Partners for Dignity & Rights

“The original practitioners of black august did not have the luxury of believing struggle was seasonal. Neither do we.” - Dignity in Schools Campaign California

As August comes to a close, we are reflecting on the teachings of Black August through the lens of our anchored network the Dignity in Schools Campaign.

Black August honors the struggles of black freedom fighters and commemorates black resistance against systemic opression - including the united states prison system. This August, Dignity in Schools Campaign NY won reductions to the public school police force in New York City for the first time in years. Follow along with us this fall as we uplift Dignity in Schools Campaign annual National Week of Action Against School Pushout.

As Dignity in Schools Campaign California reminds us, every month, we can apply the teachings of Black August to our own work in the movement to end the School-to-Prison Pipeline.

Target just reported that profits are up in the wake of a $994 million tariff refund. But when will that money make it to workers?

Target still hasn’t ensured that the workers at the KOA Modas factory in Guatemala who sewed for Target for decades get the retirement funds that were illegally stolen from them.

When President Trump’s tariffs first hit, workers around the world felt the squeeze. But now that those tariffs have been ruled illegal and the money is flowing into brand coffers, it’s high time that workers are compensated.

The $6 million in retirement funds & fees is just a tiny sliver of Target’s refund. One easy first step is for Target to ensure that KOA Modas workers can retire in peace. Target , what are you waiting for?

We are deeply saddened and enraged by ICE agents’ killings of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas. They should still be alive and with their families - as should Ruben Ray Martinez, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and the 50+ other people known to have died in ICE detention under the Trump administration.

These violent attacks on our communities are the direct result of Congress choosing to allocate a quarter of a TRILLION dollars for mass detention and deportation campaign in the last year. Altogether, ICE and Border Patrol have received more than 8 years of their typical annual budgets in less than one year.

Since January, Partners for Dignity & Rights has joined more than 1100 other civil society organizations in calling on Congress to refuse to provide one dollar more to ICE or CBP and to immediately act to take back the hundreds of billions of dollars already allocated through the recent budget bills.

Defunding ICE & CBP won’t bring back the slain men and women. It won’t reunite the families of the 200,000+ children who have had a parent detained. But Congress has the responsibility to end the reign of terror in our communities now.

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decisions, we stand renewed in our commitment to dignity and rights for *all* people - no exceptions.

Yesterday, the right-wing led Supreme Court ruled to undercut critical human rights, threatening the multi-racial democracy we fight for every day. Human rights aren’t a zero-sum game. Our civil rights were hard-won by movements that fought and united around unwavering demands.

We refuse to fall in line. All people belong. Trans rights are human rights. All children deserve to grow and thrive. Any attempts to narrow citizenship must be called out for what they are: a concerted effort to enforce white supremacy.

We’ll continue to show up for the communities and movements leading the fight and sharing our vision of a world where everyone is treated with dignity, everyone's human needs are met, and everyone can thrive.

Earlier this month, our Gap Inc. win was featured in Ecotextile News. Quoting Anna Canning, our program director, "No worker should have to wait nearly two years for her pay.” The article also highlights a theme that PDR’s research has repeatedly underscored: how corporate-friendly Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and social audits delay remedy for workers.

Tap the link in our bio to read the article.

138 million children are involved in child labor worldwide, and nearly 54 million are in hazardous work. Today we mark World Day Against Child Labor, sharing the ILO’s campaign to “Give the red card to child labor,” demanding fair play for children, and decent work for adults. The International Labour Organization of the United Nations (ILO) defines child labor as work that is “hazardous to a child’s health and development, demands too many hours and/or is performed by children who are too young. Usually, child labour interferes with a child’s right to education and to play.” The ILO hopes that by tying the well-known symbol of the red card to child labor as we approach the global moment of the World Cup, we can increase awareness and build an international commitment to end child labor.

A main component of ending child labor is providing care-taking adults and parents with decent work - work with dignity. For years, Partners has allied with workers and unions around the world to campaign for binding, enforceable agreements to ensure fair wages, safe workplaces, and job security for adults. In addition, our Dignity in Schools campaign works to ensure that schools are safe, healthy and nurturing environments where every student has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Both work with dignity for adults and supportive schools for children are key steps to

Fashion brand Hugo Boss recently made the stunning decision to back away from Pakistan Accord. Instead of a strong, legally-binding agreement, Hugo Boss is turning to corporate PR & weak, discredited solutions like social auditing.
Hugo Boss isn’t fooling us or the hundreds of advocates around the globe who have been calling on them to re-sign the Accord.
Join us in calling on thousands of workers across Pakistan can’t wait for safe factories.
Read our blog post at the link in bio.

Out now in “How States Can Build Together: A Proposal to Create Joint Authorities” details state-and-local-led solutions to finance housing, especially during times of federal instability.

🏘️ Click the link in our bio to read the full article.

Drawing on examples from around the country, the article explores models of cross-jurisdictional collaboration from within and outside of the housing industry.

🔁 "They got money for wars but can't feed the poor"
How would you spend $95 billion dollars in your schools and communities? Let us know in the comments below ⬇️