Janai Nelson
@janainelson.bsky.social
President & Director-Counsel of LDF (NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.) the nation's premier racial justice & civil rights law organization.
Posts are my own.
Posts are my own.
A note of gratitude to our federal workforce who are toiling without pay while the Administration continues to inflict pain and suffering to squeeze more profits out of a broken healthcare sys on the backs of the sick and the poor.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Pass it on.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Pass it on.
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
A note of gratitude to our federal workforce who are toiling without pay while the Administration continues to inflict pain and suffering to squeeze more profits out of a broken healthcare sys on the backs of the sick and the poor.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Pass it on.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
Pass it on.
Justice Jackson rightly points out that this is yet another emergency docket error in which the Supreme Court disregard principles of equity that allow gross violations of equal protection with no threatened harm to the govt and paving the way for gross injury to trans people.
November 6, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Justice Jackson rightly points out that this is yet another emergency docket error in which the Supreme Court disregard principles of equity that allow gross violations of equal protection with no threatened harm to the govt and paving the way for gross injury to trans people.
Transgender ppl have had the basic freedom of listing their current gender on their passport for more than 30 yrs. In Trump v. Orr SCOTUS has permitted targeted punishment of trans ppl & invasive violations of privacy through Trump’s executive order that reverses this policy. 1/2
November 6, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Transgender ppl have had the basic freedom of listing their current gender on their passport for more than 30 yrs. In Trump v. Orr SCOTUS has permitted targeted punishment of trans ppl & invasive violations of privacy through Trump’s executive order that reverses this policy. 1/2
My mayor’s name is
ZOHRAN KWAME MAMDANI
New Yorkers delivered a historic win to an Indian immigrant from Uganda who is the first Muslim and second youngest person to lead America’s largest and most diverse city. #VotingMatters
ZOHRAN KWAME MAMDANI
New Yorkers delivered a historic win to an Indian immigrant from Uganda who is the first Muslim and second youngest person to lead America’s largest and most diverse city. #VotingMatters
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
My mayor’s name is
ZOHRAN KWAME MAMDANI
New Yorkers delivered a historic win to an Indian immigrant from Uganda who is the first Muslim and second youngest person to lead America’s largest and most diverse city. #VotingMatters
ZOHRAN KWAME MAMDANI
New Yorkers delivered a historic win to an Indian immigrant from Uganda who is the first Muslim and second youngest person to lead America’s largest and most diverse city. #VotingMatters
This man wants to starve 42 million Americans—despite a court order. #RestoreSNAP
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 4, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This man wants to starve 42 million Americans—despite a court order. #RestoreSNAP
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
SNAP—America’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—which serves 42 mill ppl, most of them white and many of them children, will end in 49 states this weekend while elected officials doing Trump’s bidding feast on their privilege. When will voters wake up to the hypocrisy?
November 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM
SNAP—America’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—which serves 42 mill ppl, most of them white and many of them children, will end in 49 states this weekend while elected officials doing Trump’s bidding feast on their privilege. When will voters wake up to the hypocrisy?
#ThrowbackThursday Wonderful evening of celebration last week at the @LawyersComm Higginbotham Dinner with @DamonTHewitt @rosadocivrights @RyanPHaygood @AlphonsoDavid Roger Fairfax and thee #LawrenceFishburne
October 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM
#ThrowbackThursday Wonderful evening of celebration last week at the @LawyersComm Higginbotham Dinner with @DamonTHewitt @rosadocivrights @RyanPHaygood @AlphonsoDavid Roger Fairfax and thee #LawrenceFishburne
Happy 30th Anniversary to my sister in struggle, Melanie Campbell! For three decades, you have led NCBCP with clear-eyed vision, courage & conviction. You have built coalitions that have fortified our democracy & strengthened Black political power. Smell your well-earned flowers!
October 22, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Happy 30th Anniversary to my sister in struggle, Melanie Campbell! For three decades, you have led NCBCP with clear-eyed vision, courage & conviction. You have built coalitions that have fortified our democracy & strengthened Black political power. Smell your well-earned flowers!
This is the literal picture of partnership. I’m so proud to call Anthony Romero a friend and colleague.
LDF x ACLU =
FORCE MULTIPLIER FOR JUSTICE
LDF x ACLU =
FORCE MULTIPLIER FOR JUSTICE
October 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
This is the literal picture of partnership. I’m so proud to call Anthony Romero a friend and colleague.
LDF x ACLU =
FORCE MULTIPLIER FOR JUSTICE
LDF x ACLU =
FORCE MULTIPLIER FOR JUSTICE
January 20, 2025 reprise.
Happy NoKingsDayOct18th!
Happy NoKingsDayOct18th!
October 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
January 20, 2025 reprise.
Happy NoKingsDayOct18th!
Happy NoKingsDayOct18th!
Still heartbroken over the passing of freedom fighter Assata Olugbala Shakur who died in exile in Cuba. Assata means “she who struggles” and she never left the struggle even during her decades of asylum. May she rest in peace and power—and as an example of undaunted resistance & resilience.
