Voter Freedom
South
Magic in Mississippi: Democrat locked in Deep South Senate stunner
November 5, 2026
Colom is already making history, even though the race remains too close to call
Filter Press
Create Digital Safety
National
After the midterms, a bigger clash over data centers could be coming
November 4, 2026
“National security matters,” Nadine Smith, president and CEO of the racial justice organization Color of Change said, referring to a common argument from data center supporters that the infrastructure is essential for the U.S. to stay ahead in war and in its rivalry with China. “And so do the families in South Memphis breathing exhaust from the gas turbines powering an AI supercomputer.” (She was referring to xAI’s data center in Memphis, Tennessee, which uses gas turbines for power.)
Voter Freedom
National
Keisha Lance Bottoms makes history as America’s first Black woman elected governor
November 3, 2026
Nadine Smith, President and CEO of Color Of Change noted Bottoms’ victory “belongs to generations of Black women who registered our neighbors, organized our churches, mobilized our families, and refused to surrender our political power, even when the doors to power remained closed to us.”
“For 250 years, Black women have helped build this democracy while being denied our rightful place in its leadership,” she continued in a statement shared with theGrio. “In Georgia, where poll taxes, white primaries, and racial terror were once used to keep us from the ballot box, we have now elected Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first Black woman governor in American history and the first woman to lead Georgia. We did not wait for history to change. We organized to change it.”
Media & Culture
National
As Black wealth drops 25%, critics say Trump’s agenda is making the squeeze worse
October 16, 2026
Nadine Smith, president and CEO of Color Of Change, told theGrio, “Families across America are struggling, and Black families are bearing the brunt of an economy that makes billionaires richer by keeping working people underpaid and insecure.”
Media & Culture
National
ECONOMIC CHOKEHOLD?! Fidelity’s SPLC Funding Freeze Sparks Klan-Era Comparison
October 16, 2026
Fidelity Charitable stopped processing grants to the Southern Poverty Law Center amid a federal case. Color of Change’s Nadine Smith says the funding cutoff echoes tactics used to choke off Black civil rights organizing.
Media & Culture
National
Opinion Cutting Off Access to Money Has Been a Weapon Against Civil Rights Movements
October 10, 2026
The danger is plain: an administration can weaken an organization by accusing it, while financial gatekeepers impose consequences that no court has ordered. The sponsors need not share the administration’s politics for their decisions to serve its purposes.
For organizations caught in that process, the bills arrive long before a verdict. Staff need paychecks. Meeting spaces need rent. Families need someone to answer the phone. Years of organizing can unravel when funding disappears. Other groups get the message: challenging power could cost you the resources to keep going.
A democracy cannot afford a funding system that penalizes organizations for confronting the powerful.
Media & Culture
National
Converse apologizes for sneaker ad after critics say it uses racist imagery
September 22, 2026
“It’s a strategy in an attention economy. We have the sense that these images move so many different gateways before they get in front of the public, so it’s hard to imagine nobody flagged what feels so abundantly apparent,” Nadine Smith, CEO of Color of Change, a racial justice organization, told CBS News.
Digital Safety
National
Nadine Smith – AI and Policy Change – Evening WURDs 9.16.26 by WURD Radio
September 16, 2026
Nadine Smith is the President and CEO of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. She joined Dr. Peterson on Evening WURDs live at the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss how Color of Change is driving policy change, the future of AI, and her participation in this year’s CBC Annual Legislation Conference.
Media & Culture
National
Target Apologizes and Drops Halloween Costume Criticized as Racist
August 25, 2026
Nadine Smith, the president of Color Of Change, an activist group focusing on racial justice, said the decision had led to “corporate blindness” at Target that allowed a product featuring racist stereotypes to make it through the supply chain.
“Somewhere along that chain, people either did not recognize the racism, did not feel empowered to name it, or were not heard” […] “Target cannot treat Black voices as expendable in its decision-making and still expect Black dollars at the checkout.”
Emergent
National
Nadine Smith on 20 years of Color of Change
August 22, 2026
Nadine Smith has spent three decades winning civil rights battles in hostile political environments. As President and CEO of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, she is marking its 20th anniversary and discussing why she sees racial justice, gender equity and LGBTQ+ liberation as one fight.