2013 Events

Traveling the Road Toward Economic Justice: A Conversation with UC Law Alum, Abby Pound, April 19, 2013

Abby Pound is a graduate of UC Law and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Ms. Pound came to share her experiences and uses of her law degree. She talked about her Equal Justice Works Fellowship with ProSeniors, Inc. and her work as a Gramlich Fellow with Neighborworks America. Ms. Pound shared with students how she used her experiences in legal services and to obtain a position with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

**Note: Ms. Pound did not represent or speak on behalf of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in any official capacity.

The Future of DOMA and Prop 8, March 27, 2013

The Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice co-sponsored this discussion with UC Law student groups Law Democrats, Law Republicans, and Out & Allies. The program featured an esteemed panel including UC Law Professors Chris Bryant and Verna Williams, along with Cincinnati attorney Sallee Fry, who has played a huge role in same-sex custody litigation in Ohio. The panelists discussed the procedure and history of the Supreme Court decisions on DOMA and Prop8, the state of same-sex marriage nationally and in individual states, as well as the implications of these laws and Supreme Court decisions.

Coffee Corner with Professor James Pihakis, March 13, 2013

This discussion covered documenting and perpetuating social justice through creative writing and its relation to law. Mr. Pihakis is a doctoral candidate. His research interest include contemporary fiction and narrative theory. He is currently at work on a novel set in Birmingham, AL and Montreal, Quebec in the 1960s.

Exploring Activism: A Conversation with Dr. Holly McGee, February 27, 2013

As a part of our Coffee Corner Series, Dr. Holly McGee, UC’s A&S College, discussed her research on activism, as well as the ways she lent her own leadership to further social justice as a student and professor at different higher education institutions. Dr. McGee also discussed her role in implementing the 2013 Black History Month Conference and Lecture Series at University of Cincinnati, as well as her vision for the celebration in years to come.

Roundtable Discussion: Representation, Race, and Justice in the Twenty-First Century, February 27, 2013

On Wednesday evening, February 27, UC graduate, undergraduate, and College of Law students gathered with faculty and members of the community gathered at the UC Law for a roundtable discussion, "Representation, Race, and Justice in the Twenty-First Century." This event was hosted and co-sponsored by the UC History Department, The Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice, and the BLSA Chapter at UC Law. Third year law student Rebecca Lawrence moderated the four-person panel, comprised of Professor Isaac Campos, Professor Verna Williams, Judge Cheryl D. Grant, and Judge David Mallory. Panel topics of discussion included the racialization of gun control, prosecution of illegal drugs, and the Voting Rights Act case recently heard by the Supreme Court of the United States. This roundtable discussion was followed by a wine tasting event at Ludlow Wines in Clifton.

Social Justice Film Series: Brother Outsider, February 13, 2013

The UC Law Community viewed the film Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin in celebration of Black History Month and continuation of the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice's Social Justice Film Series. The documentary detailed the life of Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights activist who served as a mastermind of nonviolence movements and mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After the viewing, the discussion included the examination of intersectionality of race and sexual orientation as it affects activism and leadership. We also examined the amount of planning behind the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. This event was a collaboration  opportunity with Out & Allies and the Black Law Student Association.

2012 Events

Social Justice Feminism Conference, October 25-27, 2012

Social justice feminism is about moving from theory to practice, bridging divides, and making a difference. Join advocates, activists, and scholars in this two and ½ -day conversation about women’s movements, building community, and advocating for social justice.

What is Social Justice Feminism? It is the type of work feminist activists on the ground say that they want to do. This desire for “social justice feminism” emerged from a three-years’ long conversation among women leaders from national groups, grassroots organizations, academia, and beyond (the New Women’s Movement Initiative) who gathered to address dissonance in the women’s movement, particularly dissatisfaction with the movement’s emphasis on women privileged on account of their race, class, or sexuality. In 2010, Kristin Kalsem and Verna L. Williams of the University of Cincinnati College of Law published an article, Social Justice Feminism, that takes initial steps at broadly defining SJF as that which is productive, constructive, and healing. Moving from practice to theory, it suggests a new way of articulating and understanding the feminist work that is being done in this current stage of feminist jurisprudence, after the path-breaking interventions of anti-essentialism and intersectionality. The article also sets forth methodological tools for “doing social justice feminism.”

