Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

Description

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California, that organizes to shift resources away from prisons and punishment and toward opportunities that make communities safe, healthy and strong. It mobilizes Black, Brown and low-income people to build power and prosperity in their communities. It was launched in 1996 and is named after civil rights leader Ella Baker.

The center calls its approach Truth and Reinvestment: telling the truth about the impact of racial injustice, building the power of those who have been harmed, and reinvesting resources in healing communities. It grew out of Bay Area PoliceWatch, a hotline for victims of police brutality. Over the years it has run campaigns against youth incarceration, for green jobs, and for community-led approaches to public safety.

The organization does not provide direct legal services, but points people to outside resources and toolkits. It carries out advocacy, organizing and public education rather than litigation.