Racial Justice & the Courts
Racial Justice & the Courts
Legal Challenges and Strategies for the next four years
Legal Challenges and Strategies for the next four years
Featuring:
Event Summary:
In just the first week of the second Trump administration, a series of executive orders have targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, threatening to undermine hard-won progress on civil rights and racial justice. These swift actions highlight the urgent need for legal and advocacy strategies to protect vulnerable communities and preserve foundational principles of equity.
Join us as we explore the critical role of legal advocacy organizations in shaping the fight for racial justice over the next four years. Our discussion will focus on critical challenges and strategies for combating systemic racism, protecting civil rights, and advancing equity in an era of policy rollbacks.
This event will empower you with an understanding of the stakes, the obstacles, and the pathways forward in the ongoing fight for racial justice. This is an in-person event. A recording will be made available afterward at BRJE.org, courtesy of our friends at the Brookline Interactive Group.
Jonathan Feingold
he/him
Moderator
Associate professor of Law at Boston University School of Law and co-hosts the #RaceClass podcast. Professor Feingold is an expert on affirmative action, antidiscrimination law and education law.
Traci Griffith
she/hers
Panelist
Director, Racial Justice Program
ACLU Massachusetts (ACLU MA)
A lawyer, journalist, academic, and advocate, Traci Griffith currently serves as the Racial Justice Program Director for the ACLU of Massachusetts. Her transition to the staff of ACLUM comes after serving the organization on the National ACLU Board of Directors, on the Executive Committee, and as the National Board Secretary.
Her previous career as an Associate Professor in the Communications Department at Simmons University and as Chair of the Media Studies Department at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, focused on First Amendment law and ethics, as well as Race and Gender representation in media. She continues to teach as an adjunct at Simmons and also runs a cultural competency training business.
Traci is a former correspondent and national editor for the Associated Press and continues to pursue journalism with independent writing and broadcast projects.
She holds University degrees from Notre Dame Law School, an M.S. in Journalism from Florida A&M, and BA in Political Science from DePaul. She lives in Cambridge with her 4-pound chihuahua Bessie.
Virginia Benzan
she/hers
Panelist
Director, Racial Justice Advocacy
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)
Virginia Benzan is the Director of Racial Justice Advocacy at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, an anti-poverty policy center and a support center for civil legal aid in Massachusetts. Operating across multiple substantive areas, Virginia works to advance racial justice through identifying issues that thwart the advancement and inclusion of people of color, training the civil legal community on racial justice related topics such as equity and inclusion, and conducting legislative and administrative advocacy.
Prior to rejoining MLRI in 2020, she directed the Immigration Clinic at Suffolk Law School and then served as an Asylum Officer and Training Officer for the US Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services. Virginia was also a staff attorney in MLRI’s immigration practice group from 2008-2011. Along with immigration law, Virginia also has a background in criminal defense, housing, family law and extensive litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy experience as well as coalition-building and community outreach expertise. Prior to attending Northeastern Law School, she served as a Congressional Aide to Sen. Edward Markey and has served as a longtime board member at Citizens for Juvenile Justice.
Jessica Chicco
she/hers
Panelist
Director, New Americans Initiatives
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
Jessica Chicco is an immigration lawyer and is currently the Director of Training at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition where she has worked since 2020.
She also chairs the Immigrant Advancement Committee of Brookline’s Commission for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Relations which she joined as a Commissioner in 2018. Prior to joining MIRA she worked on immigrant advocacy and represented immigrant survivors of domestic violence and deported individuals
Rahsaan Hall
he/him
Panelist
President & CEO
Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts
Rahsaan Hall is President & CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM). There he leads ULEM’s efforts to empower communities to achieve racial and economic justice by promoting civic engagement and creating employment, economic development, and educational opportunities in communities of color.
He has previously served as the Director of Racial Justice for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Deputy Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County, MA. Rahsaan is an experienced racial justice expert and highly sought-after public speaker who has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work.
Erika Richmond Walton
she/her
Panelist
Litigation Fellow
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Erika Richmond Walton is a Litigation Fellow at Lawyers for Civil Rights, where she handles a wide range of civil rights matters, including education equity, addressing issues like physical restraint, racial bullying, and language access for immigrant students.
A proud graduate of two historically Black Universities, she has a B.S. in Business Management from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a J.D., cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
