Racial Justice NOW! May Be the Most Winning Grassroots          Organization of the 21st Century

In the annals of grassroots organizing, few organizations can claim a record of sustained policy victories, community mobilization, and institutional impact comparable to Racial Justice NOW! (RJN!). Founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 2011, the organization emerged from a deeply personal experience but evolved into a nationally recognized force for educational justice, racial equity, and community empowerment.

The story of Racial Justice NOW! begins with co-founder Zakiya Sankara-Jabar and her young son. As a pre-kindergarten student, her son faced threats of suspension and expulsion—an unthinkable reality for a child barely old enough to begin formal schooling. Troubled by the experience, Sankara-Jabar began investigating whether her family’s experience was isolated. What she discovered was alarming.

Across Ohio, African American children—particularly boys—were being disproportionately disciplined, suspended, and pushed out of classrooms for behaviors that many educators recognized as age-appropriate childhood conduct. Parents were routinely summoned to schools over what administrators classified as “discipline issues,” often without consideration of developmental norms or cultural biases embedded within school systems.

When Sankara-Jabar sought assistance from existing civil rights organizations, including local chapters of established groups, she found little support. Rather than accept the status quo, she chose to organize.

Together with University of Dayton law professor Dr. Vernelia Randall, Sankara-Jabar founded Racial Justice NOW! in Randall’s living room. What began as a small group of concerned parents soon transformed into one of the most influential grassroots organizations in Ohio and beyond.

From its earliest days, RJN focused on organizing parents, caregivers, educators, and community members to challenge discriminatory school discipline practices. Members attended Dayton Public Schools board meetings, advocated for students facing exclusionary discipline, and demanded accountability from educational institutions. Their work became an early and powerful challenge to what would later gain national attention as the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Between 2011 and 2017, Racial Justice NOW! achieved a remarkable series of victories that fundamentally changed educational policy in Dayton and contributed to statewide reforms. During this period, the organization hosted monthly community meetings, trained local leaders, developed a governing board, and expanded its reach through regional and national coalitions.

Meetings were held in public libraries, churches, and community centers throughout Dayton. Under the leadership of Sankara-Jabar and a growing team of organizers, RJN cultivated a model of community-driven advocacy that combined organizing, policy analysis, leadership development, and direct action.

The organization’s influence quickly extended beyond Ohio. As a member of the national Dignity in Schools Campaign, a coalition consisting of more than 125 organizations across 35 states, RJN emerged as a respected leader within the movement for educational justice. The organization ultimately served as National Co-Chair of the coalition, helping shape national conversations around school discipline reform and racial equity.

Perhaps RJN’s most visible early success occurred within Dayton Public Schools. Through persistent advocacy and grassroots organizing, the organization played a pivotal role in reforming the district’s Student Code of Conduct. These reforms included the elimination of many zero-tolerance policies, the implementation of a moratorium on suspensions for young students, and the expansion of parent involvement in district decision-making processes.

One of the organization’s most notable achievements was the creation of Dayton Public Schools’ Office of Males of Color. In March 2016, following sustained pressure from parents and community advocates, the Dayton Board of Education voted unanimously to fund the initiative. Dayton became the first district in Ohio and only the third district nationally to establish an office specifically dedicated to improving outcomes for male students of color.

Originally launched as the Office of Black Male Achievement, the initiative sought to address achievement gaps, reduce exclusionary discipline, and foster leadership development among marginalized students. The office remains a testament to the power of organized communities to reshape public institutions.

Racial Justice NOW! also pioneered innovative accountability measures. The organization’s School Discipline Report Card became one of the nation’s first tools designed to evaluate schools based on suspension rates, subjective disciplinary practices, and racial disparities in punishment. By making discipline data accessible to parents and communities, RJN helped create greater transparency and accountability within educational systems.

The organization’s impact, however, extends far beyond Dayton.

In 2017, RJN achieved one of its most significant legislative victories when Ohio House Bill 318 was signed into law by Governor John Kasich. The legislation dramatically limited the use of out-of-school suspensions for students in kindergarten through third grade, protecting thousands of children from exclusionary discipline practices that research has linked to long-term negative outcomes.

The passage of House Bill 318 represented years of organizing, coalition building, public education, and legislative advocacy. It remains one of the most significant school discipline reforms enacted in Ohio’s modern history.

RJN’s influence later expanded into Maryland through the establishment of its DMV chapter. In 2019, the organization successfully organized alongside educators and community members in Howard County to secure a resolution recognizing the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. The measure enabled educators and students to participate in instructional activities and events without fear of professional or academic retaliation.

That same year, RJN played a role in advancing racial equity initiatives in Montgomery County, Maryland. The county’s landmark Racial Equity and Social Justice Policy established a framework for examining the impact of government decisions through an equity lens and remains one of the nation’s most comprehensive local equity policies.

The organization’s Maryland successes continued. In 2021, RJN helped organize efforts that resulted in Montgomery County Public Schools opening the academic year without police officers in schools for the first time in nearly two decades. The victory reflected growing concerns about criminalization within educational environments and represented a major policy shift in one of the nation’s largest school districts.

More recently, RJN contributed to efforts surrounding Maryland’s cannabis reform implementation. Community advocates worked alongside local officials to support legislation establishing a Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, designed to direct resources toward communities disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs. The measure created a community-led advisory structure to help guide funding decisions and ensure meaningful investment in impacted populations.

Today, Racial Justice NOW! continues its work under the thought leadership of Zakiya Sankara-Jabar and the operational support of a dedicated team that includes her husband, Hashim Jabar. Guided by the pillars of organizing, advocacy, policy change, and leadership development, the organization remains committed to building community power and advancing justice.

Over the past fourteen years, Sankara-Jabar has become an award-winning national activist whose work has been recognized across the United States and internationally. Racial Justice NOW! and its leadership have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now!, The Washington Post, and the Dayton Daily News. Their work has been studied and discussed at institutions including the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

While many organizations have contributed significantly to social justice movements in the 21st century, few can point to a comparable combination of grassroots organizing, policy victories, institutional reforms, and legislative achievements. Whether measured by local impact, statewide reform, or national influence, Racial Justice NOW! stands as a compelling example of what organized communities can accomplish when ordinary people unite around extraordinary goals. Its history offers a powerful reminder that meaningful change often begins not in the halls of government, but in living rooms, community meetings, and the determination of people who refuse to accept injustice as inevitable