The Gathering for Justice 20th Anniversary Benefit Gala
The Gathering for Justice hosted its 20th Anniversary Gala, 20 Years of Impact, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in New York City. The evening, hosted by the renowned Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, honored the legacy of Harry Belafonte, celebrate two decades of impact under the Gathering’s president & CEO, Carmen Perez-Jordan, and mobilized resources for the next chapter of movement-building. The Gathering also honored Desiree Perez, CEO of Roc Nation with the Harry Belafonte Social Justice Award; legendary actor and activist Danny Glover with the Legacy of Justice Award; and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari Co-Executive Director of Alliance for Quality Education with the Gathering In Community Award.
OUR MISSION
The Gathering for Justice shifts culture towards action. We work to transform the criminal legal system and advance civil rights to build a beloved community grounded in justice, equity, and compassion.
By developing leaders, leveraging cultural organizing, and uniting our community's collective power across generations, we aim to dismantle systemic injustice and end racial inequity for all.
OUR STORY
A Call To Action Becomes A Gathering for Justice
The Gathering for Justice is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 by the late, iconic artist and activist Harry Belafonte after a 5-year-old black girl washandcuffed and arrested in her Florida classroom for “being unruly”.
No stranger to injustice, Belafonte saw this as a tipping point of normalizing racism. Through his stewardship, The Gathering took the fight to the streets and to the courts, leading to wholesale changes on how law enforcement interacted with young children. Since then, we have focused on the root causes of racial inequity and tackled them from all angles for comprehensive and sustainable outcomes.
OUR ISSUES
Criminal and Juvenile Justice Reform
We seek holistically transformative changes to the juvenile and criminal justice systems, through community organizing, rapid response, policy advocacy and youth mentorship. Everyday, we move several steps forward towards a society where all of its residents are safe, law enforcement agencies are held accountable, and our legal system protects, not infringes upon, our rights.
Racial Justice
There is no justice without racial justice. We are actively working to dismantle the systemic racism, violence, and oppression that has hurt marginalized communities for generations. Our fight brings the most impacted communities to the table to foster systemic healing and create a collective path toward justice and equity.
Civil and Human Rights
We do not live single-issue lives, and we bring an intersectional approach to everything we do. We build intergenerational, intercultural and multi-issue coalitions that combine historical civil rights strategies with modern thought leadership to protect and uphold our collective rights.
OUR APPROACH
The Gathering is grounded in these four areas, applied through an evidence based equity-centered lens.
DIRECT ACTIONS AND RAPID RESPONSE
ARTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZING
EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING
ADVOCACY
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Six principles were outlined by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his famous essay, “a pilgrimage to nonviolence.” These Kingian principles–the foundation of Dr. King’s nonviolent resistance methodology–guide our work here at The Gathering.
