The Center’s work on race and narrative focuses on hosting public events to generate discussions and shape the discourse on race in America. The Center hosts public conversations on a range of contemporary issues to explore the effects of racial narratives, inequality, and the law and to provide strategic solutions to address current societal concerns. See our YouTube playlist.
Our Events
- Public Conversations
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December 4, 2023
Dismantling Racial Capitalism: In Conversation with Olufemi Taiwo
Co-sponsored with Action Lab, Initiative for Community Power, NYU Urban Democracy Lab, NYU Department for Social and Cultural AnalysisNovember 21, 2023
Healing and the Law
Co-sponsored with NYU Center on Violence and RecoveryNovember 10, 2023
Fireside Chat: Movement Lawyering and Environmental Injustice
Co-sponsored with NYU Environmental Law JournalSeptember 12, 2023
Equal Justice Under the Law? The Supreme Court and the Fight for Civil Rights
Speakers: Janai Nelson, Professor Kenji Yoshino
Co-sponsored with NYU Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and NYU Birnbaum Women's Leadership NetworkFebruary 21, 2023
Diplomacy and the Fight Against Racial Injustice: Fireside Chat with Desirée Cormier Smith
Speaker: Desirée Cormier Smith, Inaugural U.S. State Department Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice
Co-sponsored with NYU Center for Human Rights and Global JusticeDecember 12, 2022
Environmental Racism and Climate (In)Justice
Speaker: E. Tendayi Achiume, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Racism
Co-sponsored with NYU Reiss Center on Law and Security; NYU Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use LawJuly 30, 2020
Where Do We Go From Here?: A Conversation about the Future of Race and Inequality in America
Discussion between Professors Deborah Archer, Vincent Southerland, and Anthony ThompsonNovember 18, 2019
In Conversation: Nikole Hannah-Jones and Christina Greer
Featured: Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the New York Times’s groundbreaking 1619 Project, and political scientist Christina Greer
Co-sponsored with NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and ResearchOctober 2, 2019
A Conversation on Affirmative Action in Higher Education
Featured: Anurima Bhargava, founder and president of Anthem of Us, Julie J. Park, associate professor of education at the University of Maryland, College Park, Jin Hee Lee, senior deputy director of litigation of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and moderated by Professor Deborah ArcherOctober 23, 2018
We are Witnesses: Stories from the American Criminal Legal System
A conversation centering the experiences of people intimately familiar with the United States criminal legal systemOctober 12, 2018
Media and the Movement: Deconstructing Journalism's Role in Race and Inequality
Featured: New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie; New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman; senior reporter for The Appeal, Josie Duffy Rice, and Jake Sussman, managing director at the Justice CollaborativeMarch 1, 2018
Truth and Reformation: A Conversation on Narrative, Identity, Race, and Rights
Focus: How narratives and identities around race and inequality have been constructed in the past, the ways these narratives have been deployed to drive policy and undermine social progress, and the steps that advocates and activists can take to change that dynamic going forward. Participants: Stephen Bright, founder of the Southern Center for Human Rights and visiting lecturer in the law at Yale Law School; Professor Paul Butler of Georgetown Law Center; Vanita Gupta '01, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights; and Professor Maya Wiley of the New SchoolFebruary 20, 2018
Minding Race
A conversation focused on the intersection of race, brain science, and social psychology with members of the MacArthur Research Network on Law and Neuroscience, Dr. BJ Casey and Dr. Jennifer Richeson, Department of Psychology, Yale University, and Professor Kim Taylor-ThompsonOctober 12, 2017
Race, Inequality, and the Legal Profession: A Public Conversation on Private Practice
Participants: Debo Adegbile ’94, partner at WilmerHale; Lisa Davis ’85, partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein& Selz; Damaris Hernández ‘07, partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Theodore Wells, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & GarrisonSeptember 11, 2017
"A Conversation on Charlottesville"
Moderated by Dean Trevor Morrison
Panelists: Professors Bryan Stevenson, Anthony Thompson, Kim Taylor-Thompson, and Burt NeuborneFebruary 27, 2017
The Future of Race and Inequality in the United States
A public conversation between Sherrilyn Ifill '87, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; the Honorable Loretta Lynch, the 83rd United States Attorney General; and Professor Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative - The Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
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November 14, 2023
The 28th Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"The Spirit of the Law: Race and Legal Hypocrisy"
Speaker: Mehrsa Baradaran, Professor of Law at University of California Irvine School of LawNovember 17, 2022
The 27th Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"Dobbs and the Roberts Court's Racial Common Sense"
Speaker: Khiara M. Bridges, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of LawNovember 10, 2021
The 26th Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"Racial Realism, Today"
Speaker: Robert S. Chang, Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at Seattle University School of LawNovember 12, 2020
The 25th Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"Race, Evidence, and Police Violence: Seeking 2020 Vision"
Speaker: Jasmine Gonzales Rose, Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law and Associate Director for Policy at the Boston University Center for Antiracist ResearchNovember 6, 2019
The 24th Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
“Race, Violence, and the Word: Living in Uncertain Times”
Speaker: Kenneth Mack, Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law and Affiliate Professor of History at Harvard UniversityNovember 8, 2018
The 23rd Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"The Tragedies of Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin: Illustrating Professor Bell's Lesson on How 'Racial Patterns Adapt in Ways that Maintain White Dominance"
Speaker: Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean of Boston University School of LawNovember 1, 2017
The 22nd Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
"Race and Rights in a Time of Madness: What Would Derrick Do? (WWDD?)"
