Is Trump Winning His War Against Civil Rights Nonprofits?

By Joseph Williams | Word In Black

Overview: Since his first day in office, President Donald Trump has made it his mission to punish or shut down organizations that oppose his agenda. Coupled with a donation downturn — and Trump’s assault on civil rights — the social justice nonprofit community may need to reimagine how it pushes back.

(WIB) – Jamila Hodge saw the warning signs 18 months ago: a plunge in grants and donations for Equal Justice USA, the social justice nonprofit she leads, after a surge during the George Floyd protests of 2020. But when President Donald Trump declared war on “woke,” putting the social justice movement in his gunsights, Hodge expected EJUSA’s funders to help her stand and fight. 

Instead, she says, they retreated. Worried that EJUSA’s racial equity and criminal justice work would mark a bull’s eye for the president, external funding slowed to a trickle. 

In April, however, when the White House clawed back about $800 million in government funding for a wide range of nonprofits, Hodge says, her organization lost some $3 million — a crippling financial blow. That led to what she called “probably the hardest professional decision I’ve ever had to make”: closing EJUSA’s doors for good, effective Friday. 

Weaponizing Budgets

“We were already struggling, and had already made hard decisions,” including closing programs and laying off staff, says Hodge, EJUSA’s soon-to-be-former executive director. But “having that much of our funding taken away, and having to go back to the drawing board as a national organization with national work, we [concluded] we could not survive.”

Since Trump returned to office, a broad range of social justice and civil rights nonprofits that get government funding or grants are battling White House-mandated funding cuts, elimination of tax benefits, and bureaucratic stonewalling. The administration’s goal, critics say, is to hobble or destroy organizations that challenge or oppose the president’s agenda. 

Yet the attacks come as Trump issues one executive order after another that hollows out or reverses hard-won civil rights gains, including voting rights laws, anti-discrimination policies, affirmative action in hiring and college admissions, and policies curbing police use of force — the policies and practices EJUSA and other organizations were created to fight.

According to the Associated Press, a coalition of nonprofits sued the Trump administration over its budget cuts and freezes; the case is still ongoing. Nevertheless, the administration has cut, paused, or discontinued a variety of programs and grants that nonprofits depend on.

While some of those actions have had an immediate impact, others won’t take effect until current funding for nonprofits runs out, which could be months or years from now. 

We were already struggling, and had already made hard decisions. Having that much of our funding taken away, and having to go back to the drawing board as a national organization with national work, we [concluded] we could not survive. – Jamila Hodge, Ex. Director, EJUSA

Impactful Work

Founded in 1990, Equal Justice USA was created to push back against policies that triggered soaring incarceration rates and death penalty executions — punishments EJUSA leaders argue are rooted in systemic racism. The organization elevated criminal justice issues like police brutality and overpolicing of Black neighborhoods, as well as advocating for improved police-community relations and restorative justice methods. 

Some of EJUSA’s highest-profile wins include partnering with Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka for training on understanding and dealing with trauma from violence and police interactions, and helping community leaders find more than $4 million in grants to help overlooked Black crime victims. 

As Trump ramps up his assaults on social justice nonprofits, Hodge says EJUSA likely won’t be the last nonprofit to decide whether they can carry on. She noted that the Justice Policy Institute has publicly announced it will soon close because of the cuts.

“We have been part of many coalition meetings with allies across the movement — 300 people, 400 people, just trying to figure out what are our options, what can we do, and, honestly, to console each other and commiserate,” she says. 

The assertiveness of the Trump administration, coupled with the disengagement of private funders, means social justice nonprofits will have to reimagine the fight for civil rights, Hodge says, much like Trump’s allies drafted Project 2025, the blueprint for remaking government.

Tactics Must Change

“I hope we as a movement are realizing we’ve got to be more creative,” she says. “We’ve got to plan longer-term. Part of the reason these attacks are being so successful is they had a full playbook ready on day one for this new administration, and they didn’t even hide it.”

Although optimistic (“I just believe in a God who cares about the oppressed and the marginalized,” she says), Hodge is far from certain that American democracy can withstand what Trump and his allies are doing.

“A year ago, I absolutely would be, like, ‘No — bad things can happen, but it’s not going to get that bad,’” she says. “[But] I think our democracy is on the brink of failing. We are literally seeing history erased in real time, and we’re seeing a reinstatement of the history that holds up the devaluing and dehumanization of Black people.”