With funding from CREDO members, People For the American Way is fighting for equal rights and constitutional liberties

People For the American Way, a recent CREDO grantee, is a progressive nonprofit fighting for equal rights and constitutional liberties, working hard to ensure that young, diverse progressives are leading the way in their communities and have the resources and support they need to run political or issue campaigns, take office, and advance justice and equity.

With a January 2021 grant from CREDO members, PFAW supported young progressive electeds as they advanced reforms on priorities like climate justice and public safety and continued to work to enhance the political leadership of young leaders from underserved communities. Here are some recent victories and projects launched, thanks in part to funding from CREDO:

Building on the success of the “Souls to the Polls” movement that PFAW led the creation of 25 years ago, the organization launched VESSELS Vote, to provide clergy with the tools and skills they need to be even more powerful advocates of voting rights, social justice, equality for all. With the support of its network of Black faith leaders, PFAW are leaders in the fight against voter suppression and political disenfranchisement.PFAW galvanized its African American Religious Affairs (AARA) network in support of voting rights.

• As part of this effort, members of its network led a strategic boycott of Home Depot, a Georgia based corporation. This boycott leverages the trusted voices of Black clergy members from throughout The Peach State, and was initiated in response to Home Depot’s failure to speak out against the passage of Georgia SB202; voter suppression legislation designed in response to increased minority voter turnout during the 2020 general election.
• They hosted a “Home Depot Caravan” to the Georgia State Capitol, to voice our collective concern to Georgia state legislators about the passage of SB202 and the pending economic consequences of boycotts that may impact Georgia in the wake of the bill becoming law.

PFAW advocated for the U.S. Senate to pass S1, the For the People Act.

• Its minister’s council led advocacy efforts on the passage of the For the People Act. Recently, its network of clergy members rallied in Washington, DC and met with the White House to help build support for passage of the bill.
• They also partnered with Black Voters Matter to host the 2021 “Freedom Ride for Voting Rights” to raise awareness of voter suppression and build support for DC statehood and the For the People Act.

If you’d like to get involved with People for the American Way or learn more about the organization, you can take action on one the groups recent campaigns or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And if you’d like to help us distribute our monthly donation to three more amazing nonprofit organizations, please visit CREDODonations.com.