The Center is launching an innovative Central Valley Initiative with its fall symposium. The symposium will lay the foundation for an ongoing collaboration with other academic institutions, lawyers, scholars, and community activists to develop strategic research, policy, and advocacy agendas to surmounting the Valley's most challenging obstacles to social justice.
Professor Cruz Reynoso, '58, a prominent academic, jurist and social justice lawyer, will inaugurate the symposium with the Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture "In Hard Times the Search for Social Justice" onNovember 3, 2005 at 4:00 p.m. in Booth Auditorium. Former California State Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes will respond.
The multimedia, bilingual exhibit of the farm worker’s experience “Dream What We Can Become and Rejoice” by George Elfie Ballis, a cutting edge movement photographer-film maker and organizer, will open to the public on Thursday, November 3, 2005. This powerful art exhibit represents an important call for community empowerment through organizing on a broad range of social justice issues. For more information...
Renowned labor leader Dolores Huerta, co-founder with the late Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers, will deliver the special lecture “Enacting Change for Social Justice in Organizing” on Friday, November 4, 2005 at 12:30 p.m.
The Central Valley provides challenging and exciting opportunities for academics and lawyers to make a real difference. Grassroots community organizations advocating social change are proliferating; activists and professional alliances are forming on health issues, labor organizing is on the rise; and community lawyers and even traditional urban public interest legal organizations are focusing more attention on rural issues. A real sense of urgency pervades the Valley.
This symposium will address the enormous challenges faced by the Valley's most disadvantaged communities as well as showcase the innovative social justice work being accomplished.
Panelists will include academics from a variety of fields, lawyers, policymakers, grassroots community advocates, service providers and journalists. Access to quality education, protection of agricultural laborers and immigrants, equitable land use and economic development, health and environmental justice, and political enfranchisement and civic participation will be topics for discussion.
Working groups meeting in the Valley will be convened after the symposium and a follow-up conference will be planned at UC Merced.
