We help communities create & defend their rights.
We assist communities to develop first-in-the-nation, groundbreaking laws for worker rights, houseless rights, democratic rights, and the Rights of Nature. We also provide free and low-cost legal services, grassroots organizing, and education support, to communities and governments facing injustice. Contact us now.
“Wouldn’t You Say?”
Welcome to CELDF’s new commentary series that focuses on key concepts in our work to advance Community Rights and the Rights of Nature.
Superficially, these may appear to be separate movements for legal rights but, as we have come to understand, everything’s connected and the artificial separation of human communities from the natural communities that we refer to as “ecosystems” allows the migration of imprudent and commercially biased dogmas into environmental and political policies. Like our “Fast Facts Friday” whiteboard videos, “Wouldn’t you say?” treats key legal, political and ethical concepts with an eye to brevity and accessibility. We hope they’ll be helpful to you and all of our CELDF community.
Community Rights
Wouldn’t You Say? – What Do We Mean by “Community Rights?”
Lakota advocate and water protector Debra White Plume (Wioweya Najin Wina), upon being introduced to the history of municipal subjugation in the United States during…
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Blogs
Wouldn’t You Say? – What are the Rights of Nature?
The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, But leaves the greater villain loose, Who steals the…
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Blogs
Wouldn’t You Say? – Nature is What’s Real
You wouldn’t think, in a rational society, that anyone would have to be told this, but reality doesn’t care what anybody believes is true; it…
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News from the Grassroots
Cleveland State trustees vote unanimously to strip John Marshall’s name from the college of law
Feature Photo by Gabriel Kramer / Ideastream Public Media Taru Taylor, a guest blogger with…
Read More | In The News
Newsletter: Susquehanna, Vol. 25, Issue 3
If you are interested in receiving our newsletter, the Susquehanna – either electronically or by…
Read More | Newsletters
Press Release: Back to the Future — Ohioans Still Poisoned After All These Years
“The spreading of toxic and radioactive well waste brine on Ohio roads and other surfaces…
Read More | Chemical Trespass
Sneak Peek! — End of Year Newsletter 2022: We are Nature
Human and ecosystem viability come when we figure out how to orient our culture to…
Read More | News
CELDF presenting in the New England Environmental Justice Youth+ Summit — FREE WEBINAR OPEN TO ALL
November 19, 2022 ~ 11AM ET Ben Price – Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)…
Read More | Events
Join the OHCRN: Virtual film screening and discussion of “The Seeds of Vandana Shiva”
View the film on your own or with others (organize a viewing party!) from Friday…
Read More | Corporate Agriculture
Fast Facts
Our Fast Facts are quick introductions to big ideas and concepts tackled by the Community Rights Movement! Check out our Fast Facts and find resources to more information to further your knowledge on the topics! Watch them all here.
Rights of Nature
Community Rights
Box of Allowable Activism
[The Community Rights and Rights of Nature movement] is the beginning of a social movement that is greater than just the oil and gas industry, it is a potential game changer for all of corporate America.
Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico