ACCR Receives Charles L. Ray, Jr. Memorial Social Justice Award
On September 8, 2023 Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) receivedthe Charles L. Ray, Jr., Memorial Social Justice Award from Interfaith Mission Service of Huntsville. ACCR was one of five recipients of the award. Receiving the award on behalf of ACCR was Kristi Thomson, ACCR Board President.
Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) is the force behind constitutional reform in Alabama. A non-profit, grassroots, public interest group dedicated to helping Alabamians draft a new state constitution. Founded in 2000 by journalist and educator Bailey Thomson and his wife Kristi Thomson, many across the state participated and helped in the formation including lawyer Tom Carruthers, Sid McAnnally, the Honorable Jack Edwards, Dr. Thomas Corts, Gov. Albert Brewer, Brunson White, Odessa Woolfolk, Judge Gorman Houston, Professor Wayne Flynt, and others.
Mr. Thomson’s efforts along with those of Gov. Albert Brewer and with the help of the late Dr. Thomas Corts, President of Samford University, resulted in a movement for reform that began in Tuscaloosa with a rally attended by hundreds. ACCR Foundation, and ACCR Inc., grew out of this rally in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on April 7, 2000. ACCR’s goal is a state constitution that unites, rather than divides Alabama’s people and creates a civic atmosphere in which politics can function for the benefit of all citizens, rather than for a few powerful interests. As part of this effort, ACCR supported the effort to recompile Alabama’s constitution removing racist language and reformatting to make the document more coherent. Voters ratified the reformatted Alabama Constitution in 2022.
The five recipients of Charles L. Ray, Jr., Memorial Social Justice Awards from IMS. Kristi Thomson of ACCR is on the left.Kristi Thomson, ACCR President, receives the award on behalf of the ACCR organization.
