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Our Policy Portfolio
The Broad Frame of Social Justice
Racial Justice
Civil Rights & Human Rights
Gender Equality
Fair Housing, Community & Economic Development
Gulf Coast Justice
Public Health
Health Disparities
HIV/AIDS Awareness
Women's Health
Voting Rights
Renewing The VRA
Election Reform
Education
Adult Literacy
Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)
Progressive Films & Documentaries
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The Broad Frame of Social Justice – Much of the portfolio carried by McKinney & Associates encompasses strategic communications, media relations and public campaigns on behalf of traditional civil rights and social justice organizations. The firm has been fortunate to maintain sustained relations with some of the nation's most respected social advocacy organizations. Our engagements are embraced and rolled out using a racial justice lens.
The firm is passionately committed to advancing the voices of advocates who believe our society is more just and equitable when racial equality is at the core of social policy. This does not limit the work of McKinney & Associates to a restricted or "ghettoized" confine, but it provides an expansive overlay for all our public policy communications campaigns. Whether the campaigns are focused on voting rights, environmental justice, public health equity or criminal justice reform the impact in the context of racial justice helps to inform the content and character of our work.
Following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast , McKPR collaborated with several organizations to raise awareness around the immediate and long-term needs of those affected by the devastating storms. McKPR was involved in promoting a lawsuit filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and a petition filed by the Equal Justice Society against the federal government on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims.
The firm also partnered with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund to plan and publicize policy forums in Washington, DC. As the campaign season mounted, McKPR worked extensively with NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), which filed a lawsuit to protect voting rights of displaced New Orleans residents and the Lawyers' Committee, which teamed with LDF in an extensive radio tour to reach New Orleanians voters dispered throughout the South and across the country. The firm's earned media and radio ad campaign assisted LDF and the Lawyers' Committee to expand participation in the spring primary election and runoff that resulted in the re-election of Mayor Ray Nagin.
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Public Health – The growing crisis in health care is not rooted soley in diet, exercise or how often one visits the doctor. Much of the crisis is attributed to social determinants that speak to health challenges, inequities and conditions that influence life and death realities. McKPR has responded to growing public concern over the declining status of American's health and the wide racial disparities through the promotion of an innovative film project launched by California Newsreel. The documentary series, scheduled to air in the later half of 2007, will explore the consequences of social determinants in myridad forms.
McKPR has also supported the work of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington (PPMW) in promoting women's health issues, raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and shining a new spotlight on mental health facing young people. PPMW has enlisted McKPR to promote the organization's reproductive health services geared at the uninsured and low-income communities.
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Voting Rights – McKPR has extensive experience working to ensure equal access to the ballot, at the helm of a communications campaign -- Renew the VRA -- that involves the nations leading civil rights advocacy organizations. Led by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the collaborative is pushing for reauthorization of expiring provision of the Act. These protections have empowered African American, Asian American, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans to have a political voice and choice in electoral politics. The firm has employed an expansive tool kit of communications tactics ranging from story placements, audio briefings, oped campaigns and special events. The firm's work has concentrated on raising awareness to the continued need to combat persisting voter discrimination and protect America 's democracy for all.
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Education – McKPR believes in the power of education to change lives for the better and opens doors to new possibilies. Because of this, we have work to advance adult literacy in the District through promoting the University of the District of Columbia State Education Agency (SEA), best known for its Annual Walk for Literacy, which raises much-needed funds to support SEA's work, and its "Read Out Loud" campaign with its corporate partners.
McKPR has also assisted in the development and promotion of the National Association for Equal Opportunities in Higher Education (NAFEO), an umbrella organization for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs). McKPR contributed to the conceptualization, development, and production of publications to document and promote the work of a novel collaborative – the HBCU/Minority Institutions Environmental Technology Consortium. The project has inspired research, inventions and scientific exploration in the areas of technology, earth sciences and environmental technologies. McKPR has created and produced a booklet and brochure for distribution to HBCU partners and other stakeholders.
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Progressive Films & Documentaries – One of the most effective mediums for communication is through film. McKPR has proudly collaborated with award-winning filmmakers including Stanley Nelson and his Firelight Media production company to promote several of his titles including the Emmy-winning The Murder of Emmett Till and Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, a documentary about the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide.
The firm has also partnered with the stellar American Experience/WGBH service to promote PBS documentaries including the coveted rebroadcast of the ground-breaking Eyes On the Prize, which will be re-released in Fall 2007.
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