Social Justice Feminism was written to advance the conversation that has already begun, both in the world of practice as evidenced by the work of the New Women’s Movement Initiative, as well as the world of feminist legal theory. The conference was intended to continue and expand the conversation.  Find out more about the event, view plenary sessions, etc. here.

Janet HalleyA Conversation with Professor Janet Halley, Harvard Law School, April 19, 2012

Professor Halley, the Royall Professor of Law, teaches family law, discrimination, and legal theory. Prior to joining Harvard Law, she taught at Stanford Law School and Hamilton College. She graduated from Princeton University, UCLA, and Yale Law School.

Professor Halley’s books include Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism, Left Legalism/Left Critique, co-edited with Wendy Brown, Don’t: A Reader’s Guide to the Military’s Anti-Gay Policy and Seeking the Woman in Late Medieval and Renaissance Literature: Essays in Feminist Contextual Criticism, co-edited with Sheila Fisher.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Rev. Ed Harris, April 4, 2012

"Is the Struggle for Civil Rights Over?" A Brown Bag Discussion Commemorating the Anniversary of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rev. W. Edward Harris, Minister Emeritus, All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN, and author of Miracle in Birmingham: A Civil Rights Memoir 1954-1965, will discuss Dr. King's"Letter From a Birmingham Jail" and his own experiences as a White citizen of Birmingham who became deeply involved in the struggle for Black civil rights in the post-Brown era.

Should Good People Become Prosecutors? March 14, 2012

Mark Piepmeier, Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Hamilton County, and Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor and George Washington University Law professor tackled the role of prosecutors in the criminal justice system on March 14, 2012 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 114 at University of Cincinnati College of Law. Among the issues they addressed were:

• Given the problem of mass incarceration, do prosecutors legitimize a broken system?
• Or, are they helping to promote public safety in communities?
• Do prosecuting attorneys have any obligation to address the issue of mass incarceration ?

Professor Mark Godsey, Daniel P. and Judith L. Carmichael Professor of Law and Director, Lois and Richard Rosenthal Institute for Justice/Ohio Innocence Project, was the moderator for this debate.

Paul ButlerBook Club, featuring Professor Paul Butler, March 7, 2012

The group discussed Paul Butler's book "Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice." Chapters of the book discussed were made available on reserve in the library. This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice, the Freedom Center Journal, and the Human Rights Quarterly

Coffee Corner with Professor Barbara Black, March 6, 2012

Professor Black discussed her career path and issues surrounding gender, finance, and social justice.

2011 Events

When Medicine Meets Law, December 2, 2011

Center Anniversary featuring EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien, October 28, 2011

Jacqueline BerrienThe Center celebrated its first anniversary by hosting Jacqueline Berrien, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on October 28, 2011. Ms. Berrien and Commission Chief Operating Officer Claudia Withers spoke to students in a Coffee Corner event about their journey from law school and into the Obama Administration. Ms. Berrien later addressed practitioners, advocates, students, and other members of the community at the Netherland Hilton, where she presented “Realizing the Dream of Equal Employment Opportunity in the 21st Century.”You can view scenes from the event here.

Michelle AlexanderMichelle Alexander, Professor of Law at Ohio State University, delivered a powerful address based on her influential book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color blindness on October 6, 2011. Professor Alexander challenged harsh war-on-drug policies that have disproportionately affected communities of color, and resulted in a resurgence of new forms of discrimination. The Center co-sponsored this event with the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. Prior to the event, students discussed THE NEW JIM CROW INFORMALLY as part of “Beyond the Book” series. You can view the webcast and scenes from the event here.

Judge in Residence Program featuring Judge Wilhelmina Wright, March 2-3, 2011

The Honorable Wilhelmina WrightJudge Wright was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Jesse Ventura in 2002. She won re-election in 2010. While at the College of Law Judge Wright met with students during one of the many events held in her honor including a welcoming breakfast hosted by SLEC and a lunch discussion hosted by the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice. During lunch, Judge Wright shared her personal journey from growing up in Norfolk, Virginia, to her position now on the Court of Appeals. Judge Wright's earliest memories of Cincinnati were of when she was a new attorney serving as a judicial clerk to David J. Keith of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Wright's lessons on law came early in her life when Norfolk public schools were ordered to integrate. Instead of integrating, Norfolk closed its schools in massive resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. Judge Wright explained the court order for integration as the single most important document in her life as it secured her and those like her a better life through education.

