2014 Civics and Civil Rights Institute Preview

This week Street Law will welcome 13 educators from 7 states to our nation’s capital for the 2014 Civics and Civil Rights Institute! The teachers will expand their civil rights knowledge by participating in sessions led by Street Law staff and civil rights experts on the legal concepts and civil rights issues related to public policy, civic engagement, and advocacy. The Institute also prepares educators to use interactive methods and community resources to teach about civil rights in their classrooms, while meeting their state’s Social Studies standards.

We are proud to have the following experts join us to offer their expertise about civil rights:

• The Role of African Americans in the Civil War, by Harold Jones, assistant director and curator at the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation and Museum.
• Voting Rights, by George Washington University law student LeighAnn Smith.
• Civil Rights and Hip Hop, by Kevin Powell, one of the most acclaimed political, cultural, literary, and hip-hop voices, activists, and authors in the United States today.  Powell is the president and co-founder of BK (“Building Knowledge”) Nation, a new national organization that is a movement of people from all backgrounds, combining grassroots activism, pop culture, technology, and social media to spark projects and campaigns led by the people, for the people.
• Modern Day Slavery, by Cohen Milstein partner Agnieszka Fryszman who heads Cohen Milstein’s International Human Rights and Pro Bono practice.

The Civics & Civil Rights Institute is part of Street Law’s Closing the Gap program: an initiative through which African American students learn about civil rights and advocacy with an end goal of developing a deep understanding of the importance and impact of the civil rights movement and how they can be active, engaged members of their communities.