Overview

This fiery manifesto provides a concrete action plan for legal professionals and activists advancing Black liberation and transformative social change. Revolutions happen in the streets, not in courtrooms. But in the struggle against systems increasingly designed to perpetuate inequality and benefit those in power, lawyers must do their part. As leaders from the acclaimed movement lawyering and advocacy organization Law for Black Lives, editors Marbré Stahly-Butts and Ameca Reali have spent years on the front lines of transformative social change. With Lawyering for Liberation, they offer concrete tools for fellow legal workers and lawyers working to achieve a just future. Grounded in the politics of abolition, Black queer feminism, and anticapitalism, this approachable how-to guide distills key concepts of movement lawyering and assembles advice from dozens of lawyers, legal workers, and organizers in areas like jail and bail support, stop-and-frisk litigation, protester defense, reparations, family law, housing, and more. The result is not just a manual for resistance but an urgent call to join the movement.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ameca Reali ,  Marbré Stahly-Butts
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
ISBN:  

9780520392366

ISBN 10:   0520392361
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   06 January 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

Contents   Preface Acknowledgments   Introduction   I. Making Change: The What of Movement Lawyering 1. Revolutions Happen in the Streets Not Courtrooms Theory of Change Common Theories of Change The Theory of Movement Lawyering Learn Something from This Resources Reflection   2. Beyond Your Mama's Liberation Movement: A Grounding in Our Politics Our Politics Our Movements Learn Something from This Resources Reflection   3. This Is a Call-In (Not a Call-Out) The Dos and Don'ts of Movement Lawyering Movement Lawyering Gone Wrong Learn Something from This Resources Reflection   II. Get in Formation: The How of Movement Lawyering 4. We in These Streets Biographical Reflection: Building Infrastructure from the Rubble Tactical Case Study: Lessons from Ferguson for Movement Lawyers The Hard Stuff: Movement Lawyering in a Time of Genocide—Bolstering the Palestine Movement Through a Crisis of Repression Praxis: Standing Up for the Right to Resist at the Global Level Learn Something from This Resources   5. Bringing Movements into the Courthouse Biographical Reflection: My Journey to Movement Lawyering Tactical Case Study: The Radically Inclusive Amicus Litigation Strategies of Centering Black Trans Voices The Hard Stuff: Resolving the Tensions in Movement Lawyering Praxis Case Study: Four Organizing Lessons for Lawyers from Floyd Litigation Learn Something from This Resources for Radical Litigation   6. Frontline Defenders for the Revolution Biographical Reflection: Navigating the Family Regulation System as an Abolitionist Public Defender Tactical Case Study: Navigating Organizing as a Public Defender The Hard Stuff: The Ethics of Frontline Legal Defense in a Housing Crisis Learn Something from This Resources   7. Policymaking for Radicals Biographical Reflection: Black Feminist Lessons in Representing and Organizing Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones Tactical Case Study: The Grassroots Struggle for Chicago Police Torture Survivors The Hard Stuff: ""Radical"" Means Getting to the Root—Navigating Policy Advocacy in Support of Transformative Social Change Praxis: Crafting Prison Industrial Complex Abolitionist Policy Learn Something from This Resources   8. Teaching the Revolution Biographical Reflection: Dispatches from the Clinical Undercommons Tactical Case Study: Bridging Academy and Community The Hard Stuff: Navigating a Collision Course Praxis: Understanding Law and Power Learn Something from This Resources   Contributors 239 Index 255

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Author Information

Ameca Reali is Executive Director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center and former Membership Director at Law for Black Lives. Marbré Stahly-Butts is Associate Professor at CUNY School of Law and cofounder and former Executive Director of Law for Black Lives.  

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