About Learning for Justice

Learning for Justice

Learning for Justice is a community education program of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that cultivates and nurtures dialogue, learning, reflection and action from those closest to and harmed most by injustices in the South. 

The program seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people. By centering civic and political action education for everyone, Learning for Justice will complement the SPLC’s work to increase power and capacity for multiracial, inclusive democracy.

The political backlash to the ongoing movement for racial justice and equity in the United States has led to anti-inclusive laws, incubated in the South and becoming widespread in multiple state legislations, boards of education and local school districts. This current anti-inclusive agenda limits the opportunity for discourse around the realities of Black and Brown children, their families and communities. Learning for Justice will support the SPLC’s work for justice to counter these attempts to minimize the learning of Black and Brown children and the significance of their communities as sites for learning. 

“The decline in democratic practice prompted the SPLC’s Learning for Justice program to shift to a more inclusive, communal approach to teaching and learning. Our respected role from three decades in education prepares us to address the general lack of people learning as community. When we learn together, we build the movement to ensure our public schools are inclusive, safe and democratic spaces so the next generation of leaders are bequeathed a thriving democracy, not a weakened or decimated one.” — Jalaya Liles Dunn, Learning for Justice director

Community Justice Sites

The education of ordinary people for local autonomy is the cornerstone of LFJ’s community program. Community Justice Sites are Freedom Schools and Citizenship Schools for everyone. Our community-based pedagogy will ultimately support change movements led by local leadership. When we “learn for justice,” we center learning to inform our actions for change and progress in our communities.

The Learning Center 

The Learning Center is LFJ’s online popular education space for everyone (adults, youth and children), offering learning for civic and political action. It continues our Community Justice Sites programming in our Southern states and extends our resources to a national audience. 

Political, social and economic equality have yet to be achieved. And the increasing pushback against a more inclusive society challenges us all to become more conscious about the knowledge and skills to participate in democracy. 

Come learn with us to strengthen democracy, counter hate and bias and build a more just society. 

[Updated Mar. 2025]

Illustration by Matt Williams