About Us
Justice First is a grassroots organization with its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. “Power for the People” is a campaign of Justice First. The “Power for the People” campaign is grounded in the principle that utilities are a basic right. In the richest and most powerful country in the history of mankind, no one should have to live without the means to light their homes at night, cook in their own kitchens, or protect themselves from hypothermia and heat stroke. The sole reason why tens of thousands of D.C. residents must struggle to retain these most basic of living conditions is the insatiable hunger of multibillion-dollar utility corporations to make mega-profits for its CEOs and Board of Trustees by constantly raising utility rates and operating as a monopoly with the protection of the D.C. government.
The long-term goal of the “Power for the People” campaign is to reorganize the way in which utilities are distributed to District of Columbia residents in order to ensure that no household is ever at risk of gas or electricity shutoff due to an inability to pay. This will require, ultimately, for government-supported, for-profit utility monopolies to be eliminated and replaced with a public utility system. Justice First will struggle to realize this long-term goal through the aggressive utilization of mechanisms such as community outreach, political actions, legal actions and referendums.
The campaign’s short-term priority is to provide immediate relief to its clients who are shut off or at risk of shutoff. Through the Justice First Advocacy Program, clients receive assistance in navigating through the process of negotiating with utility companies and obtaining energy assistance from the D.C. government. Justice First also provides a limited number of interest-free microloans.
In order to succeed, the “Power for the People” campaign must become a mass movement. The basis for organizing such a movement is to expose the conspiracy between the government and utility corporations in which utility giants are permitted to charge its customers not only for the cost of providing a service, but hundreds of millions of dollars extra to line the pockets of a handful of executives. To this end, Justice First conducts independent research, holds educational forums, and reaches out to working-class people on a local and national level using all available vehicles including the internet, community educational forums, street meetings, First Amendment activities, canvassing and petitioning. Only with the support of a mass movement will this campaign achieve its ultimate goal of making utilities a legally protected right in the District of Columbia rather than a for-profit commodity.
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