Culture

History in the Making: Sherrilyn Ifill in Conversation With Janai Nelson

When Sherrilyn Ifill passes the torch to Janai Nelson on Monday, March 14, it will mark the first woman-to-woman succession in the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's 81 years. 
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When Thurgood Marshall founded the Legal Defense and Educational Fund under the NAACP umbrella in 1940, America was embroiled in racial discrimination and early fights for civil rights. Eighty years later, the charge against our nation’s inequities and injustices is led by president and director-counsel Sherrilyn Ifill, who first joined the organization in 1988 as an assistant counsel in the area of voting rights.

Following a 20-year hiatus from the institution in order to teach law at the University of Maryland, where she accomplished groundbreaking work centered on civil rights, discrimination, and lynchings in the 21st century, Ifill returned in 2013 to take the reins as the seventh president and director-counsel of LDF. She was the second woman ever to do so, the first being Elaine Jones. Since then she has evolved the institution into one of powerful influence on policy and legislation.

On Monday, March 14, Ifill will pass the mantle to her longtime deputy and current associate director-counsel, Janai Nelson. It will be a historic event: the first woman-to-woman succession in the organization’s storied 81-year history. “It’s a very exciting moment,” Ifill says of the transition. “It’s bittersweet, because I so love LDF. It has been the absolute honor and privilege of a lifetime to lead this organization for 10 years.”

Sherrilyn Ifill and Janai Nelson in action in Selma, Alabama.Courtesy of LDF

Both a Glamour and a Time Woman of the Year, Ifill leaves an important legacy behind. During her time at the helm, she became an influential voice on racial discrimination and voting rights. Under her leadership, the LDF has been behind landmark work that’s changed the lives of those living on the margins, at times joining forces with coalitions like the one behind the Crown Act, an initiative fighting to make hair discrimination illegal. She’s also led the institution in efforts to resist rollbacks of civil rights efforts like affirmative action and combated voter suppression and inequities in the criminal justice system. Most recently Ifill has pushed President Biden and Congress to nominate progressive judicial nominees that would balance the bench former President Trump and his Republican-led Senate had filled with conservatives. (Before Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination this year, Ifill was said to be on the short list to fill retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat.)

Nelson, LDF’s second-in-command, has been working right alongside Ifill for eight years as she’s led research on education equity and the legal strategy for the 2020 National Urban League v. Trump case, which declared the former president’s ban on inclusion training in the workplace unconstitutional. (The ban was later overruled when Biden took office.) 

For Nelson, it’s been the “privilege of a lifetime” working at LDF with Ifill. “I look forward to continuing building on the legacy of the seven prior presidents and director-counsels who laid a foundation and had a vision for this organization,” she says. “It has allowed LDF to evolve into something that is now integral to the fabric of our democracy.”

As Ifill and Nelson begin the next chapter of their careers, Glamour caught up with them about this monumental time in LDF’s history. Read on.

Glamour: Let’s jump right in and talk about what this moment signifies for both of you.

Sherrilyn Ifill: This is my life’s work. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish at the helm. I’m excited to think about how I will continue to build on doing the work of racial justice and democracy in this country. I’m also excited to be passing the reins to Janai, who I feel is so powerfully equipped to lead us in this next phase of the organization’s life.

Janai Nelson: I’ve been involved with this organization for the better part of my legal career. There’s a very strong relationship and deep, deep feeling that this is a sacred institution that has done incredible work to develop and protect our democracy, to hold it accountable, to stretch it. I look forward to carrying that legacy forward and building on that.

You’ve both worked together now for eight years. Janai, what has that time meant to you?

Nelson: I couldn’t ask for a better training ground to do transformative civil rights work than LDF. I certainly could not have asked for a better person to work with and support than Sherrilyn. She’s a phenomenal leader in every aspect of that word and has set an extremely high bar because that’s what LDF—and the communities and clients that it serves—deserves. As difficult as many of the moments we’ve faced as a nation, we’ve done this work joyfully, with a lot of energy and exhilaration, in sisterhood and synergy. I’m going to miss that greatly. We have both worked hard to make sure we have a deep bench beyond the two of us to continue to buoy the institution as we march forward.

Janai Nelson will become the president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense and Education Fund on Monday, March 14. Courtesy of LDF

Janai, how would you define Sherrilyn’s legacy at LDF?

Nelson: She has left a legacy of transformation and fortification. She’s transformed the way we think about legal strategy when it comes to race. It’s a connection to the roots of our democracy. Civil rights work is the work of democracy maintenance. She fortifies individuals and institutions, and shows that organizations like LDF cannot be taken for granted. They cannot be seen as necessary only in times of crisis, or when the trend makes them popular. They are institutions in the literal sense of the word. They are necessities to a democracy that is still quite young and fragile.

Sherrilyn, when it came to a successor, why was Janai the best choice?