Judge Wright also gave a CLE presentation titled "Lawyers as Public Servants: Facing Today's Challenges with Ingenuity Inspired by Commitment to Service" describing the need for the judiciary and legal professions to provide greater access to the courts and pro bono services in all aspects of the law in order to ensure continuing ingenuity. Judge Wright closed by posing the questions, what if the Browns were pro se? What ingenuity would have been lost? What ingenuity do we lose now because litigants do not have the benefit of those who have been specially trained in law?

Judge Wright ended her time at the College of Law by addressing the first-year class on the art of trial advocacy.

Forum featuring Wayne McKenzie of the Vera Institute, February 2, 2011

Wayne McKenzieDuring his visit, Mr. McKenzie met with law students in the Crow's Nest where he discussed his journey from being a former Prosecutor to his current position at Vera where he uses research and advocacy to reform prosecutors' offices around the country in order to reduce racial disparities in criminal cases. Kelvin Morris '12 moderated the discussion between Mr. McKenzie and the students.

Mr. McKenzie also served on a panel of practitioners in the Cincinnati community including Angelina Jackson '04 of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. Steve Tolbert, of the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, and Janaya Trotter of Ritter & Randolph, LLC. The panel discussed the causes consequences and cures of racial and ethnic disproportionality in conviction and incarceration rates. Janet Moore, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, moderated the discussion. Click here to watch the panel discussion video.

Coffee Corner: The Role of the Women's Center, January 22, 2011

UC Women's CenterBarb Rinto and Kim Fulbright of the Women's Center ventured to the law school to speak with students about the role the Women's Center plays in student activities on campus and Ms. Fulbright highlighted various programs offered by the Women's Center including the peer advocate program "Reclaim", Women's Initiative Network (WIN), and the Activist Coming Together (ACT) program. Maribeth Mincey '11 moderated the discussion. For more information on the Women's Center please click here.

2010 Events

Inaugural Conference featuring Tina Tchen, White House Council on Women and Girls, October 22, 2010

Tina TchenOn October 22, the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice held its inaugural Conference, featuring Tina Tchen, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls (CWG) and Director of White House Office of Public Engagement gave the keynote speech.

During her visit to the College of Law for the launch event, Ms. Tchen met with law students. She discussed the history of the Council and highlighted key initiatives the White House has focused on to empower women and girls, including the Workplace Flexibility Program. Ms. Tchen also discussed her experiences growing up in Ohio as an Asian American woman and her unexpected road to the White House. She fielded student questions on current events, such as the increase in bullying-related suicides of LGBT youth and President Obama's commitment to end such bullying, and the Obama administration's position on the military's "don't ask-don't tell" policy. Ms. Tchen also spoke about the Administration's concern that the Administration seeks to address this problem with the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act.

Ms. Tchen's keynote remarks at the Netherland Hilton in downtown Cincinnati highlighted the achievements made in the areas of race, gender, and social justice over the last fifty years and drew attention to the continued need for advocacy in these areas. Ms. Tchen illustrated the economic disparities between men and women, and across racial and ethnic lines in terms of wages, net worth, and business ownership. The numbers were startling. For example, even though women make up the majority of undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students, they still are paid on average of 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. In 2009, women's median earnings were $26,030 compared to men's median earnings of $36,331. Ms. Tchen noted that disparities are more pronounced by women of color: single black and Hispanic w9omen have a median net worth of $100 and $120 respectively, the median for single white women is $41,500.

Ms. Tchen also identifies violence as a significant barrier to women's well being. For example, she noted that one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetime, which President Obama has described as "an assault on our national conscience that we can not ignore."

In addressing the barriers confronting women at the intersections of race and social class, and highlighting the fact that these ongoing inequities transcend identity politics, Ms. Tchen struck the right chord for the Center's launch. In closing, she noted quite compellingly that, despite assertions to the contrary, we are not yet living in a "post-racial, post-gender" era.