Media Releases

In response to the news that Niecy Nash recently married Jessica Betts, the National Black Justice Coalition released the following statement: 
“Love wins — always and in all ways,” said David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). “I’m so happy for Niecy Nash —now officially Mrs. Carol Denise Betts— and her partner Jessica Betts.

NEW YORK — in response to the murder of Brian “Egypt” Powers, a Black transgender man in Akron, Ohio, and Tiffany Harris, a Black transgender woman in the Bronx, NY, David J. Johns, the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement:
“While the national focus on the effort to ensure #AllBlackLivesMatter shifts to the upcoming presidential election and the unrelenting pressures associated with COVID-19 Black trans people are still being murdered.

NEW YORK — in response to news of Congressman John Lewis’ passing, David J. Johns, the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement:
“I am crying. To me, Congressman John Lewis was a superhero, the epitome of a civil servant, a personal hero. We even share the same birthday. It’s one thing to know something is imminent, to accept that at some point each of us will be called home, if we’ve done our job as a good and faithful servant. Knowing this doesn’t make accepting this news any easier. 

NEW YORK — Yesterday, Merci Mack, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman in Dallas, Texas, was found murdered from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. She is the 4th Black transgender woman killed during Pride month, and the 19th trans person violently killed, thus far in 2020, that we know of. In response to this tragic news, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition David J. Johns released the following statement:
“What do you do when you don’t have the capacity to wrap your head around the pain and trauma a community of people continues to experience and you know that your feelings aren’t half of what’s required to show up as a member of that community? You continue the work and insist that others, who purport to believe that #BlackLivesMatter, also get engaged.