New Labor Institute between Jobs With Justice Education Fund and the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy Builds Leaders Focused On Black Economic Justice and Labor
First Labor Institute Housed at a Southern HBCU
In March, Jobs With Justice Education Fund and the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy at Clark Atlanta University unveiled the Labor Institute for Advancing Black Strategies. The Labor Institute is the first-ever of its kind housed at an HBCU, and will create cohorts of economic justice and labor-focused strategists to cultivate a national network of leaders focused on Southern worker organizing – particularly among Black workers. Through programming, fellowship opportunities, and scholarship, the Labor Institute will serve as a central hub for labor scholars, organizers, activists, and workers as they build Black worker power throughout the South.
The Labor Institute launch coincided with the 2nd Annual Black Women Public Policy in the South Symposium hosted by the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy at Clark Atlanta University. One of the events included a roundtable discussion with Black women leading various labor institutions speaking to how workers across various sectors are fighting to re-shape the political and economic landscape of the country, centering the U.S. South. Additionally, fellows of the ABSI movement program were able to share their experiences in research and labor organizing.
Erica Smiley, Executive Director, Jobs With Justice Education Fund, said, “For the first time since 1877, the world is looking at the US South. Not in pity or disdain, but because it is an epicenter for the entire global economy, from manufacturing to filmmaking. We aren’t the only ones who can see that expanding democracy here means expanding democracy everywhere. It is not just a theoretical framework. Building democracy here is possible, especially when we see it not simply as a political project but also as an economic project.
Dr. Joseph L. Jones, Executive Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for the Studies in Public Policy, Clark Atlanta University, added, “There is going to be a seismic shift in this country in regards to new labor leaders, to workers’ rights, to making certain that people understand their worth and their power not only in their jobs but also in this country.”
Jobs With Justice Education Fund is the country’s leading nonprofit in the fight for workplace and economic democracy. Comprising a national network of local affiliates in nearly every state, Jobs With Justice brings together coalitions of unions, worker organizations, community groups, students, and faith institutions to win concrete improvements in people’s lives.
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