Symposia
In This Section
The Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice sponsors ground-breaking conferences and symposia that bring together experts from around the country to discuss strategies for social change.The Center hosts two annual lectures honoring distinguished alumni committed to social justice.
The fall symposium is host to the Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Memorial Lecture. This annual Boalt Hall lecture was established by friends, family and associates in memory of the late Judge Mario G. Olmos '71 to honor his commitment to social justice. The endowed lecture addresses issues of justice for people of diverse national, economic, racial and cultural backgrounds.
The spring symposium is host to the Robert D. and Leslie-Kay Raven Lecture on Access to Justice. This annual Boalt Hall lecture, established in 1994 by the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in honor of Robert D. Raven '52, presents topics relating to access to justice.
See the agendas of the symposia for video and audio files.
Spring 2009
Beyond Law’s Divide: Effective Strategies for Redress in the 21st Century
This symposium asks if we can re-envision these old constructs based on the law’s divide and collaborate across identity groups and disciplines to forge new theories and practices for redress in this new century. Can communities of color and indigenous peoples focus on the similarities of their histories and experiences and learn from one another how to incorporate threads of group rights, political rights, human rights, and individual civil rights in their approaches to problems? Can critical race theorists inform the work of judges and practitioners? Can identifying common interests and concerns actually achieve greater progress than the battleground of litigation with victors and victims?
We are bringing academics and practitioners from around the country in a collaborative effort to envision workable strategies for redress in the 2lst century that apply theory to practice, develop the common ground among communities of color and indigenous groups, work across subject matters and disciplines, and recognize that law is one among many tools for social change. The aim of the symposium is frankly visionary; the lens is not on next year but on the next decade. We intend to begin planting the seeds that will flower in future years.
Fall 2008
Transformative Justice in Communities of Color: A Convening
This international convening brought together two strands of recent conversation among anti-colonial and anti-racist scholars and activists. First, reparations discussions tend to get stalled on the question of returning money and land. How can we begin to shift the conversation toward reparations for cultural imperialism, violence (including police violence and gender violence), and ill health among communities of color?
Second, a conversation is emerging among anti-colonial and anti-racist activists and scholars around the question of transforming our communities. The need is great to move beyond relying on the state for peace and justice; yet law and the state may be necessary partners. Is "restorative justice" a useful paradigm? Is the word "healing" appropriate? What some people are calling "transformative justice" attempts to move law to the sidelines, yet at the same time be realistic about the obstacles that the prison industrial complex presents to transformative efforts.
The convening consisted of two sets of events: The annual Olmos Lecture at UC Berkeley School of Law on Thursday, September 11 (speaker: Professor Eric Yamamoto, University of Hawai'i School of Law); and a day-long public session, Friday, September 12, on transformative justice in communities of color.
Olmos Lecture: "Rethinking Reconciliation: Social Healing Through Justice" by Professor Eric Yamamoto, University of Hawai'i, William S. Richardson School of Law
Spring 2008
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Whose Poverty? Whose Crime? Unlocking the Criminalization of Poverty
Sleeping outside or in a vehicle, soliciting employment, convening in a public space and/or suffering in public from a mental illness are citable offenses in the United States. This criminalization of poverty results in more and more poor families, youth, elders, and adults in this country facing police harassment, abuse, and even incarceration for living in poverty. By bringing together an innovative and powerful mix of voices from poverty and race scholars, alternative/activist policy makers, poverty and civil rights attorneys, legal advocates, media producers, activists, artists, and community leaders, the symposium will provide a forum to explore short and long-term legislative and community based solutions to the problem and launch an in-depth look at the harmful impacts of this dangerous trend on poor people and on U.S. society as a whole.
Fall 2007
Reclaiming and Reframing the Dialogue on Race and Racism
A Symposium Questioning the Social and Legal Assumptions About Racial Discrimination and Exploring Strategies to Advance Racial Justice.
Olmos Lecture: "Who Profits from Racism?" by Monique Harden, Co-Director, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
Spring 2007
Law's Violence, Ruptured Community: Justice and Healing for Immigrant Youth
A conference focused on Latino and Asian Pacific Islander immigrant youth and the violence in these communities. By analyzing violence as an environmental and societal problem instead of as the actions of pathological individuals, we seek to reframe the problem of youth violence.
