In a surprising decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots received up to five days after Election Day to be counted, affirming that states have the authority to set mail-in ballot receipt deadlines. Civil rights groups and Black leaders celebrated the court’s decision in Watson v. Republican National Committee. “As critical elections approach, we know that our democracy is strongest when it expands participation, not restricts it,” said Kristin Powell, executive director of Black Futures Lab of the Supreme Court’s decision. “For too long, Black communities and other historically marginalized voters have faced systemic barriers designed to silence our voices.” Read more in The Grio and Blavity.

Furthermore, the nation’s highest court dismissed an attempt to dismantle birthright citizenship, protecting a constitutional pillar that has shaped American identity for over a century and a half. “Birthright citizenship is a safeguard against exclusion, rooted in the legacy of formerly enslaved Black people who fought to ensure that citizenship could not be denied based on race, origin, or status,” said Kristin Powell, Executive Director for Black Futures Lab. Read more in The Washington Informer and Yahoo News. 

One year after a learning journey to Aotearoa (New Zealand), our partners at the Zellerbach Family Foundation are putting lessons from Indigenous-led, healing-centered youth justice into action in the Bay Area. The Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to the Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN) to launch the Ubuntu Justice Initiative, a restorative justice pilot designed to divert Black boys in Alameda County from the juvenile justice system. The initiative combines African and African American cultural practices with New Zealand’s Family Group Conference model to strengthen families, promote accountability through healing, and provide holistic support for youth. Learn more about their investment in the Ubuntu Justice Initiative here.

Jazzy Eastman, a survivor of gun violence from Oakland, is sharing how being shot at age 16 left lasting emotional trauma and how therapy helped her begin to heal. In her op-ed in The Sacramento Bee, she explains that many young survivors across California never receive the mental health support they need after experiencing gun violence. The proposed THRIVE Act (Assembly Bill 2247) would provide free, trauma-informed mental health services to young survivors and those exposed to gun violence. Read her full story here.