On Thursday, October 15, 2026, 500 friends, supporters, movement partners, and staff of the Center for Constitutional Rights gathered in Brooklyn, NY for A Splendid Body of Tigerish People: 60 Years of CCR. (Fun fact: The phrase "a splendid body of tigerish people" is a quote attributed to radical journalist Alexander Cockburn, who wrote it to describe our organization’s staff, donors, and movement partners.) At the event, many tigerish people celebrated six decades of working side by side with communities standing up to oppression and struggling for liberation.
Sixty years of fighting for justice deserve more than one night of celebration. Throughout 2026, we’ve traveled across the country to honor the people, communities, and partnerships that have shaped our history and continue to advance our work.
In April, we brought 10 donors to Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, a heavily industrialized stretch along the Mississippi River where predominantly Black communities have faced decades of toxic pollution. Donors met with our partners fighting for environmental and racial justice, then gathered at New Orleans’ StudioBE to honor our longtime co-counsel and former Legal Director Bill Quigley.
This past July, 150 supporters joined us for Tigerish San Francisco at the African American Art & Culture Complex, where we honored longtime co-counsel and immigration attorney Marc Van Der Hout.
Our celebrations will conclude in December with Sixty in the ’Sip: A Night of Fellowship and Celebration with CCR at the Smith Robertson Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. Alongside CCR South staff and supporters, we’ll honor two beloved former staff members and lifelong champions of justice, Jaribu Hill and Judge Margaret Carey-McCray.
From New York to Mississippi, these gatherings reflect what has sustained CCR for 60 years: the people, relationships, and collective commitment to justice that will carry our work into the future.
Mahmoud Kahlil and Angela Davis speaking with guests at A Splendid Body of Tigerish People: 60 Years of CCR
Together through Times of Uncertainty
Just as the Center for Constitutional Rights began its work with the Civil Rights Movement in the South, we marked our 60th anniversary amid profound uncertainty and upheaval. In the past two years, communities across the United States have faced escalating attacks on fundamental freedoms, mass immigration raids and detention, expanded government surveillance, and eroding civil rights. The Trump administration has fueled fear and instability, targeting immigrants, protesters, LGBTQ people (particularly transgender people), and communities already facing systemic injustice. Meanwhile, genocide in Palestine, economic insecurity, and persistent attacks on human rights have left many exhausted, grieving, and uncertain about what comes next.
Against this backdrop, coming together to celebrate 60 years of resistance felt especially meaningful. There was room for grief, anger, laughter, reflection, and celebration. The gathering offered an occasion to reconnect, recognize how far we've come, and recommit to the collective work still ahead. At a time when so much is designed to divide and isolate us, the evening reminded us that solidarity is something we build together.
Honoring Movement Leaders Who Help Change The World
Throughout the evening, we celebrated people whose work has shaped culture and challenged oppression.
Honorees from L to R: Vince Warren, Angela Y. Davis, Katherin Franke, and Yance Ford
We were proud to recognize Angela Y. Davis, whose decades of scholarship, activism, and organizing have helped shape movements for racial justice, prison abolition, and collective liberation. Her work has inspired generations to conceive a world beyond incarceration and systemic oppression. On the topic of storytelling, Angela Davis imbued her wisdom by saying, “When we talk about the civil rights movement… our culture, it very easily allows for proclamation of victory. The struggle is over. When you talk about it as a freedom movement, we’re still in that movement! We’re still in that struggle. And so, that’s the kind of story I think we need to tell.”
Angela Davis imbued her wisdom by saying, “When we talk about the civil rights movement… our culture, it very easily allows for proclamation of victory. The struggle is over. When you talk about it as a freedom movement, we’re still in that movement! We’re still in that struggle. And so, that’s the kind of story I think we need to tell.”
Katherine Franke was celebrated too. She is a legal scholar and longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, and Palestinian liberation. Through her scholarship, advocacy, and devotion to human rights, Franke has challenged institutions and expanded conversations about equality, freedom, and justice.
The honorees also included Yance Ford, an acclaimed filmmaker whose work explores race, family, memory, and systemic injustice. Through documentary storytelling, Ford has uncovered the highly personal consequences of institutional violence and shown film's power to confront injustice and create space for reflection and change.
Together, these honorees represent the many ways people advance human rights, whether by organizing, scholarship, storytelling, or legal advocacy. Their work illustrates to us that movements are strengthened when people bring different experiences, talents, and approaches to a united struggle for liberation.
Celebrating 20 Years of Vince Warren's Leadership
The evening served as a milestone as we honored our Executive Director, Vince Warren, who announced he would step down after 20 years of innovative leadership.
Vince was a legal fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights and later returned to the organization. Under Vince’s leadership, the Center for Constitutional Rights challenged unjust policing, the profiling of Muslims, ended long-term solitary confinement in California’s Pelican Bay Prison, and established the persecution of LGBTQIA people as a crime against humanity. He did all of this while broadening connections with community movements and impacted communities.
Vince’s innovative thinking saw justice as extending outside the courtroom too. By uniting lawyers, organizers, artists, and storytellers, he underscored collaboration to confront systemic injustice and build a better world.
Though his departure closes an important chapter for the organization, his commitment endures. As Vince said on stage, he's "definitely not f*cking retiring."
His values and the relationships he built will still guide our work for years to come.
Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director, Vince Warren
Looking Ahead to the Next 60 Years
As our organization steps into its next chapter, our dedication to justice, dignity, and collective liberation remains unshakable. We are deeply grateful to everyone who joined us in Brooklyn to celebrate this extraordinary milestone, and to the generations of clients, movement partners, staff, supporters, and advocates who have made our work possible.
Sixty years of resistance. Sixty years of solidarity. And in many ways,we’re just getting started!!
