Ann Moss Joyner
President
Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities
Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities
President
Research to illuminate institutionalized discrimination in government policies and practices.
I go to work anywhere from 6 a.m. to 10, depending upon my deadlines. I walk (usually accompanied by the dogs) to the office and boot up my computer. I am usually looking for data or analyzing data or writing up results to answer questions like "What has x government done to violate the civil rights of x group?" I work with a demographer (for statistical analysis that is beyond my scope) and a geographer (for GIS analysis) and an editor (when I need a second eye on my writing).
Here's the first step for high school students
Start where you are. Talk to everyone you know (or can get to talk to you) who does anything remotely similar or anyone who might be in a position to observe civil rights violations. Law enforcement, planners, lawyers, city council persons. Most people think that what is happening where they live is unimportant and on such a small scale it's unimportant, but it affects people's abilities to live in safe, decent affordable housing, to hold a job, to raise their children to be safe and healthy.