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Featured Webinars

Beyond Redlining: Black Lives Matter and Community Development, Part Four

This multi-part free webinar series explores historical patterns of racism in the context of redlining by exploring the intersections of the Black Lives Matters movement and community development. This panel of expert professionals addressed the long term impacts of redlining on community development, housing, education, environmental justice and economic justice. This panel focuses on inequities associated with issues relating to policing, prisons, zoning, and climate justice.

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The Challenges in Providing COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Distribution for African American Communities

Dr. Karissa Culbreath, Medical Director of Infectious Diseases at TriCore Reference Laboratories reflects upon her work and her discussions with other leading medical doctors as they try to address the distrust that African Americans have regarding the public health system as it relates to the COVID-19 virus, testing and vaccine distribution.

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Restoration of Voting Rights: The Elimination of Felony Disenfranchisement

There is growing momentum to dismantle felony disenfranchisement and restore voting rights across the country. Maine and Vermont are the only states in which those convicted of a felony offense never lose their right to vote. In July 2020, Washington, DC joined Maine and Vermont in allowing those convicted of a felony to vote while incarcerated. Several other states have recently changed their laws to provide automatic restoration of the right to vote upon release from prison. In November 2020, California voters passed Proposition 17 which amended the state constitution to allow those on parole for a felony conviction to vote.

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When Race and the Environment Collide: The Impact of Systemic Racism on Environmental Justice

This program examines the impact of structural and systemic racism and its impact on the environment, specifically environmental justice, and intentionality. Panelists address the ongoing crisis in Flint, MI, and the continued failure to provide sufficient relief; tribal environmental issues including the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump Administration's 2020 waiver of environmental and cultural laws to allow the destruction of tribal burial grounds for the southern border wall; and the intersectionality of environmental justice and COVID-19 in terms of higher pollution and infection rates among people of color.

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#BlackTaxpayersMatter: Intersection of Race, Tax Systems, Laws and Enforcement

Tax and spending systems are the most profound fiscal tools under the government’s control. Many aspects of tax systems worsen inequality, especially the racial wealth gap. Three nationally recognized expert panelists provide a deep dive into institutional racism in tax systems. Beginning with a broad overview focusing on racism in international and domestic tax systems targeting Black and Latinx taxpayers, the focus then narrows further looking at the disparate impact of taxpayer audits on communities of color. Finally, panelists suggest concrete strategies to start to remedy these wrongs.

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Belly of the Beast Documentary and Discussion

When an unlikely duo discovers a pattern of illegal sterilizations in women’s prisons, they wage a near impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. Filmed over seven years with extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people, Belly of the Beast exposes modern-day eugenics and reproductive injustice in California prisons.

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The Supreme Court and the Future of Affirmative Action

Affirmative action has historically been used to ensure equal employment on the basis of race and sex, recognizing that marginalized groups face unique challenges limiting equal opportunity. This webinar will delve into how affirmative action has traditionally been used to provide greater educational opportunities to marginalized groups and significantly increase educational diversity, recognizing that traditional admission indicators such as test scores or grade point averages may further exclude minorities and not recognize their distinct strengths and talents.

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Climate Effects on Communities of Color

The racism embedded in U.S. society and the associated historical and present-day injustices have subjected people of color to far greater environmental health hazards. It is not surprising that climate change, the result of a legacy of extraction, colonialism, and slavery, disproportionately impacts communities of color, poor people, and indigenous people. Further, racial inequality has left those most at risk from climate change with the fewest resources to cope. Climate action is, therefore, intimately tied to racial justice. This webinar examines the disparate impacts of climate on communities of color in the United States.

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Activate Diversity: The Long and Tragic History of Racism, Vigilantism, and Mob Violence in America

This program will look at the current events from a historical lens, drawing comparisons to past and current events; and will also look at what has been done and what can be done to bring justice to the victims of these actions.

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African American Affairs Committee Book Club

The Book Group will begin with a virtual gathering immediately after our monthly Committee meeting. On this introductory Zoom, you can meet other Book Club members and share initial thoughts and experiences of the books: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr. Joy DeGruy, and My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem.

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Join the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building (C) Challenge

Entities across the ABA have come together to provide resources focused on uplifting the experience of Black attorneys and communities, and combating anti-Black racism. Pledge to join the Challenge, engaging with these resources every day for 21 days. The Syllabus launches on February 8 and goes through the end of February.

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About BHM

Since 1976, every U.S. President has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Each year during this month, the ABA celebrates the work of Black/African American legal trailblazers.

NAACP LDF President and Director Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill to Receive 2022 Award

2022 Annual Meeting

The Section will honor the esteemed President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Sherrilyn Ifill, with the 2022 Thurgood Marshall Award in a celebration during the ABA Annual Meeting.

About - the Recipient

Upcoming Programs

In order to serve and provide resources to our Section members, the greater ABA, and the general public, the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice presents a variety of webinars highlighting critical legal issues of civil liberties, human rights, and social justice.