Read our overview report for a primer on our approach, areas of work, and important organizing victories we’ve helped accomplish.
Movement Building
TakeRoot Justice provides legal services, participatory research assistance and policy support to our community-based partners in social justice movements. We use these tools to reimagine how grassroots and community groups — who power social movements — achieve long-lasting systemic change.
Movement Lawyering
TakeRoot Justice provides a wide range of legal assistance to bolster community groups’ campaigns for social, economic and racial justice. Together with our partners, we:
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Bring lawsuits against targets of organizing campaigns such as negligent landlords;
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Defend community organizations and their members when they are targeted;
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Provide legal services to individual community members to enhance organizations’ base building efforts;
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Offer legal assistance to groups with operational needs, such as the formation of worker cooperatives, lease agreements, and other means of resource control; and
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Support community organizations’ legislative advocacy efforts.
Research for Movements
The TakeRoot Justice Research and Policy Initiative partners with and provides strategic support to grassroots community organizations to build the power of their organizing and advocacy work. We utilize a Participatory Action Research model in which organizers and community members are central to the design and development of research and policy.
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Participatory Action Research Reports: We work with our community partners to design, administer, analyze and write participatory action research reports.
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Grassroots Policymaking: With our partners, we research and develop ground-up policy solutions to problems they identify and document.
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Strategic Campaign Research: We conduct background research and develop fact sheets to provide strategic data in support of organizing campaigns. Our partners use these materials in leadership development and to educate elected and government officials.
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Popular-Education Curriculum Design and Research Training: Our trainings and tools assist communities in designing and conducting their own research.
