{"id":250465,"date":"2026-04-29T01:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/250465\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T01:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:24:14","slug":"miamis-community-justice-project-marks-10-years-fighting-evictions-censorship-and-anti-protest-laws-local-news-updates-the-miami-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/250465\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami’s Community Justice Project marks 10 years fighting evictions, censorship and anti-protest laws | Local News & Updates | The Miami Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think of lawyers, you might picture suits, courtrooms and legal briefs. But for the Community Justice Project (CJP)<\/a>, lawyering looks a little bit different: standing beside tenants fighting evictions, helping teachers bring concerns over classroom censorship to the United Nations, and supporting organizers defending the right to protest.<\/p>\n

The Miami-based nonprofit is celebrating 10 years of “community lawyering,\u201d a model rooted in partnership with those closest to the issues being litigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor ten years, Community Justice Project has stood with communities across Florida, not only in the courtroom, but in classrooms, neighborhoods and public spaces where the fight for dignity and democracy is being waged,\u201d said Alana Greer, CJP\u2019s director and co-founder. \u201cThis anniversary is a moment to reflect on what collective struggle has made possible and to recommit to the work that continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CJP<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Community Justice Project (CJP) team made up of lawyers, researchers and artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

Founded in 2015 by Greer and Meena Jagannath, CJP was designed as a multidisciplinary hub of lawyers, researchers and artists. Here are some key highlights from the organization\u2019s achievements over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Defending Black history<\/p>\n

One of CJP\u2019s most visible efforts took a local education fight to the global stage.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

People gathered to celebrate 10 years with CJP.<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

In October 2023, Miami Norland Senior High School teacher Renee O\u2019Connor traveled to Geneva with the CJP\u00a0to speak before the UN Human Rights Committee about what she described as the \u201cwhitewashing\u201d of African American history in Florida classrooms.<\/p>\n

The trip followed the release of the Florida State Board of Education\u2019s 2023 standards, which included language requiring instruction on \u201chow slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.\u201d O\u2019Connor first learned of the change while attending a seminar on slavery in Alabama.<\/p>\n

\"O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Renee O\u2019Connor continues teaching global and multicultural studies and African American history.<\/p>\n

(splcenter.org)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt stopped me dead in my tracks,\u201d she said. \u201cI was floored and disgusted.\u201d<\/p>\n

After returning to Miami, she took a sabbatical to speak freely on the subject. She was soon contacted by CJP for an interview, later testifying<\/a> in Geneva alongside the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\"Renee<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Miami Norland Senior High School teacher Renee O\u2019Connor\u00a0 at the CJP celebration.<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents in Miami, students in Florida, students in America must be taught the truth of what happened in this country,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if the truth is uncomfortable. It should not be whitewashed, nor should it be erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the testimony did not immediately change policy, O\u2019Connor said it showed educators that their voices can reach beyond the classroom. Back at Miami Norland, O\u2019Connor continues teaching global and multicultural studies and African American history using primary sources, despite restrictions on AP African American Studies.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI use all the elements of the AP class, and I still teach it in my elective class,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cMy kids can make their own decision about what really happened in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"O'Connor<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Renee O’Connor at the United Nations in Geneva.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Renee O’Connor)<\/p>\n

She added that the controversy has increased student curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime a book is banned, I buy it and put it on my shelf,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you tell somebody they can’t do something, they want to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"O'Connor<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents in Miami, students in Florida, students in America must be taught the truth of what happened in this country. It doesn\u2019t matter if the truth is uncomfortable. It should not be whitewashed, nor should it be erased.\u201d – Renee O’Connor, Teacher\u00a0<\/p>\n

(M-DCPS)<\/p>\n

The legal landscape, however, remains uncertain. In April 2026, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed<\/a> legislation limiting public funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, expanding the state\u2019s efforts to restrict DEI in colleges and universities<\/a>and further promoting the \u201cStop WOKE Act.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think pretty soon he’s going to come back for the African American history classes, and we’re just here ready for the fight,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She credits CJP with amplifying educators\u2019 voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity Justice Project has its finger on every pulse point happening in Miami,\u201d she said. \u201cI’m so grateful for the fact that they value education, that they value African American history education, and that they value what teachers who are determined to teach the truth are doing in this city, in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

For CJP, the goal is to create space for those voices.<\/p>\n

\"Alana<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alana Greer, CJP\u2019s director and co-founder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always so privileged when we can not only share people\u2019s stories, but actually have those forums directly confronted by the folks that are being impacted,\u201d Greer said.<\/p>\n

