make you think that m... Read More
Kei Jackson
Blog

Banning My "Phenomenally Black" Shirt is Only a Symptom of the Racism in Bakersfield Schools

Aug 07, 2020
I was told by the Greenfield Unified School District that I could not wear a t-shirt with the words “Phenomenally Black” because they said it was the same thing as wearing a “Make America Great Again” shirt. A Black colleague then later told me the administration asked if I was trying to push a Black agenda on campus. And yet when I wore a “Phenomenally Woman” shirt, there was no issue. Read More
Image of a black woman's face
Blog

Microsoft Says it Supports Racial Justice. Will it Refuse to Power Discriminatory Police Surveillance?

Jun 10, 2020
As major tech companies rush to claim solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, they’re being rightfully called out for the ways their products and workplace conditions actively undermine the rights and safety of Black people. IBM has listened and stopped development of face recognition, a technology that supercharges police surveillance and has repeatedly been shown to disproportionately m... Read More
Honor George Floyd, Defund the Police
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In Response to the Murder of George Floyd

Jun 02, 2020
The killing of George Floyd on May 25 has returned the spotlight on racist policing and the dehumanization of African Americans in the criminal legal system. We share the grief and anger that’s spilling into the streets calling for justice. Read More
young people wearing masks protesting
Blog

Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist  

May 18, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic forces a reckoning with the balance between freedom of assembly and public health and safety. The virus is highly contagious and the risks of exposure include severe illness or death. These risks are especially high for medically vulnerable people and communities that our systems have failed, especially Black and brown communities. Read More
shopper on sidewalk flushing queens
Blog

Let’s Stop the Scapegoating During a Global Pandemic

Apr 16, 2020
Just like tens of millions of people sheltering in place in the U.S., I’m adjusting to the new realities and worries of day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But on top of worrying about my elderly family members, U.S. hospitals’ shortage of basic medical equipment, or where I can find toilet paper and eggs, I have another fear. Like other Americans of East Asian descent (including citizen... Read More
Gold Miner
Blog

California, a "Free State" Sanctioned Slavery

Feb 27, 2020
In a late-night raid in April 1852, three formerly enslaved black men who had built a lucrative business hauling mining supplies during the California Gold Rush, were rousted from their cabin by armed white men. They were forcibly taken before a justice of the peace in Sacramento County who ordered them deported to their former “owner,” a white man in Mississippi. Read More
facial recognition
Blog

Hey Clearview, Your Misleading PR Campaign Doesn’t Make Your Face Surveillance Product Any Less Dystopian

Feb 10, 2020
In the last few weeks, a company called Clearview has been in the news for marketing a reckless and invasive facial recognition tool to law enforcement. The company claims the tool can identify people in billions of photos nearly instantaneously. And Exhibit A in support of their claim to law enforcement that their app is accurate? An “accuracy test” that Clearview boasts was modeled on the ACLU’s... Read More