LJI Co-Director Tracie Washington Named One of America's Leading Black Women Advocating Change

The Root, a daily online magazine published by Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, has named Louisiana Justice Institute Co-Director Tracie Washington as one of it's twenty Leading Black Women Advocating Change. The list, published this week in commemoration of Women's History Month, aims to "spotlight some of the Black women who are influential in activism and the nonprofit world."

Among the other activists and community leaders highlighted are Color of Change staffer Dani McClain, MacArthur "genius grant" recipient Marjora Carter, National Black Justice Coalition co-founder Mandy Carter, Praxis Project executive director Makani Themba-Nixon, and Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman.

The site praises Washington for her post-Katrina advocacy, saying "After Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, Washington was displaced, like nearly 500,000 other residents. But the civil rights attorney returned to her native New Orleans and has been fighting for the rights of the displaced and disadvantaged there ever since. As president of the Louisiana Justice Institute, a legal-advocacy organization devoted to social-justice campaigns, Washington is working to make sure that New Orleans' most vulnerable communities have access to housing, education and health services."

According to its statement of purpose, The Root "aims to be an unprecedented departure from traditional American journalism, raising the profile of Black voices in mainstream media and engaging anyone interested in Black culture around the world." Prominent academic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is The Root's Editor-In-Chief.