Fighting displacement<\/p>\n

CJP\u2019s anniversary also underscores its work toward housing justice. A recent\u00a0WalletHub report<\/a> ranked Miami as the most unaffordable U.S. city for renters. Since 2022, CJP has partnered with the Miami Workers Center (MWC) on an eviction diversion pilot program,<\/a> testing what happens when low-income renters have access to legal counsel and community support.<\/p>\n

\"Santra<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Santra Denis, executive director of Miami Workers Center, and Brian Douglas.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Brian Douglas)<\/p>\n

For Brian Douglas, that support was a lifeline. After moving to Miami in 2019, he found housing in an Overtown rooming house. In April 2024, residents were told the building had been sold and that they had to leave immediately \u2014 without legal notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the worst day of my life,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cThey said all you need to do is leave tomorrow, which is illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brian Douglas is standing in front of the rooming house in Overtown, where he once lived.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

Under Florida law, tenants cannot be evicted without notice and a court order. MWC canvassers connected Douglas to CJP attorneys, who raised defenses in court. Instead of leaving in 24 hours, he secured six months to plan his move.<\/p>\n

The disparity in representation is stark: according to MWC,<\/a> only 3% of tenants have access to an attorney, compared to 98% of landlords filing evictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout their help, I would have been evicted,\u201d Douglas said of CJP and MWC. \u201cThey would have thrown my belongings on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"No<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Organizers hold up signs that read “No eviction without representation.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Miami Workers Center)<\/p>\n

He eventually secured housing at a senior complex in Overtown and joined MWC as an organizer.<\/p>\n

Greer noted that these individual cases often shape broader policy. Strategies developed during tenant organizing in Little Haiti laid the groundwork for emergency eviction moratoriums used during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many of those stories of directly impacted people forging the way right here in our own backyard,\u201d Greer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protecting the right to protest\u00a0<\/p>\n

CJP has also played a key role in challenging Florida\u2019s 2021 anti-protest law, HB 1, passed after nationwide demonstrations against police violence.<\/p>\n

\"Greer<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Community Justice Project has stood with communities across Florida, not only in the courtroom, but in classrooms, neighborhoods and public spaces where the fight for dignity and democracy is being waged.” -Alana Greer, CJP\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Echoing Green Fellows Directory)<\/p>\n

CJP, alongside the Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Florida, represented groups including Dream Defenders and the NAACP in alawsuit<\/a>arguing that the law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by chilling protected speech and criminalizing protest activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew before it was passed that we wanted to file,\u201d said\u00a0Nailah Summers-Polite, co-executive director and founding member of Dream Defenders. \u201cThere was a legal challenge for this because it was an overreach, and it was really extreme in nature. CJP let us know that there was an avenue and that there were grounds to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers had already begun preparing and monitoring the bill as protests spread nationwide following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In Florida, organizers were also mobilizing in cities like Miami, Tallahassee and St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\"Protests\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dream Defenders protesting.<\/p>\n

(Dream Defenders)<\/p>\n

The legal challenge yielded victories. In 2021, a federal judge blocked part of the law redefining the term \u201criot,\u201d and in 2024, the Florida Supreme Court confirmed the law could not be used to prosecute nonviolent protesters or bystanders.<\/p>\n

Summers-Polite believes these victories limited the law’s most draconian consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people and working people are still protesting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Nailah<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nailah Summers-Polite, co-executive director and co-founder of Dream Defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Nailah Summers-Polite)<\/p>\n

However, she warns that the political climate remains hostile, with persistent efforts to weaken unions and limit dissent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mechanisms that we have for change in Florida are constantly under attack,\u201d Summers-Polite said. \u201cA lot of the legislators that go up to Tallahassee absolutely are trying to make sure that Floridians don\u2019t have channels to express themselves and express dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n

She compares CJP\u2019s role to the legal partnerships of the Civil Rights Movement.<\/p>\n

\"Dream<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dream Defenders during protests.<\/p>\n

(Dream Defenders)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t have Brown v. Board without legal challenges accompanying community work,\u201d Summers-Polite said. \u201cCJP follows in that tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Greer, the next decade of CJP\u2019s work will require both protection and imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am audaciously hopeful about the future of Florida because of the people that we work with,\u201d Greer said. \u201cThe future looks like a rejection of oppression, an embracing of equality and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you think of lawyers, you might picture suits, courtrooms and legal briefs. But for the Community Justice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[109600,109598,109599,109602,225,227,226,109601,109603],"class_list":{"0":"post-250465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-black-history-education-florida","9":"tag-community-justice-project-miami","10":"tag-community-lawyering","11":"tag-florida-anti-protest-law-hb-1","12":"tag-hialeah","13":"tag-hialeah-headlines","14":"tag-hialeah-news","15":"tag-miami-tenant-eviction-defense","16":"tag-renee-o"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}