Speaker: Theodore Shaw, Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill - The Annual Kenneth P. Thompson ’92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform
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March 23, 2022
Fourth Annual Kenneth P. Thompson '92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform
Moderator: Executive Director Jason Williamson
Panelists: Angela Davis, Distinguished Professor of Law, Washington College of Law; Kimberly Foxx, Cook County State's Attorney; and Stephanie Morales, Commonwealth's Attorney, Portsmouth, VA
Co-sponsored with the Center on the Administration of Criminal LawApril 14, 2021
Third Annual Kenneth P. Thompson '92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform
Moderator: Co-Faculty Director Vincent Southerland and Executive Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law Courtney Machi Oliva
Panelist: Mr. Curtis Flowers
Co-sponsored with the Center on the Administration of Criminal LawMarch 9, 2020
Second Annual Kenneth P. Thompson ‘92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform
Moderator: Executive Director Vincent Southerland
Panelists: Danielle Sered, founder and executive director of Common Justice, and Eric Gonzalez, district attorney for Kings County, New York
Co-sponsored with the Center on the Administration of Criminal LawMarch 27, 2019
First Annual Kenneth P. Thompson '92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform
Moderator: Vice Dean and Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy Rachel Barkow
Panelists: Patricia Cummings, supervisor of the conviction integrity and special investigations unit for the district attorney’s office in Philadelphia; paralegal Derrick Hamilton, who in 2015 was exonerated by Thompson of a wrongful murder conviction; and Nina Morrison ’98, senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project
Co-sponsored with the Law and the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law - Panels and Symposia
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August 4 and 5, 2023
The State Courts Organizing Network Convening 2023
Co-sponsored by Center for Community Alternatives and the People's Parity ProjectMarch 30, 2023
Law on Our Terms
Co-sponsored by NYU Native American Law Students Association (NALSA)
Moderators: Amanda White Eagle, Precious Benally
Speakers: Marguerite Smith, Steven McSloy, Matthew Fletcher, Angel Charley, Carmen O'Leary, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Curtis ZunighaFebruary 1, 2023
NYU Law Forum--The State of the Death Penalty: Fifty Years After Furman
Co-sponsored by NYU Law
Moderator: Center Co-Faculty Director Vincent Southerland
Panelists: Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, Aren AdjoianDecember 1, 2022
Dismantling Racial Capitalism Convening
Co-sponsored with the Action Lab, the Initiative for Community Power, and the Urban Democracy Lab
Speakers: DaMareo Cooper, Christina Heatherton, Lester Spence, Katherine Franke, Renee Hatcher, Missy Risser-Lovings, Safiya Omari, Brooke Floyd, Alejandra Cruz, Dorian Payán, Marika Dias, Tara Raghuveer, Rasmia Kirmani-Frye, John Whitlow, Jordan Camp, Ntanya Lee, Nara Roberta SilvaNovember 2, 2022
The Court NY Deserves: Pushing for a Chief Judge Who Will Protect Our Rights
Moderator: Center Legal Fellow Tolu Lawal
Panelists: New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, Judiciary Committee Chair; Alice Fontier, Managing Director of Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem; Noah Rosenblum, Assistant Professor of Law at NYU LawOctober 27, 2022
Parole Justice Teach-In
Moderator: TeAna Taylor
Panelists: Jose Saldana, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman, NYS Assembly Member Maritza Davila, Nawanna Snipe, Steve ZeidmanFebruary 25, 2022
Charting the Course Forward: Re-Thinking the Fight for Racial Justice in 2022 and Beyond
Moderator: Center Executive Director Jason Williamson
Panelists: Monifa Bandele, Chief Strategy Officer of MomsRising; April Frazier Camara, President and CEO of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association; and Ryan Haygood, President and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.February 19, 2020
The Past, Present, and Future of Reparations
Moderators: Center Executive Director Vincent Southerland and Co-Faculty Director Deborah Archer
