In this era of the Black Lives Matter movement, the recent mob assault on the U.S. Capitol and the major ongoing incidents of police brutality illustrate the need to revisit the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of Education. Researchers, librarians, lawyers, law students, and faculty continue to be at the forefront of the struggle for equality. During the webinar, three civil rights experts will discuss the decision’s ongoing impact, civil and human rights issues of today, and how to engage in social justice initiatives. 

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Attendees will be able to identify ways that effective legal research can help to further the Black Lives Matter movement in the real world, in providing access to justice.
2. Attendees will be able to explain the importance of local archives in preserving Black history through the story of Virgil Hawkins and his role in opening access to graduate education in the state of Florida.

This program is sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries and the Black Law Librarians Special Interest Section (BLL-SIS).

SPEAKERS:

• John C. Brittain, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
• Reginald Mitchell , FAMU College of Law Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation Program
• Ryan Peter Haygood, President and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

COORDINATORS/MODERATORS:

• Marjorie Crawford,  Criminal Justice and Reference Librarian, Rutgers Law School
• Yolanda Patrice Jones, Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law, Florida A&M University College of Law

AALL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS: Professionalism + Leadership At Every Level, Research + Analysis, Information Management, Teaching + Training

John C. Brittain

Professor John C. Brittain joined the faculty of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, in 2009, as a tenured professor of law, and served as Acting Dean from 2018 to 2019. Prior to joining UDC Law, he served as Dean of the Thurgood Marshall School of law at Texas Southern University in Houston, as a tenured law professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law for twenty-two years, and as Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., a public interest law organization founded by President John F. Kennedy to enlist private lawyers in taking pro bono cases in civil rights. Professor Brittain writes and litigates on issues in civil and human rights, especially in education law. In 2015, the Mississippi Center for Justice honored him as a "pioneering civil rights leader and esteemed law professor who has inspired a generation of young attorneys."

Reginald Mitchell

Reginald J. Mitchell, Esq. is currently the FAMU College of Law Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation Program. He also volunteers as the FAMU Rattler Boosters, Inc. General Counsel and the FAMU National Alumni Association General Counsel. He is formerly the Assistant General Counsel for Risk of the Florida Department of Children and Families. He was formerly a Medicaid Subrogation Attorney with Health Management Systems; Florida Legal Counsel of People for the American Way (PFAW) as a registered lobbyist with the Florida Legislature; and Florida Election Protection Director of People for the American Way Foundation. Professor Mitchell also served as an Associate Attorney at Parks and Crump, LLC. Professor Mitchell’s areas of practice include personal injury, wrongful death and auto-tort litigation.

Ryan Peter Haygood

Ryan P. Haygood is a nationally respected civil rights lawyer. As President and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, he leads a majority-women of color team of racial justice advocates whose cutting-edge work – powered by grassroots organizing, research, writing, policy and legislative advocacy, and litigation – seeks to build reparative systems that create wealth, justice and power for Black, Latina/Latino and other people of color in New Jersey.

Coordinators & Moderators

Marjorie Crawford - Criminal Justice and Reference Librarian, Rutgers Law School 

Yolanda Patrice Jones - Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law, Florida A&M University College of Law