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Activism Resource List

Peace, Justice, and Human Rights

National Coalition to Free the Angola 3
More than thirty years in solitary confinement for crimes they did not commit. Locked down in the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary, one of the nation's most racist and brutal prisons. Political prisoners - wrongfully convicted, considered a threat to the repressive prison's status quo. This is the story of Albert Woodfox, Herman Wallace and Robert King Wilkerson – aka the Angola 3. In 1971, these men organized a Black Party Panther chapter within the confines of the prison. Together they led campaigns to stop prison rape and to inform prisoners of their rights. All three became targets of the prison administration and were convicted of murders with shoddy evidence. Living their lives out in solitary confinement, the Angola 3 and their supporters fight for their freedom (in 2001, Wilkerson was exonerated and released). The National Coalition to Free the Angola 3 continues to work on behalf of Woodfox and Wallace, seeking justice in a system that has long turned a blind eye to their innocence.
www.myspace.com/angola_3
www.angola3.org
www.angola3.tv

The Carter Center
The Carter Center is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries. Their mission is to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope by both engaging with those at the highest levels of government and working side by side with poor and often forgotten people.
www.cartercenter.org

Women's Action for New Directions (WAND)
WAND works to empower women to act politically to reduce militarism and violence and redirect excessive military spending toward unmet human and environmental needs.
www.wand.org

WITNESS
WITNESS partners with human rights defenders, training them to use video to document abuse and create change.
www.witness.org

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers
The CIW is a community-based worker organization. Our members are largely Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. We strive to build our strength as a community on a basis of reflection and analysis, constant attention to coalition building across ethnic divisions, and an ongoing investment in leadership development to help our members continually develop their skills in community education and organization.
www.ciw-online.org

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
Established in 1977, RAWA is an Afghan women's organization working in Afghanistan and Pakistan to empower women and peacefully resist fundamentalist domination. RAWA works for secular democracy, full participation in public life for women and girls, and respect for all human rights.
www.rawa.org

MADRE
MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that works in partnership with women's community-based groups worldwide to address issues of health, economic development and other human rights. MADRE was founded in 1983 with work in Central America.
www.madre.org

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to the abolition of capital punishment, provides information, advocates for public policy and mobilizes and supports people and institutions that share our unconditional rejection of the state's use of homicide as an instrument of social policy.
www.ncadp.org

The Brady Center
The Brady Center works to reform the gun industry and educate the public about gun violence through litigation and grassroots mobilization, and works to enact and enforce sensible regulations to reduce gun violence including regulations governing the gun industry.
www.bradycenter.org

JumpStart International
JumpStart International seeks to build peace by providing economic opportunities for individuals and their families to become self-sufficient. They believe self-sufficiency and economic independence are the foundation of effective solutions to oppression, racism, and discrimination. JumpStart works with families trying to live a normal life in areas devastated by conflict, natural disaster, and systemic poverty. By implementing employment and training programs through construction and engineering projects that actively build and rebuild sustainable communities, JumpStart hopes to achieve its vision of peace, economic opportunity, civil society, and mutual understanding for all people.
www.jumpstartinternational.org

If Americans Knew
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation. It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power – and duty – to bring a resolution.
www.ifamericansknew.org

Foundation for Middle East Peace
The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) is a nonprofit organization that promotes an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace, via two states, that brings security for Israel and freedom for Palestinians. FMEP sponsors programs, public speaking, makes small grants, and publishes the Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories containing analysis, commentary, maps, and other data.
www.fmep.org

American Friends Service Committee: Middle East Peace Building Program
A campaign supporting nonviolent resistance and refusal in Israel and Palestine.
www.afsc.org

B'tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
B’tselem was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
www.btselem.org

