Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Ken Chapman

Director | Democratizing Justice Initiative
Pronouns: he/him
Ken Chapman is a electoral strategist, movement organizer, and funder advisor who has helped build political power for directly impacted communities at the intersection of immigration and policing for nearly 20 years. Since 2017, Ken has worked to defend social movements and community based organizations against state violence and political prosecutions. As Director of the Democratizing Justice Initiative, Ken works to fill key philanthropic gaps in the effort to dismantle the law endorsement political machine in order to unlock tangible, scalable, and more sustainable reforms and alternative solutions across the criminal legal system.

Presentations from Facing Race 2024

Political Prosecutions in the Era of Rising Authoritarianism

According to state and federal law enforcement officials, May 25th 2020 was the inception of the largest, most organized, and best funded criminal syndicate in America’s history. Tens of thousands of co-conspirators. Rampant violence across the nation. Millions of dollars stolen. Property destroyed. All over the span of four years.

According to police and prosecutors, you’re likely a part of this criminal syndicate to commit violence, racketeering, and intimidation. Court documents suggest that if you have attended a rally, concert, meeting, or protest in support of racial, gender, reproductive, migrant, or climate justice since the death of George Floyd in May 2020, you could be a co-conspirator. If you contributed your talent, your money, or even provided food in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, you could be a co-conspirator.

Law enforcement in at least 12 states, as well as the FBI, are advancing a dangerous legal framework that weaponizes the First Amendment against social movements. It asserts that dissent is the enemy of the state. Association is now conspiracy.

And the problem is getting worse. State legislatures and Congress are advancing bills that increase the use of surveillance, criminalization, and punishment built from the Global War on Terror and War on Drugs to topple decentralized movement formations. We’ll go inside the authoritarian playbook to target and destroy the engine of our democracy and explore what social movements, philanthropy, and government officials must do to stop it.

Speakers: Ken Chapman, Marlon Katz