Concerned Citizens for Justice
CCJ is a multi-racial Black Liberation organization that prioritizes the leadership of Black folks. Our over-arching goal is to end White Supremacy in the Chattanooga region. We believe in using a diverse set of tactics, so we approach this work many ways.
The main strategies we use to do this are political education of our members and communities; anti-State violence campaigns to defend our people from police violence and displacement; helping to build and coordinate movement among diverse people and frontlines; and through organizing with folks to develop consciousness of where we’re at, visions of the city and South that we need and deserve, and strategies that can lead our communities toward those visions. We see this work advancing the Movement for Black Lives and the Southern Freedom Movement.
Concerned Citizens for Justice (CCJ) was founded in 1984 by Maxine Cousin, Annie Thomas, and Ms. Thomas’ two daughters in the wake of the police murder of Wadie Suttles to address, publicize, and protest police brutality. The organization laid the groundwork for a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit which reorganized Chattanooga’s form of government.
CCJ was reactivated in 2012 after the murder of Trayvon Martin in order to fill a vacuum left by the assaults on and in hopes of reenergizing the Black Liberation Movement in Chattanooga. Based on its historical legacy, we chose to reactivate under the original name, but we firmly believe that citizenship is not a prerequisite for being treated with fairness and dignity and that no human being is illegal.