Women's Health / HIV / AIDS

Strong Women, Strong Girls
The mission of Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) is to build upon the lessons learned from strong women throughout history to help girls and young women become strong women themselves. By building communities of women committed to supporting positive social change, Strong Women, Strong Girls works to create cycles of mutual empowerment for women and girls. SWSG has created an innovative after school model that uses the study of contemporary and historic female role models, mentoring relationships with college undergraduate women, and skill building activities to help at-risk girls in grades 3-5 build positive self-esteem and skills for life-long success. In addition to supporting the development of young girls, Strong Women, Strong Girls also emphasizes the leadership and growth of the college women who volunteer as mentors. Strong Women, Strong Girls seeks to build the skills and leadership capacity of these talented young women to engage them as mentors for girls in their communities now and as life-long advocates for women and girls.
www.swsg.org

Thistle Farms
Thistle Farms is a non-profit business operated by the women of Magdalene, a two-year residential community founded in Nashville Tennessee in 1997 for women with a history of prostitution and drug addiction. Magdalene was founded not just to help a sub-culture of women but also to help change the culture itself. We stand in solidarity with women who are recovering from sexual abuse, violence, and life on the streets, and who have paid dearly for a culture that buys and sells women like commodities. Through Thistle Farms, the women of Magdalene gain much needed job skills, and learn responsibility and cooperation. Into every product goes the belief that freedom starts with healing, and love can change lives. By hand, the women create natural bath and body products that are as kind to the environment as they are to the body. All sales proceeds go back into the program.
www.thistlefarms.org

Choice USA
Choice USA mobilizes and provides ongoing support to the diverse, upcoming generation of leaders who promote and protect reproductive choice both now and in the future.
www.choiceusa.org

National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA)
NAPWA advocates on behalf of all people living with HIV and AIDS in order to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV/AIDS. NAPWA works to strengthen the voice of over a million Americans living with HIV and AIDS, and is the oldest national AIDS organization in the U.S. NAPWA's programs respond to the changing needs of the epidemic by developing positive leadership in people living with HIV and AIDS, advocating for the needs of those living with HIV or at risk of becoming infected and now working with a growing movement of people with AIDS throughout the developing world. NAPWA takes its HIV/AIDS advocacy role seriously, whether it's demanding appropriate government action or mobilizing organizations and communities to offer accessible, integrated HIV services for at-risk individuals. NAPWA has advocated strongly on behalf of people living with HIV who were impacted by hurricane Katrina, and the annual conference sponsored by NAPWA ('Staying Alive') will be held in December 2006 in New Orleans.
www.napwa.org

International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
ICRW is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women in poverty, advancing equality and human rights, and contributing to broader economic and social well-being. ICRW accomplishes this, in partnership with others, through research, capacity building and advocacy on issues affecting women's economic, health and social status in low- and middle-income countries. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on women and girls. ICRW believes that the global challenge is to assure that they have access to the prevention and treatment services they need. ICRW focus areas include: how the stigma of HIV/AIDS increases infection and reduces the use of programs for prevention, treatment, and care; how to empower adolescents to protect themselves from HIV infection; how to improve access to prevention methods that women can control; and how HIV/AIDS affects household food security. ICRW has offices in India, Uganda and Washington DC.
www.icrw.org

Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA)
SWAA is a pan-African women's organization dedicated to women and their families in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The organization has branch offices in 40 countries across Africa serving some of the areas in the world most heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS. SWAA offers programming to address the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on women and children; access to information about HIV using a creative variety of media (including TV, videocassette recorders, and satellite technology); advocacy leading to inclusion of women on policy making bodies; and advocacy against gender based discrimination in access to HIV treatment, care and support services. In addition, SWAA works to reduce HIV-related stigma, enable access to counseling and testing, and strengthen services for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Currently, SWAA is placing special emphasis on the development and use of HIV prevention methods controlled by women, including the female condom and potential microbicides.
www.swaainternational.org

Native / Environmental

Honor The Earth
HTE'S mission is to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not hear
www.honorearth.org

Native Wind
Native Wind was formed to protect the environment and promote the welfare of indigenous people by facilitating the development of renewable energy resources on tribal lands.
www.nativewind.org

