Share this page!

Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
Twitter logo
31 Dec 20, 24 tweets, 12 min read
Thinking over the moments that motivated me this year & how powerfully & clearly this country revealed itself. It was confirmation of all I have known, but I also learned so much more. The clarity with which I see the challenges we face has strengthened my resolve beyond measure.
It started with one of the best days ever. My journey with the #USPS this year has been kind of “how it started...how it’s going.” First, the unveiling of the #GwenIfillForever stamp in January. So grateful for this honor from the @USPS.
By November we were in a pitched battle w/the #USPS to ensure that absentee ballots were delivered on time after new postal leadership imposed measures that resulted in delivery delays in major cities. msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/sh…
And then Selma. #JohnLewis summoning his strength to give us our orders: “vote like never before.” cnn.com/videos/us/2020…
It was in Selma outside Brown Chapel AME Church that Rev. Barber & I first discussed an election protection collaboration betw @UniteThePoor & @NAACP_LDF for the Nov. election. Our work together proved to be critical to LDF’s Voting Rights Defender Project led by @JByrd_DC.
I have said that I was shaken to my core by the Wisconsin primary the first week of April. I wrote this piece & vowed that we would do everything possible to provide access to absentee voting for Black ppl in the Nov. election. slate.com/news-and-polit…
Our amazing team of litigators led by Leah Aden, @natashacmerle,@RossDeuel, #CatherineMeza & many others were in hand-to-hand combat in the federal cts demanding expanded absentee voting access; working to restore voting for returning citizens;challenging voter suppression. #LDF
There were @NAACP_LDF cases that received little natl attention but were some of the most consequential to us - like litigating our deseg cases to force the resumption of school lunch & targeted instruction in the south when schools closed for COVID. al.com/news/2020/04/s…
In D.C. we were fighting every day for meaningful COVID relief and sounding the alarm over evictions and water shut-offs. We appealed to Govs, Mayors, MOC. We tried to put info in the hands of those in the communities we serve. tminstituteldf.org/wp-content/upl…
And then #GeorgeFloyd.
And this.
And this. usatoday.com/story/news/fac…
And this. wral.com/graham-police-…
But then....but then there was also the extraordinary resilience of people around the country, determined to fight for democracy, racial justice, decency. inquirer.com/politics/elect…
The determination and optimism of our clients.
Our amazing, fierce, noble clients nbcnews.com/news/us-news/b…
Our long-standing, visionary clients. naacpldf.org/press-release/…
Our clients who make it plain.
And the honor of working alongside our tenacious, brilliant staff. @NAACP_LDF
Their excellence and leadership. @NAACP_LDF
I love to see the deep respect our lawyers have for the communities of people we represent. @NAACP_LDF lawyers epitomize the best of civil rights lawyers.
I love the camaraderie we all share no matter how challenging the moment. @NAACP_LDF
And holding the foundation in sisterhood with a brilliant colleague, partner and friend @JNelsonLDF.
There was more than enough in this year to encourage me to fight on. That is, after all, what we do. Farewell 2020. Let’s get to work 2021.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Sherrilyn Ifill

Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Sifill_LDF

Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
22 Dec 20
I cannot think of a more fitting replacement. #BarbaraJohns is an American hero. At 16, she defied school leaders and led a walkout at her segregated HS in Virginia. Her action led to the Virginia Brown v Bd case. Learn abt this extraordinary activist pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf10.…
Whew! Tears. #BarbaraJohns did what great activists often do - pushed the civil rights attys at @NAACP_LDF to file the Va. Brown case before they felt ready. Her HS in Va. is now a museum, regarded as the birthplace of the modern civil rts mvmt motonmuseum.org
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger is the quintessential account of the development & execution of the Brown v Bd litigation. But among my favorite passages is the awakening of teenager #BarbaraJohns as an activist: “the man who drove the bus I took...was also my history teacher.”
Read 6 tweets
Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
22 Dec 20
Why isn't there a serious, public demand for access to remdesivir for ordinary ppl? It is unconscionable that ordinary, ill Americans don't have access to this therapeutic. Trump taunts us w/his "recovery," when his privilege has insulated him frm the reality of COVID.
The focus on the vaccine is important. But saving lives is also important. A great way to build Black support for taking the vaccine, is to equitably provide access to remdesivir & other therapeutics to Black & Brown patients disproportionately suffering & dying from this virus.
So let’s do both. Push for vaccine equity and access and demand the same for therapeutics.
Read 6 tweets
Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
20 Dec 20
Recently I spoke w/@AnandWrites about the need for institutions to take responsibility for their own role in America’s democratic decline. Like this. The @KCStar taking responsibility for its failures in reporting (or not) fairly & adequately on the Black community.
kansascity.com/news/local/art…
This is not the first of this kind of broad self-accountability exercise by a newspaper. In 2004, the Lexington Herald-Leader apologized for its failure to report on the local Civil Rights Mvmt - publishing articles & developing film that had languished. washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…
Read 6 tweets
Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
30 Nov 20
Pieces like this are so harmful. What so many, including this reporter sadly, cite as Republican cj efforts are just...not. Example: citing grants of clemency as accomplishments of criminal justice reform. An act of mercy toward an indiv is the exact opposite of systemic reform.
Mr. Trump did not keep the two issues separate. His Superbowl ad lifting up his personal release of a grandmother serving an overlong harsh sentence from prison sits firmly alongside his denunciation of grassroots demands for police accountability.
It is part of the project to hijack the concept of systemic criminal justice reform and to rebrand it.
Read 5 tweets
Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
22 Nov 20
THREAD: Civil rights advocates have been ringing the alarm on this since the pandemic struck. Here’s the @southerncenter appealing to the DOJ in Sept about the desperate conditions in Georgia jails: schr.org/schr-calls-on-…
Our litigation filed in April challenging COVID conditions in Arkansas jails is ongoing: @NAACP_LDF
naacpldf.org/press-release/…
Lots of attention on the rise of COVID in South Dakota where the irresponsible Governor has stoked COVID-denial and eschewed mask mandates. Not enough attention to what this means for prisoners in South Dakota. eji.org/news/nearly-ha…
Read 7 tweets
Sherrilyn Ifill Profile picture
20 Nov 20
UPDATE on Barr’s illegal Law Enforcement Commn. Oct 1 a fed ct found the Commn violated FACA. This week the ct issued a ltd use injunction allowing Barr to release the Commn’s report but only w/a printed disclaimer indicating that the Commn violated law. The disclaimer must read:
My statement about the potential release of a report marked w/a scarlet D (disclaimer) indicating that the Commn that authored the document was convened illegally:
naacpldf.org/press-release/…
Meanwhile, yesterday yet another prosecutor resigned from participation on Barr’s embarrassing Commission, saying that the work had been “smothered by a pernicious political agenda.” reuters.com/article/us-usa…
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @Sifill_LDF has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @Sifill_LDF!

Read all threads by @Sifill_LDF