Ifill: It’s been the most astonishing and rewarding work collaboration I’ve had in my life—connecting with someone who shares the same level of loyalty to the organization, love for our people, commitment to the work, commitment to excellence, and a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done. That collaboration between us has been part of the critical foundation to the successes we’ve had over the last decade at LDF.

I want to speak briefly about your careers as civil rights lawyers. What inspired you to devote your professional life to work intentionally centered on racial justice and equity?

Nelson: I grew up with a strong sense of justice and fairness, though I didn’t have the vocabulary to describe what I saw as deep racial inequities around me. Without that language, you have frustration. You have a fire in you that desires a vehicle for the change you want to see. It wasn’t until I got to college and was exposed to law students—and later going to law school and externing at LDF—that I realized that was my pathway. That was the intervention I found most appealing because of the durable change organizations like LDF can have to uproot systemic racism. To use the tools that are often arrayed against us to empower the Black community was an exciting challenge.

Ifill: Growing up in the ’70s, there were so many amazing programs by and about Black people regularly on television. There was the Black Journal, Carl Rowan, and Gill Nobles. I was powerfully influenced by Black women political leaders who had emerged on the scene, Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm being the two most important. They were the image of Black women who were intellectually sharp. Their power emanated not from their entertainment value or because they were beautiful. It came from a certain moral authority. That was something I wanted, and that was possible. I didn’t sing. I didn’t dance. I didn’t think I was particularly beautiful. But I did think I was smart. I did think I had something to say, though at that time I didn’t know what it was. Those women showed me the kind of power I could demonstrate in the public space for good. I wanted that, so I followed that path. I always laugh about my high school yearbook and my career goal of being a Supreme Court justice. I hadn’t even met a lawyer at that time, so there was no business for me to think something like that was possible. But I did not lack for that kind of confidence as a Black girl, and I’ve been able to live my dream.

“People underestimate the power of Black women to support each other, to have each other's back, to work together, to not compete with one another, but rather to join forces, to amplify their powers and abilities,” says Nelson. “That's what I feel Sherrilyn and I have done naturally over the years.”Courtesy of LDF

Let’s talk about the political climate this transition is happening in: Voting rights are in jeopardy. Education equity is under attack. Where do we go from here? 

Nelson: We are seeing a retrenchment in ways that there may have been undercurrents of before, but it’s palpable now. We are at a crossroads, and we have to choose what type of multiracial, multiethnic democracy we will be because we will certainly be a multiracial, multiethnic society. We either strengthen the structures that ensure we are committed to the ideals in our Constitution, or we can descend into anarchy and authoritarianism—those are the choices before us. I have faith we will continue to push this country to be a better version of itself despite itself. One of the first items on that agenda is to confront racism in America. It’s in the country’s DNA. We see that with the proliferation of anti-truth bills, anti-voter bills, and anti-protest bills. It’s a trifecta of assault on our democracy. I remain hopeful because I see the resilience of communities that bounce back after being shut out and written out of laws and positions of power. We can still find a way and use the tools at our disposal to push back. That’s what we’re here to do—to create a different vision for what our future holds.

Ifill: Six months after I took over at LDF, the Supreme Court issued its devastating decision in the Shelby County v. Holder case, and it was off to the races on voter suppression. There were many years—including during the Obama administration—where we saw terrible videos of a police killing every week: Eric Garner, Walter Scott, and many others. It was a difficult time, and we did some amazing work. The beauty of this transition is that the nation needs strong institutions that have legitimacy and clarity about who they are and what they represent. LDF has that. We are unapologetically a racial justice organization. That means we have insights into this country that many don’t, and our ability to bring that to the table is our secret sauce. Under Janai’s leadership, with refreshed vision and boldness, there’ll be more difficult moments ahead. The key is to do the moment you’re assigned.

As you both were talking about hope, I flashed back to 2020: to Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Following their murders, there was a renewed urgency to pass policing reform. But as we enter 2022, it seems like we’re receding further from that pivotal moment that begged for sustainable, equitable change. How do we get back on track? 

Ifill: As a student of history, and particularly Black history, I’m firmly of the belief that the power of what happened when people saw the torture and killing of George Floyd continues to fuel change. When we don’t see that change happen in a year or two, we wonder, Did it mean anything? But when you hear people talk about how the murder of Emmett Till affected how they thought about themselves as Black people, and why we had to fight against Jim Crow in ways that perhaps we hadn’t before 1955, we know none of it is in vain. George Floyd. Eric Garner saying, “I can’t breathe.” Sandra Bland. Atatiana Jefferson. Breonna Taylor. As a people, we don’t forget easily. It lives in us. The key is to incubate that energy, to incubate that empathy—it’s still there. Our job is to never believe that it’s dissipated. To be in touch with our humanity and help people remember what it feels like to want better for your country. We must work hard to stoke it and keep people believing that change is possible.

Nelson: The other thing we have to be careful about is to not fall for the portrayal of radical minority interests and the outsized spotlight they receive. It’s easy to think that the backlash we see in schools across the country is a shared view by a majority of the American public, but they aren’t. These interests are so powerful that they’re able to portray themselves as something far more expansive and extensive than they are. More people believe in a positive vision for this country and its future than those peddled by minority interests. So we must point out when radical viewpoints are centered in ways that they shouldn’t be because that gives a false perception of our potential.

