Meet The Plaintiffs
The plaintiffs in the Milligan v. Merrill case have a history of fighting for fair and equitable practices in Alabama politics. They also have deep ties to the state resulting in lived experiences that fosters a personal connection to this fight.
Evan Milligan
he/him
Evan is the Executive Director of Alabama Forward, a statewide civic engagement network committed to bringing together nonpartisan organizations to work together in building power around progressive civic issues and movement toward greater freedom. He has also worked as a paralegal, law fellow, and program manager with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a criminal defense/human rights law firm that also produces public narrative content regarding American’s history of anti-Black violence and structural racism.
Khadidah Stone
she/her
Khadidah is a native of Montgomery, where she currently works as Chief Field & Campaign Strategist for Alabama Forward. She has worked in nonprofit, advocacy, and political spaces through entities such as the Alabama House of Representatives, Feminist Majority Foundation, Alabama Institute for Social Justice, Nashville International Center for Empowerment and numerous political campaigns. Khadidah is passionate about any effort that moves communities towards collective liberation and pushes for justice and equity in every space she enters. One of Khadidah’s favorite quotes is by James Baldwin “Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have”. During her free time she enjoys reading books, gardening, hosting her podcast, and spending time with family & friends.
Shalela Dowdy
she/her
Shalela is a native of Mobile. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in American Legal Studies (Pre Law) from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2012 and a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2017. Currently she is a First Year Part-Time Law Student at Southern University Law Center. She served six years in the United States Army on active duty as an Air Defense Artillery Officer and Human Resource Officer. She is currently in the Army Reserves where she holds the rank of Captain and the position of Military Academy Liaison Officer.
She spent the past year as a CROWD Fellow with the Southern Coalition of Social Justice. Shalela is a member of Urban League Young Professionals, Kappa Epsilon Psi Military Sorority, a Silver Life Member of the NAACP, a Legacy Life Member of NCNW (National Council of Negro Women), a member of Delta Sigma Theta, and the President of Stand Up Mobile.
Letetia Jackson
she/her
Letetia Daniels Jackson is President/CEO of Tandeka LLC, a strategic consulting firm specializing in public policy advocacy, government relations, authentic community engagement, health equity, strategic planning, and capacity building for non-governmental organizations. She is the convener of the South Alabama Black Women’s Roundtable, an affiliate of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s (NCBCP) National Black Women’s Roundtable which serves as the intergenerational leadership development, mentoring, empowerment and power building arm for Black women and girls.
Greater Birmingham Ministries
Greater Birmingham Ministries (GBM) was founded in 1969 in response to urgent human and justice needs in the greater Birmingham area. GBM is a multi-faith, multi-racial organization that provides emergency services for people in need and engages the poor and the non-poor in systemic change efforts to build a strong, supportive, engaged community and pursue a more just society for all people.
Alabama State Conference NAACP
The Alabama State Conference of NAACP works to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.