Indigenous Environmental Network
Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN's activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities. IEN accomplishes this by maintaining an informational clearinghouse, organizing campaigns, direct actions and public awareness, building the capacity of community and tribes to address EJ issues, development of initiatives to impact policy, and building alliances among Indigenous communities, tribes, inter-tribal and Indigenous organizations, people-of-color/ethnic organizations, faith-based and women groups, youth, labor, environmental organizations and others.
www.ienearth.org

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB)
NBB is the national trade association representing the biodiesel industry as the coordinating body for research and development in the United States.
www.biodiesel.org

Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
NIRS is the information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues. Throughout the world, NIRS provides technical expertise to guide organizing efforts and public education campaigns against some of the most dangerous nuclear proposals facing our communities.
www.nirs.org

Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA)
OREPA advocates for responsible environmental restoration, protection of public health, and the right of all people to participate in decisions affecting their lives. As the USA continues to produce nuclear weapons at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, TN, OREPA works to stop the bombs and prevent the Department of Energy from turning the Y-12 plant into a brand-new $4 billion facility with the capacity to produce ten times the number of nuclear weapons.
www.stopthebombs.org

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) promotes responsible energy choices that create global warming solutions and ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. With offices in Asheville N.C., Atlanta Ga., Knoxville Tenn., Savannah G.A. and Pittsboro N.C., SACE seeks to build bridges between environmental, business, agricultural, and government entities; support changes in policy that will improve public health and protect the environment; and advocate for effective solutions to mitigate climate change.
www.cleanenergy.org

State PIRGS (Public Interest Research Groups)
The State PIRGs speak for the public interest against the special interests, on issues in the news and below the surface. When consumers are victims of private greed, the State PIRGs are there; when average citizens suffer from the absence of government attention or an excess of government bureaucracy, the State PIRGs are there; when our natural environment is threatened, the State PIRGs are there. As a public interest watchdog organization, we uncover dangers to public health and wellbeing and fight to end them, using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposes, grassroots organizing, advocacy, and litigation.
www.pirg.org (This website can link you to your individual state PIRG.)

Climate Crisis Coalition
From our founding in 2004, the Climate Crisis Coalition (CCC) has been connecting global warming to human rights, labor, peace, faith, sustainable business practices, environmental justice and other issues. Our mission is to build a broad-based coalition that can become an effective, powerful agent for change: the development and unfolding of a national and visible action campaign that makes it impossible for citizens and governments to ignore our urgent demands.
www.climatecrisiscoalition.org

Campaign for Old Growth (CFOG)
CFOG is a citizens' project focused on protecting the remaining 3% of California's remaining ancient forests. CFOG works to develop and support legislation that will protect these old growth stands from logging and other harmful activities in the state of California.
www.ancienttrees.org

Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability and other key topics.
www.organicconsumers.org

Appalachian Voices
Appalachian Voices brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. Their mission is to empower people to defend the region's rich natural and cultural heritage by providing them with tools and strategies for successful grassroots campaigns.
www.appvoices.org

Queer

Youth Pride
Youth Pride strives to enhance the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth through support services, social activities, outreach and education.
www.youthpride.org

National Youth Advocacy Coalition
The National Youth Advocacy Coalition is a social justice organization that advocates for and with young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) in an effort to end discrimination against these youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well being.
www.nyacyouth.org

Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL)
The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) is the only Washington, DC metro area service organization solely dedicated to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Founded in 1984, SMYAL is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to promote and support self-confident, healthy, productive lives for LGBTQ youth ages 13-21 as they journey from adolescence into adulthood. To fulfill our mission, we focus our commitment and energy on five focus areas: (1) Life Skills & Leadership Development, (2) Counseling & Support, (3) Health & Wellness Education, (4) Safe Social Activities, and (5) Community Outreach and Education.
www.smyal.org

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
www.pflag.org (find your local chapter at the website)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation (NGLTF)
Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation is a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights and advocacy organization. The group works to build the grassroots political strength of our community by training state and local activists and leaders, developing the infrastructure of state and local allies, and organizing broad-based campaigns to build public support for complete equality for LGBT people
www.thetaskforce.org

