Reckoning with the Truth of Law and Civil Rights

Date: 

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Location: 

JFK Jr. Forum, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA -- Registration Required

On Wednesday, April 6th, join the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project in the JFK Jr. Forum for a discussion featuring Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF). Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Director, Institutional Antiracism & Accountability Project, Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, will moderate. The discussion will reflect on Nelson’s tenure at the NAACP LDF and forthcoming role as president and director-counsel, as well as her insights from the realities of the legal field: how have legal strategies to achieve racial justice changed in recent decades? How does the law uphold systemic racism? What can be done about it?

About the Series 

This forum is a part of the Reckoning with the Past, Rebuilding the Future speaker series co-hosted by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project at the Ash Center and the Institute of Politics (IOP). Featuring prominent scholars, advocates, and leaders in the field, this series critically examines the past year of promises of institutional antiracist change and how more truthful teaching of American history can lead to social transformation. Join us to answer the questions: What has been done? What is the real impact? What work should we be doing? How do we, as individuals, institutions, and policymakers leverage new awareness and commitments around racial equity in order to dismantle structural racism in the United States?

You can find more upcoming events in the series online here.

Event Details 

Please register by 12:00 PM ET on Wednesday, April 6 if you would like the possibility of attending this event in-person. Registrants will be notified by 5:00 PM ET that day if a seat is available for them in the venue. If a seat is not available, registrants can stream the event live via our social media channels.

If you receive a seat in the venue but can no longer attend, we ask that you notify us by emailing harvardiop@gmail.com so that space can be made for another registrant.

The Institute of Politics follows all HKS COVID health and safety protocols, including vaccination, testing, and quarantine guidelines. HKS buildings including the Forum are currently closed to people without a Harvard ID and attendance will be limited to the 250-person room capacity. RSVPs are required for in-person attendance. Effective Monday, March 14, masks will no longer be required at HKS events, but anyone who wishes to wear a mask should feel free to do so.