About US

Douglass Collective organizes lawyers & activists to reclaim the Constitution and our courts.

From Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement, our (Black, working class, woman, immigrant, queer) ancestors have fought to transform the Constitution into a tool for liberation.

Douglass Collective honors and build upon their legacies.

The constitution is for ALl of us

Our Goals

  • Build Knowledge

    Dominant narratives of the law center the perspectives of wealthy white men.

    Douglass Collective disrupts these narratives by shining a spotlight on the roles abolitionists, people of color, women, working people, queer folks, and immigrants have played in reshaping the Constitution.

  • Build Community

    Isolation, siloing and lack of shared vision prevent our movements from reaching their full potential.

    Douglass Collective helps lawyers & activists form enduring relationships grounded in shared values of justice and liberation.

  • Build Power

    Our laws and courts should serve the people—not just the privileged and wealthy.

    Douglass Collective mobilizes lawyers and activists to put their values into action, resisting oppression and building more just legal systems.

Join Us

Founder

Taonga Leslie is the Founder of Douglass Collective. He has previously served as Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice at the American Constitution Society, a Senior Consultant at Public Equity Group and an Associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Taonga holds a JD from Yale Law School and a BA in Sociology from Harvard University.

Credits

Home: Algernon Miller & Gabriel Koren, Frederick Douglass Circle (2010), photo by Robert. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Footer: Aaron Douglas, Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction (1934) via New York Public Library. CC0 1.0

About: Henry Walker Herrick & James W. Watts, Reading the Emancipation Proclamation (1864) via the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Projects: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, The Colored National Convention held at Nashville, April 5, 6, and 7 from a photograph by Carl Giers (1876) via New York Public Library.

Join: Michael Rosato, Harriet Tubman Mural (2019); Theodore R. Davis, The National Colored Convention in Session at Washington, D.C. (1869) via Wikimedia.

Donate: Carlos Lopez, The Death of Colonel Shaw at Fort Wagner (1943) photo by David. CCBY 2.0.

© Douglass Collective 2025. All rights reserved.