Partner Spotlight on Equal Ground: An engaged community is a powerful community

Equal Ground is a community organization that seeks to empower Florida communities through education, lobbying and voter outreach. And for Jasmine Burney-Clark, one of the founders of the group, that means empowering Black women.

“It is important that we support Black women in light of everything that is going on,” she said. “Black women are not at the center of discussion when it comes, but bear the brunt of its effects or in some cases carry the burdens of the community on their backs.”

She added that it’s imperative to amplify their stories when seeking justice. “Far too often Black women’s voices go unheard because they aren’t deemed valuable,” she said. “We’ve seen this with ‘Me Too’ and in the civil rights movement.”

With communities of color, Equal Ground advises, empowers and evaluates political representation to create vital change through civic engagement, strategy and social impact. And, yes, it includes uplifting the voices of Black women. The group trains, mobilizes and educates because it believes that an engaged community is a powerful community. It’s a belief that guides Equal Ground as it fights for issues such as economic, environmental and social justice. They are goals the group pursues through strategy, leadership development, petition collection, voter registration, and voter education and turnout.

Recently, Equal Ground fought SB 90, a state law designed to suppress the vote. The SPLC Action Fund has also strongly opposed the law, which eliminates mobile ballot drop-off vans, makes it harder to hold voter-registration drives, forbids the distribution of water and snacks to voters waiting in line, places new restrictions on voting by mail and imposes onerous surveillance requirements on ballot drop boxes.

In response to SB 90, Equal Ground created Take the Lead: A Black Political Leadership Training Series. The multi-day event held in February focused on teaching community members about the legislative process – such as how to advocate for and against good and bad bills – building relationships with legislators, effective voter contact and direct outreach with community partners.

Equal Ground was also instrumental in hosting town halls with community leaders and elected officials. It discussed the responsibility of the voter and shared information for potential candidates. The Equal Ground Faith Alliance, an arm of the group comprising faith leaders, met with elected officials to try to change the language in SB 90.

Equal Ground also successfully advocated for “Gail’s Law,” which requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create and maintain a statewide system for tracking sexual assault evidence kits from the point of collection through the criminal justice process. The bill became law in 2021 thanks in part to the lobbying efforts of Equal Ground.

The law is named after Gail Gardner, an Orlando woman who was sexually assaulted in 1988 and whose rape kit was not tested for more than 30 years. Gardner recently learned that her attacker was a serial rapist linked to 15 other sexual assaults and now serving a life sentence.

Equal Ground’s focus on community is also evident in its “Redistricting 101” initiative, which trains and educates people about redistricting. Redistricting is important because it affects vital community resources such as affordable housing and student loans.

“As someone who has lived through a personal housing crisis as a child, I know that one direct result of this is based on who allocates funding for affordable housing in our community,” said Jamara Wilson, Equal Ground’s redistricting program manager. “If we elect leaders who don’t prioritize safe and affordable housing, we will continue to see this crisis exacerbate.”

The group launched a Redistricting Fellowship program that will last from August to November of 2021. The Redistricting Fellows, based throughout Florida, consist of students and early career professionals from historically Black colleges and universities.

Equal Ground believes that with continued support from funders committed to community-based change, and allies like the SPLC Action Fund, it can make Florida a better place for all. For more information on Equal Ground or to get involved, visit its website at equal-ground.com.

Donn Scott Jr. is a policy associate for the SPLC Action Fund.

Photo at top, from left to right: Kristin Fulwylie, Jasmine Burney-Clark and Jamara Wilson.