The National Center For Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national, lesbian, feminist, non-profit law firm. Our mission is to create a world in which every lesbian can live fully, free from discrimination. For the past 26 years, through impact litigation, public policy advocacy, public education, and free legal services, we have advanced the legal and human rights of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual and transgender individuals across the United States.
www.nclrights.org

Independent Media

Indymedia
Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate communication of truth.
www.indymedia.org

Democracy Now
Democracy Now is a daily radio and TV news program on over 400 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
www.democracynow.org

AlterNet
AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of dozens of other independent media sources. AlterNet's aim is to inspire citizen action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, and health care issues.
www.alternet.org

Clamor Magazine
Clamor is a quarterly print magazine and online community of radical thought, art, and action. An iconoclast among its peers, Clamor is an unabashed celebration of self-determination, creativity, and shit-stirring. Clamor publishes content of, by, for, and with marginalized communities. From the kitchen table to shop floor, the barrio to the playground, the barbershop to the student center, it's old school meets new school in a battle for a better tomorrow. Clamor is a do-it-yourself guide to everyday revolution.
www.clamormagazine.org

Z Magazine
Z Magazine is an independent magazine of critical thinking on political, cultural, social and economic life in the US. It sees the racial, gender, class and political dimensions of personal life as fundamental to understanding and improving contemporary circumstances; and it aims to assist activists' efforts to better the future.
www.zmag.org

Ms. Magazine
An Ad-Free Feminist Magazine
www.msmagazine.com

Music Community

The Future of Music Coalition
The Future of Music Coalition is a not-for-profit collaboration between members of the music, technology, public policy and intellectual property law communities. The FMC seeks to educate the media, policymakers, and the public about music / technology issues, while also bringing together diverse voices in an effort to come up with creative solutions to some of the challenges in this space.
www.futureofmusic.org

Home Alive
Home Alive is a Seattle based anti-violence non-profit organization that offers affordable self-defense classes and provides public education and awareness. We believe violence prevention is a community responsibility as well as an individual issue. Our work in self-defense encourages everyone to recognize their entitlement to the basic human right to live free from violence and hate. Our goal is to build a cultural and social movement that puts violence in a context of political, economic and social oppression, and frames safety as a human right.
www.homealive.org

Voter Education

Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan citizen’s organization, has created the Voter’s Self-Defense System as a tool for voters that provides information on candidates in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings. Regardless of where you live, Project Vote Smart empowers voters with the tools they need to navigate local and national elections and ballot initiatives. Project Vote Smart relies on hundreds of volunteer hours – from self-identified liberals and conservatives (and everything in between) – to provide accurate and unbiased information.
www.vote-smart.org

Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1990 in response to a wave of attacks on freedom of speech and artistic expression. They are dedicated to mobilizing young people to participate in the political process in order to effect positive change in their own communities. By connecting with the entertainment industry, Rock the Vote coordinates voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote events, and voter education efforts, all to help young people take advantage of their right to vote. Rock the Vote’s website hosts easy online voter registration for all states as well as information on key issues such as health care, education, jobs and finance, war and the draft, and voting rights.
www.rockthevote.org

Project Vote
Since its founding in 1982, Project Vote has dedicated itself to increasing civic participation and voter engagement in low-income and minority communities. In 2004, Project Vote registered 1.15 million low- and moderate-income and minority voters, and mobilized 2.3 million. Project Vote keeps a vigilant eye on any barriers facing voters during elections and works to prevent such disenfranchisement; their website is full of resources and news relating to voter intimidation, violations of the National Voter Registration Act, and related issues.
www.projectvote.org

electiononline.org
Electiononline.org is a forum for learning about, discussing, and analyzing election reform issues. With up to the minute news, electiononline.org is dedicated to being a clearinghouse on information related to anything and everything related to elections. From new voting machines and absentee ballots to state-by-state voter ID requirements and election day news (such as extended polling hours), electiononline.org is a valuable citizen resource.
www.electiononline.org

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