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In January 2016, with the aim of creating a direct route to transport crude oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota, and Iowa and into Illinois, the Dakota Access Pipeline was unanimously approved for construction. The controversial pipeline could destroy ancestral burial grounds and poison the water supply for a sovereign nation, as well as millions of Americans downstream who rely on the Missouri River. All eyes were on Standing Rock as unwarranted armored vehicles rolled in. Law enforcement used automatic rifles, sound cannons, and concussion grenades against water protectors. An estimated 300 protesters were injured when police in riot gear used water cannons for hours in subfreezing weather to disperse them. National Guard troops, personnel and equipment pouring in from over 75 law enforcement agencies from around the country created a battlefield-like atmosphere at Standing Rock. Escalated police militarization was used to intimidate and silence water protectors’ free speech and their right to protest a pipeline which passes near sovereign territory. Thousands from across the globe joined in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to stop the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. The protest has brought together at least 200 tribes that had not united for more than 150 years. In June 2025, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe appealed a federal judge’s dismissal of its latest lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, continuing its years-long fight to protect tribal sovereignty and water rights threatened by the Dakota Access Pipeline. The tribe argues the pipeline still lacks a valid federal easement to cross under Lake Oahe, a reservoir along the Missouri River that provides water for the reservation, and that keeping it open violates federal law. Since Standing Rock’s historic mobilization, states across the country have advanced or passed anti-protest laws that criminalize resistance to fossil fuel projects. These laws target Indigenous-led movements and environmental defenders who continue to speak out against the destruction of sacred lands and waters. As these restrictive laws spread, it is more important than ever for advocates to understand and defend their constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. Knowing your rights and standing together in solidarity remains essential to ensuring that the struggle for clean water, sacred lands, and tribal sovereignty is not silenced by fear or repression.

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President Trump’s second term agenda and The Heritage Foundation’s extreme Project 2025 are blatantly enmeshed. Read our memos on how to fight back!

In 2023, more than 100 classroom censorship bills aimed at restricting students and teachers from discussing race, gender, or sexual orientation were introduced in states across the country. Thirty-two bills became law. The year prior, the country saw the highest number of attempted book bans in 20 years with more than 1,000 demands to censor library books and resources, many of which targeted titles by or about Black and LGBTQ people. The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ has challenged classroom censorship laws and book bans across the country. Today, we’re expanding on that work by pushing back against attempts to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion programs. We won’t stand for the erasure of marginalized communities in our schools.

For over 100 years, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ has been showing up in the courts, in the streets, and in the halls of power to defend the rights that the Constitution guarantees to everyone. In the past year alone, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ community fought to secure abortion rights in Michigan, defended trans youth from political attacks in Arkansas and Texas, and blocked Florida from censoring lessons about race and gender in college classrooms. With the support of our members, supporters, volunteers, and staff, we will keep showing up whenever civil rights and civil liberties are under attack.