What have been some of the challenges you’ve had to navigate over the years?

Nelson: People underestimate the power of Black women to support each other, to have each other’s back, to work together, to not compete with one another, but rather to join forces, to amplify their powers and abilities. That’s what I feel Sherrilyn and I have done naturally over the years, and that gets overlooked. It’s undersung, not reported or uplifted. There hasn’t been a single day that I have not taken great honor and pride in supporting the leadership of another Black woman.

Ifill: She’s right. People were endlessly curious about our relationship. Even people who would interview for jobs would ask, “How do you two get along?” So many stories describe women leaders, particularly Black women, as competitors. That there must be all kinds of tension. Janai and I were very intentional in presenting what it could be to be women leaders working together. We took tremendous pride in that. You don't often see women leaders among legacy civil rights organizations, let alone a woman-to-woman transfer of leadership. I always hoped that Janai would be in a position to succeed me because this job is not for the faint of heart. It is not for people who want to be on TV. It’s not even for people who are good civil rights lawyers. It draws so much from every part of you. You have to be willing to give to the organization and still hold on to your humanity. I could see that she had that kind of dedication it takes to do this job.

Sherrilyn Ifill, the outgoing president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, in 2013.The Washington Post/Getty Images

Janai, you become the third woman to take the helm at LDF. What is your vision as you prepare for center stage? And what are some obstacles you foresee in the coming months?

Nelson: ​​The vision is to defend against the attacks that we are experiencing and simultaneously help build and promote a successful multiracial, multiethnic democracy in which Black people have agency in their futures where they can thrive. That is a creative challenge in terms of the daring imagination you need to have, and then the intellectual wherewithal and capacity to translate that imagination into action. To be able to hold those two ideas at the same time is required. The need to have a strong defense and a visionary offense is something I'm most excited about doing. I love a good fight.

Sherrilyn, as you bid farewell, did you accomplish all you set out to do? Is there anything you could have done better or differently during your time at the helm?

Ifill: I could have certainly done the thing that every leader hopes they’ll be able to do: achieve work-life balance. That did not happen. The times we were—and are—in, frankly, did not make that possible. But not only did I achieve everything I set out to do, I achieved more. Institutionally, I knew what I wanted to create in the organization and the role that I wanted LDF to be in, in the democratic infrastructure of this country. That people would want to hear our voice. That we would be regarded as strategic thinkers and honest brokers. That people would want to know how we saw a particular situation. That we would be able to use our voice to curate the truth about racial discrimination and injustice for the American public. That we would refresh every aspect of our organization and respond in real time to civil rights crises as they unfolded. That was a key part of it, and we have certainly achieved that. I leave feeling a sense of true accomplishment. Even though there is more work to be done and we are in such a difficult time, everybody has their moment. This one is Janai’s.

Earlier you talked about being excited about your next chapter. What are some things you look forward to doing?

Ifill: First, probably a couple of nights’ sleep. And then I do have a book to complete. Not because I have a contract, but because the idea of the book has been building in me for some time. Part of what we need in this movement—that is a lifelong movement, if you’ve devoted yourself to this work—are those times where you have an opportunity to put together what you have learned and to try to map out where America is at this moment in relation to race, and how it connects with our past and the pathway forward. I want to spend time doing that in writing this book. I’m looking forward to being able to sit with all of the knowledge I’ve accumulated and think that through. And then I have some ideas for how I might next contribute to this work. But mostly, I’m going to listen and see what those opportunities are and try to pick the one that is best suited to who I am at this moment.

Speaking of catching up on sleep—when it comes to managing the personal and the professional, what lessons do you have for balancing work and life?

[Both women laugh.]

Ifill: Go on, Janai!

Nelson: Listen, that’s the one lesson you didn’t impart.

[More laughter.]

Ifill: Listen, listen, here’s what I got: I think we all have done some recalibration since COVID. Many of us have learned to turn it off. For the first few years of this job, I worked 16 hours a day, six days a week, and I loved it. But it takes its toll. It's not sustainable. That ability to turn off is critical. Learning to create space for yourself is important. So I no longer work on Saturdays. I shut down at 10 p.m. There are exceptions that make it impossible to shut down: Some tragedy is happening, some police killing, something’s happening in Congress, or in a community somewhere that needs our help. I also built in exercise time—from the very beginning, that has been nonnegotiable. With the strong staff we’ve built over the years, I believe Janai is in an excellent position to do all of this. She will need to reserve her energy. She’s the leader, and there are things that can’t be offloaded to anyone else. She’s also the inspiration for staff, the community, and the country—so part of the job is preserving your energy, optimism, inspiration, and health.

Nelson: I agree. There has to be a piece of you that’s out of touch, that’s for you. One that you hold sacred.

Rita Omokha is a freelance writer based in New York. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.