"Power concedes nothing without a demand." - Frederick Douglass Who we are: The People’s Coalition for Justice is an anti-racist, grassroots organization currently focusing on institutionalized racism and classism in the police department and the need for greater police accountability. The People’s Coalition for Justice was founded in December 1999 to address the many injustices in our communities. Our goal is to engage in actions and dialogue in order to bring forth a more compassionate, liberated, and humane community and world. We work in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee, New Hope Baptist Church and community members. Our group is facilitated by a multigenerational and multiracial Steering Committee, which meets biweekly. The Steering Committee consists of founding members and community members, and serves primarily to provide general oversight; coordinate outreach, quarterly community meetings; and to take responsibility for follow-through on all plans made. Our belief is that racism is the underpinning of all other forms of oppression in the United States. Any movement that does not address racism at its foundation will continue to disproportionately benefit white people with any social changes achieved. Racism keeps our people divided and has historically been used to divide all multiracial movements. We operate according to a strong anti-racist, -sexist, -homophobic, -ablist and -classist philosophy, and we see all forms of oppression as inter-related. We will also take active measures to address prejudice in ourselves and within our group, via training and internal education. We are a grassroots organization, a movement by and for the People. We are dedicated to maintaining leadership for the group by People of Color and supported by committed anti-racist whites. We believe strongly in leadership development for all members. Our organizing will emphasize and empower oppressed communities, and we realize that we are accountable to those communities in our words and actions. As a group, we will focus on building a solid base of committed community organizers. Our group will have three main components: 1) Internal and community education 2) Service to the community 3) Direct actions around social and political issues. Our initial focus has inspired us to form a movement for an independent civilian review board and greater police accountability in Seattle, but our group will engage in the struggle against oppression on many different fronts. Some of the other issues we plan to address include: Housing and Gentrification Reparations Economic Justice Militarism and Racism in our schools Racism in the Criminal Justice System Sweatshops and Globalization Immigrant Rights