Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice hosts first forum on civil rights
The Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice held its formal launch with a timely panel on Oct. 27, 2020, called “Civil Rights Litigation and Coalition Building in the 21st Century Forum.”
The inaugural event, which was held virtually and open to students from all 12 Florida law schools, included a brief introduction to the FLSCRJ and a reiteration of the important role the Florida law school community will have in its work toward racial justice.
The panel featured Michele Rayner-Goolsby, who will represent District 70 in the Florida House and will be one of the first openly LGBTQ women of color elected to Florida’s Legislature, and Jotaka L. Eaddy, the founder and CEO of Full Circle Strategies, LLC, a social impact consulting firm committed to advancing transformative change and global impact.
You can listen to the entire conversation here:
Each law school has a point person students can contact for more information about how to get involved with FLSCRJ at their school. Those individuals are:
About FLSCRJ
The Deans of the 12 law schools in Florida formed the Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice (FLSCRJ) in June 2020 in response to longstanding and current acts of racist violence. The collective aims to leverage the strengths and educational roles of every law school in the state to assist community organizations fighting for racial justice and policy reform throughout Florida.
The 12 law schools in Florida understand that law schools’ highest duty is to train intellectually strong and culturally competent lawyers who seek justice. Inherent in legal training is the expressed expectation that lawyers hold a special responsibility to denounce injustice, particularly in the state of Florida. Law schools in Florida therefore have an obligation to teach students how to speak up when they see wrongs. FLSCRJ will emphasize lawyers’ roles in advancing social justice and help law students develop the consciousness they need to speak out against inequalities.
Each law school will designate at least one student fellow to work with FLSCRJ every year. The fellows will collaborate with groups in Florida that have long pursued anti-racism initiatives.
Post date: Oct. 30, 2020
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
[email protected] | 727-430-1580