Raven Lecture: "Hearts & Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times" by Luis Rodriguez, Author of Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Life in L.A.
Law and Community Economic Justice in the 21st Century: Creating a Vision of Transformative Justice
A colloquium focused on the latest developments in the community economic justice movement and highlight ways for community lawyers to help push for "accountable development." The idea for this colloquium was sparked by the recognition that the strategies and rhetoric often associated with civil rights are no longer successful because of this country's longstanding lack of interest in structural inequality, the success of conservatives' attacks on big government and the "welfare state," and the rightward turn of the judiciary. New strategies that focus on working with communities to leverage their existing resources to gain access to investment can promote internal community mobilization and collaboration with outside institutions to redress economic disparities.
Fall 2006
40th Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia
In 1967, the United States Supreme Court issued the groundbreaking decision, Loving v. Virginia. In Loving, Virginia citizens Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving challenged the constitutionality of the state's anti-miscegenation statutes. Jeter, a black woman, married Loving, a white man, in Washington , D.C., which did not prohibit interracial marriages. The Lovings then returned to their home in Virginia , where they were arrested, charged with leaving the state to evade the law and unlawfully residing as an interracial couple in Virginia , and threatened with the enforcement of a one-year prison sentence unless they left the state without returning for twenty-five years. Ruling in favor of the Lovings and striking down Virginia 's anti-miscegenation statues, the Supreme Court rejected Virginia 's argument that its anti-miscegenation statutes did not violate the Equal Protection Clause because they equally disadvantaged both Whites and non-Whites. This symposia analyzed the case by breaking it down into four parts: The Meaning of Loving, Loving Reconsidered, More than Just Loving, and Images of Loving.
Olmos Lecture: Ariela Dubler, Columbia Law School
Spring 2006
Citizenship without Borders
Fall 2005
November 3-5, 2005
The New Face of California: The Great Central Valley
Olmos Lecture: "In Hard Times the Search for Social Justice" (Transcripts Forthcoming)
Keynote Speaker: Professor Cruz Reynoso ' 58, Former California Supreme Court Justice and holds the Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality at the University of California at Davis;
Respondent: Sarah Reyes, Former California State Assemblywoman and Executive Director, Community Foodbank, Fresno
Spring 2005
March 31-April 1, 2005
Social Justice Movements: Appraising the Past, Unlocking the Future
Raven Lecture: "Making Movements Rebellious"
Keynote Speaker: Professor Gerald Lopez, Director, Center for Community Problem Solving, New York School of Law;
Respondent: Professor Aldon, Morris, Sociology, Northwestern University
Fall 2004
October 21-23, 2004
After the War on Crime: Race, Democracy and a New Reconstruction
Olmos Lecture: "Giving Meaning to Justice"
Keynote Speaker: Kamala Harris, District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco
Spring 2004
April 15-16, 2004
New Metropolis: Social Change in California's Cities
Raven Lecture: "The American City: A Tool for Progressive Change in the 21st Century"
Keynote Speaker: Matt Gonzalez, President, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Fall 2003
November 13-14, 2003
Rekindling the Spirit of Brown v. Board of Education: A Call to Action
Olmos Lecture: "The Role of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in Educational Equity"
Keynote Speaker: Elaine Jones, President and Director-Council, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
Spring 2003
March 14-15, 2003
The Corporation in Social Context: An Agenda for the Future
Raven Lecture: "Shareholder Power - Corporate Responsibility"
Keynote Speaker: Phil Angelides, State Treasurer, CalPERS Trustee
Fall 2002
November 14-15, 2002
Whose Welfare?: Income Transfers & Economic Justice
Olmos Lecture: "Beyond Welfare Reform: Economic Justice in the 21st Century"
Keynote Speaker: Professor Peter Edelman, Georgetown Law Center
Spring 2002
April 12-13, 2002
Reparations for Slavery and Its Legacy
Raven Lecture: "What America Owes to Blacks and What Blacks Owe to Each Other"
Keynote Speaker: Randall Robinson, Founder and former president of TransAfrica; Author