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Pittsburgh skyline seen through the Fred Rogers Memorial Monument in foreground

Voting Rights Groups Ask Court to Allow Them to Intervene in Allegheny County Voter Registration Lawsuit

We have asked a federal court to allow us to intervene to defend the rights of Allegheny County voters in a lawsuit filed by an organization challenging how the county maintains its voter registration list.
Press release
March 3, 2020
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Featured
Feet of people sitting on a bus, from a low angle

Hundreds of Thousands of People Aren’t Getting a Say in the 2020 Primaries

Felony disenfranchisement is one of several ways people get stripped of their power.
Blog
Chiraag Bains
Amy Traub
Mark Huelsman
Naila Awan
Gwyn Ellsworth

Civil Rights Groups Undertake Voter Education for People in Georgia Jails

1,000 packets containing know-your-rights documents and absentee ballot applications were mailed to people incarcerated in Gwinnett, Glynn, and Randolph County jails.
Press release
Michael Bloomberg speaking at podium (Creative Commons credit: Be the Change Inc)

The Bloomberg Higher Ed Plan: Silent on Debt, Decent on Affordability

Bloomberg has quietly begun to roll out a series of policy proposals, and this week, it was higher education’s turn. His plan says a lot about where consensus currently is—and is not.
Blog
Mark Huelsman
Lyndon Johnson shakes Martin Luther King, Jr.'s hand after signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Honor the Voting Rights Act by Restoring Its Anti-Racist Core

Breaking down what made the Voting Rights Act so powerful, how the Supreme Court gutted it, and what can be done to restore it.
Blog
Chiraag Bains

Modern-day “poll taxes” disenfranchise millions of low-income voters

“With these laws in particular, they are not race neutral. These laws are deeply rooted in an attempt to exclude Black people from our democracy.”
In the media
Mike Ludwig

All the ways student debt exacerbates racial inequality — ‘it’s like landing in quick sand’

"The bigger problem is that the payoff to a college degree is lower for students of color than it is for white students."
In the media
Jillian Berman
Defocused image of people sitting in an agency waiting room

Groups File Suit to Block Rensselaer County’s Plan to Intimidate Voters By Illegally Disclosing Voter Registration Information to ICE

The County’s plans will intimidate and deter eligible citizens from registering to vote, abridging their fundamental right to vote and resulting in serious underrepresentation in the electoral process.
Press release

Fighting Big Tech Makes for Some Uncomfortable Bedfellows

“How do we operationalize this? Who’s doing the moderating? Are these new allies coming in good faith?”
In the media
Nellie Bowles
Hector Figueroa

Demos Mourns the Loss of Héctor Figueroa—Champion of Workers Rights, President of SEIU 32BJ, and Demos Board Member

We at Demos are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Héctor Figueroa, president of SEIU 32BJ, Demos board member and linchpin of the New York labor movement.
Press release
K. Sabeel Rahman

Student Debt Forgiveness Sounds Good. What Might Happen If The Government Did It?

Eliminating all student debt, per Sanders' plan, would increase the wealth gap between white and black households, according to one 2015 study co-authored by left-leaning think tank Demos.
In the media
Clare Lombardo
Keep That Same Energy

We Started "Keep That Same Energy"

Why we've organized an event series for black and brown millennials.
Blog
Shanaé Bass
David Perrin
Lesley Williams
Black student reclined and working on computer

These are the Questions We Should Be Asking in the Student Debt Cancellation Debate

The idea of canceling student debt has become a topic of considerable debate. Here's what you need to know about the Warren and Sanders student debt plans and what still needs to be answered.
Blog
Mark Huelsman

Florida Prices Hundreds of Thousands of Returning Citizens Out of the Vote in a Stunning and Unconstitutional Move

By enacting SB 7066, the Florida legislature has created two classes of returning citizens: those who can afford to reclaim their voting rights, and those who cannot.
Press release
Chiraag Bains