Social Movements & the Law

"In the wake of George Floyd's murder in May 2020, protests broke out in Minneapolis and quickly spread across the United States. National unrest led to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and added to calls for justice in other American cities, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Tulsa, and Louisville, Kentucky, where only months earlier, Breonna Taylor was killed by police. By some estimates, BLM protesters numbered between fifteen million and twenty-six million in the US and abroad. The Summer of 2020: George Floyd and the Resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement spotlights the perspectives of individual participants who contributed to the movement's revived impact and global success throughout 2020. Authors Andre E. Johnson and Amanda Nell Edgar interview the movement's activists-from seasoned organizers to first-time protesters-to discover what Black Lives Matter meant to those who participated in one of America's largest social movements. Johnson and Edgar's fieldwork reveals the complexity of taking a stand, especially in the face of increasing threats from white supremacist groups, continuing police aggression, and a persisting global pandemic. In a time with unprecedented levels of political polarization, the wave of support for the Black Lives Matter movement powerfully disrupted that expectation. Without a clear sense of what led to the surge in support for Black Lives Matter, racial justice advocates are left ill-equipped to maintain and harness the political momentum necessary to achieve lasting equity and justice. In delving beyond a conventional focus on leaders and figureheads, this volume bolsters social movement research by accounting for the increasing numbers of Black Lives Matter supporters and demonstrators and the lasting power of their message"--

The Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library is proud to partner with the Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA) to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. Starting this week and throughout the entire month of May, we have set up a book display of relevant and insightful titles chosen by two JLSA members, Brendan Cotta and Sequoia Kay Hill. I had the pleasure of interviewing both students about the importance of such celebration and visible representation at the College of Law. Please do not forget to come to the library and peruse the books by our entrance. For your reference, I have also included the entire list of the books on display at the end of this post.

Budget concerns and a lack of awareness have stymied efforts to make it official.

"Robin Bernstein relates a bloody tale of race, murder, and injustice that forces us to rethink the origins and consequences of America's immoral system of prisons for profit. Bernstein brings to life the story of William Freeman, a free Black man who in 1840 was forced into unpaid labor as an inmate of Auburn State Prison in New York. After his release, he murdered four members of a white family, as revenge for the theft of his labor. His trial saw the crystallization of a nefarious ideology-the idea that African Americans are inherently criminal-yet it also shaped Auburn as an important node in the long battle for Black freedom"--

Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration. A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture. The holiday is celebrated each year from October 31- November 2. While October 31 is Halloween, November 1 is "el Dia de los Inocentes," or the day of the children who have passed away, and All Saints Day. November 2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are open at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.

ADL Center for Antisemitism Research builds upon ADL’s 100-plus years of antisemitism expertise to test, measure and identify impact to fight against this hate.

"This work is a history of slavery, capitalism, and the law that not only reframes how we understand the commodification of enslaved people, but also makes a significant methodological and moral argument for how historians should seek to make sense of the lived experiences of enslaved people in the antebellum United States"--

"This blog is maintained by Pamela Oliver. I am a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. My specialties are collective action and social movements race and ethnicity and racial disparities in criminal justice."

"Established in 1937 the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is the nation's oldest and largest progressive bar association and was the first one in the US to be racially integrated."

Through listening to kids in Massachusetts and Mississippi talk about growing up in the era of Trump, this book reveals what kids today think and feel about racism in the United States-and what this might mean for the future

"Law Schools and Bar associations are sharing some excellent stories as part of black history month."

"The ACLU Racial Justice Program aims to preserve and extend constitutionally guaranteed rights to people who have historically been denied their rights on the basis of race."

"Based on the Du Bois Lectures delivered at Harvard in 2011, We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For argues for the importance of self-cultivation in pursuit of justice as a critical feature of Black politics, what Eddie S. Glaude Jr. calls Black democratic perfectionism. Building on the political scientist Adolph Reed's work on 'Black custodial politics' Glaude critiques our impulse to outsource political needs to a professional class of politicians that purportedly represent us. Instead, he affirms the capacities of ordinary people to cultivate a better self and a better world by locating the prophetic and the heroic not in the pulpit but in the pew"--

"The Citing Slavery Project provides a database of slave cases and the modern cases that continue to cite them as precedent."

"Beyond Complicity is a fascinating cultural diagnosis that identifies our obsession with complicity as a symptom of a deeply divided society. The questions surrounding what it means to be legally complicit are the same ones we may ask ourselves as we evaluate our own and others' responsibility for inherited and ongoing harms, such as racism, sexism, and climate change: What does it mean that someone "knew" they were contributing to wrongdoing? How much involvement must a person have in order to be complicit? At what point are we obligated to intervene? Francine Banner ties together pop culture, politics, law, and social movements to provide a framework for thinking about what we know intuitively: that our society is defined by crisis, risk, and the quest to root out hazards at all costs. Engaging with legal cases, historical examples, and contemporary case studies, Beyond Complicity unfolds the complex role that complicity plays in US law and society today, offering suggestions for how to shift focus away from blame and toward positive, lasting systemic change"--

"The legal profession which was almost entirely white slowly began to crack open its doors to lawyers of color in the 1970s. The 1972-73 Prelaw Handbook (p. 9) noted that "the number of lawyers from minority groups is still disproportionately small" but there were "signs of change." "

"We understand the positive impacts of stable housing and work to support families to maintain their current housing. We also understand the many long-term effects of evictions on households families and communities. It is with this understanding that we are committed to supporting Milwaukee County individuals and families and that is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines with the legal support needed to effectively manage the eviction process."

