Statement from the National Bar Association president denouncing the politically motivated indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center as a direct attack on civil rights and democracy

In moments like this, I find myself thinking less about the headlines and more about the people behind the work.

We call out the names of organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, but their work is powered by people … people like Bryan Fair. Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to stand alongside him, starting at the Demand Diversity Roundtable with the National Urban League in Washington, D.C., then in Selma at Brown Chapel AME Church, and again at the Fred Gray Institute. Each thoughtful discussion was rich with solutions to the problems plaguing democracy, not just a recitation of those problems. Every conversation and address was filled with plans of action and partnership.

Bryan has dedicated his life for the pursuit of freedom and justice for all. His quiet, unshakeable resolve carries the work forward in a way that is undeniable. He does not seek attention. He just shows up, over and over, with conviction and without cameras.

That’s why this moment matters.

What is happening to the Southern Poverty Law Center is an attempt to shake the people who have committed their lives to justice and to protecting communities that too often go unprotected. We have seen moments like this before. And we know how they go.

But Bryan is not shaken. And neither are we.

We stand with Bryan Fair and the freedom fighters at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Ashley L. Upkins, President, National Bar Association