September 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Still heartbroken over the passing of freedom fighter Assata Olugbala Shakur who died in exile in Cuba. Assata means “she who struggles” and she never left the struggle even during her decades of asylum. May she rest in peace and power—and as an example of undaunted resistance & resilience.
Demartravion “Trey” Reed’s death is a tragedy under any circumstances. There are disturbingly familiar historical markers. Delta State and local law enforcement owe his family, the students, and the broader community full transparency and swift action. Skepticism can only be countered with facts.
September 16, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Demartravion “Trey” Reed’s death is a tragedy under any circumstances. There are disturbingly familiar historical markers. Delta State and local law enforcement owe his family, the students, and the broader community full transparency and swift action. Skepticism can only be countered with facts.
Political violence is an old evil that has haunted this country long before it became a republic. We must be able to parse our disdain for it in all forms from the duty to call out undeniable hate-mongering & demagoguery masquerading as valor & righteousness. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...
September 16, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Political violence is an old evil that has haunted this country long before it became a republic. We must be able to parse our disdain for it in all forms from the duty to call out undeniable hate-mongering & demagoguery masquerading as valor & righteousness. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...
#OTD we celebrate the birth of one of the most extraordinary lawyers and jurists this country has even known: Constance Baker Motley. She broke boundaries, barriers and the back of Jim Crow as LDF’s 1st Black woman litigator, Supreme Court oralist, Manhattan Borough President & federal judge. #GOAT
September 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
There is no more important time to support independent Black-owned media. Thank you, @rolandsmartin for creating and expanding this space for news, information, and community.
September 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
There is no more important time to support independent Black-owned media. Thank you, @rolandsmartin for creating and expanding this space for news, information, and community.
Congratulations to LDF client and newly re-elected Mayor of Newburn, AL Patrick Braxton! He reps the majority Black town where elections were suppressed for decades and he was shut out of office until our legal team challenged-a win for Mr. Braxton and for democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
September 2, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Congratulations to LDF client and newly re-elected Mayor of Newburn, AL Patrick Braxton! He reps the majority Black town where elections were suppressed for decades and he was shut out of office until our legal team challenged-a win for Mr. Braxton and for democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
Never forget the power of protest, presence and people. When 250,000+ people converged on the Washington Mall 62 years ago to demand jobs, freedom, and racial justice, the nation listened and acted. We can do it again with more tools and technology. We march because we must. #UnfinishedBusiness
August 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Never forget the power of protest, presence and people. When 250,000+ people converged on the Washington Mall 62 years ago to demand jobs, freedom, and racial justice, the nation listened and acted. We can do it again with more tools and technology. We march because we must. #UnfinishedBusiness
I stand with Federal Reserve Governor #LisaCook. Trump cannot intimidate federal workers into resignation. This is not a game show. It is OUR government. Any president who does not respect government should resign or be removed.
August 26, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I stand with Federal Reserve Governor #LisaCook. Trump cannot intimidate federal workers into resignation. This is not a game show. It is OUR government. Any president who does not respect government should resign or be removed.
If you live in DC or the DMV area, please attend this virtual training on Tuesday, August 19 @ 6PM and pass on the knowledge.
August 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
If you live in DC or the DMV area, please attend this virtual training on Tuesday, August 19 @ 6PM and pass on the knowledge.
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” James Baldwin, 1924-1987
Book bans and the war on truth enable white grievance by obscuring fact, erasing context & denying accurate American history. Facts are freedom.
Book bans and the war on truth enable white grievance by obscuring fact, erasing context & denying accurate American history. Facts are freedom.
August 2, 2025 at 9:21 PM
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” James Baldwin, 1924-1987
Book bans and the war on truth enable white grievance by obscuring fact, erasing context & denying accurate American history. Facts are freedom.
Book bans and the war on truth enable white grievance by obscuring fact, erasing context & denying accurate American history. Facts are freedom.
LDF will gladly answer the question of the lawfulness of Louisiana’s congressional maps in our briefs and before the justices to defend the Constitution, its core principles of equal protection and anti-discrimination in voting, and animating statutes. 4/4
August 1, 2025 at 10:43 PM
LDF will gladly answer the question of the lawfulness of Louisiana’s congressional maps in our briefs and before the justices to defend the Constitution, its core principles of equal protection and anti-discrimination in voting, and animating statutes. 4/4
Decades of Supreme Court precedent makes clear that election districts created to remedy the type of racial discrimination against Black voters that is at the heart of the Louisiana v. Callais case rather than violate the 14th & 15th Amendments enforce and animate them. 3/4
August 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Decades of Supreme Court precedent makes clear that election districts created to remedy the type of racial discrimination against Black voters that is at the heart of the Louisiana v. Callais case rather than violate the 14th & 15th Amendments enforce and animate them. 3/4
SCOTUS asks: “Whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments to the U. S. Constitution.” 2/4
August 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
SCOTUS asks: “Whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments to the U. S. Constitution.” 2/4