"In Radical Reparations, this conversation shifter, social justice pioneer, change agent, and inventor of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which redefined the global conversation on racism and social justice, offers a unifying and unconventional framework for achieving holistic and comprehensive healing of African American communities. Hunter reimagines reparations through a profound new lens as he defines seven types of compensation: political, intellectual, legal, economic, spatial, social, and spiritual, using analysis of historical documents, comparative international cases, and speculative parables"--

"On January 5 2022 the governor of Louisiana posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy the defendant in the famous 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy is known for affirming the legal theory of 'separate but equal' that was used to justify Jim Crow laws in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was later overturned in part by Brown v. Board of Education."

Mission Statement: To seek justice for the innocent and the wrongfully imprisoned, the marginalized, and forgotten of Arizona's criminal justice system.Vision: Achieve justice for the innocent and wrongfully imprisoned in Arizona.

"Why We Vote is a bold and sometimes daring reconstruction of judicial doctrine giving expression to the democratic aspirations of the Constitution. It shifts the focus from equal protection to the freedom that democracy generates-the right of those who are ruled to choose their rulers. It explains why the protection of that right requires the extension of the franchise to all citizens. It provides the grounds for the rules that facilitate, as a purely practical matter, the exercise of the right to vote, ensure that the vote of one is equal to that of another, and guarantees feasible access to the ballot for independent candidates and new political parties"--

"The 2020 elections may be over but the Supreme Court will soon hear oral argument in a pair of voting-rights cases from one of last year's key battleground states and the eventual outcome may determine how courts will assess allegedly discriminatory voting rules for years to come."

Crossroads’ mission is to equip institutions with shared language, frameworks, practices and tools that will assist them in: diagnosing how their institutions are structured to uphold white supremacy culture and systemic racism and; deploying strategies aimed at animating antiracist ways of being that result in racially equitable institutional culture and practices

"Extending Justice: Strategies to Increase Inclusion & Reduce Bias offers expert perspective and actionable tools for interrupting bias. The first book in this series, Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias, was written to increase awareness of implicit bias and serve as a benchbook for judges. This book goes the next step to be useful to a wider audience with virtually every chapter offering thoughtful context and practical strategies for interrupting unintentional bias. Edited by two proven leaders in the field, with 26 chapters written by fifty highly-diverse authors, the voices here combine to provide wide-ranging and user-friendly science and tools. Perspective comes from authors who are diverse in gender, gender orientation, race and ethnicity, age, ability, education, and profession. Fields covered are also diverse, including law, health, education, artificial intelligence, nonprofits, education, the military, and disability. Thought-provoking essays and interviews on healthcare, extremism, courage, and the silence and invisibility of the Native American community further enrich the work. The chapters are written to stand alone but build on each other for a strong collective whole. Readers will find the book useful in their own disciplines and beyond. Teachers, students, judges, and professionals in all fields can use this work for inspiration and reference as they apply its strategies and thinking to enhance their accomplishments in achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion, individually and systemically"--

Images from the Prints & Photographs Division’s collections help to illustrate the sustained contributions of Black Americans to the United States through military service over the course of the nation’s history. We hope you can join us for one of two “Finding Pictures: African Americans in the Military” webinar sessions this month (details at the …

Race Forward brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity.

"Congressman John Lewis was a paragon of the Civil Rights Movement and political leadership for decades. A hero we won't soon forget, Lewis was a beacon of hope and a model of humility whose invocation to "good trouble" continues to inspire millions across our nation. In his last year on earth, even while battling cancer, he dedicated time to share his memories, beliefs, and advice-exclusively immortalized in these pages-as a message to the generations to come. Organized by topic ranging from justice, courage, faith, and forgiveness to the pandemic, environment, marriage, money, and even death, and many more besides, Carry On collects the late Congressman's thoughts for readers to draw on whenever they are in need of guidance. John Lewis had great confidence in our future, even as he died in the midst of one of our country's most challenging years to date. With this book, we can continue to learn from his perseverance, dedication, profound insight, and unwavering ability to see the good in life, and live up to the legacy he has left us"--

In The Muse: Performing Arts Blog. A blog from the Library of Congress.

Empowering teachers & students to think critically about history & to understand the impact of their choices.

Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives--and How We Break Free-review