Co-sponsored the NYU Review of Law & Social Change’s 50th Anniversary ColloquiumNovember 15, 2019
The Anatomy of Race and Inequality: Examining Racial Inequality in the Criminal Legal System
Moderator: Alexis J. Hoag of the Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil & Political Rights at Columbia University
Panelists: Center Executive Director Vincent Southerland; ReNika Moore, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program; Michael Pinard, professor at University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law;, and Christina Swarms, president and Attorney-in-Charge of the Office of the Appellate DefenderNovember 4, 2019
The Anatomy of Race and Inequality: Race and an Exclusionary American Democracy
Moderator: Center Executive Director Vincent Southerland
Panelists: Khaled Beydoun, professor at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law; Atiba Ellis, professor at Marquette University Law School; Ryan Haygood, president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice; Danielle Lang, co-director of Voting Rights and Redistricting at Campaign Legal Center; and Myrna Perez, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Voting Rights and Elections ProgramOctober 28, 2019
The Anatomy of Racism and Inequality: The United States: Separate and Unequal
A three part series co-sponsored with the NYU Law Review
Focus: Racial inequality in education, housing, democracy, and the criminal legal system
Panelists: Richard R. Buery, chief of policy and public affairs of the KIPP Foundation; Dennis D. Parker, executive director of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice; Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children; Phil Tegeler, president and executive director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council; executive director of the Center; and Christina Swarns, attorney-in-charge, Office of the Appellate DefenderApril 16, 2019
Perspectives on Abolition: Moving Past the Incarceration Paradigm
A conversation on local efforts to drive criminal justice reform in New York State
Participants: Deirdre von Dornum, attorney-in-charge at Federal Defenders of the Eastern District of New York; Nicole Triplett, policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union; Kumar Rao, senior counsel at the Center for Popular Democracy; and the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law’s Executive Director, Vincent SoutherlandOctober 3, 2018
From Anita Hill to Christine Blasey Ford: Looking Back and Looking Forward
Discussion co-sponsored with NYU Law's Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network and NYU Law's Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and BelongingApril 12, 2018
Lecturer: Harvard social psychologist Mahzarin Banaji, co-founder of the online Implicit Association Test and progenitor of implicit bias research. She discussed the "blind spots" in our minds, the automatic associations and stereotypes of social groups, and the ways that implicit biases influence some of our most important decisions. This event was part of the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging speaker series, and was co-sponsored by the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law - Book Talks and Film Screenings
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December 12, 2023
Book Talk: "What is Anti-racism? And Why It Means Anti-capitalism"
Co-sponsored with the Action Lab, NYU Initiative for Community Power, NYU Urban Democracy Lab, NYU Department for Social and Cultural Analysis
Panelists: Arun Kundnani, Paula Chakravartty, Tejasvi Nagaraja, Nikhil SinghNovember 2, 2023
Book Talk: "Say Anarcha: A Young Woman, a Devious Surgeon, and the Harrowing Birth of Modern Women's Health"
Co-sponsored with the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Center
Panelists: J.C. Hallman, Kim MutchersonOctober 10, 2023
Book Talk: "Fear of Too Much Justice"
Panelists: Stephen B. Bright, James KwakNovember 7, 2022
Book Talk: "Graphic Novels - Archiving Histories of Resistance, Revolts, and Revolutions"
Co-sponsored with the Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham Law School
Panelists: Richard Conygham, André Trantraal, Dr. Rebecca HallOctober 10, 2022
Book Talk: "What's Prison For? In Conversation with Bill Keller,"
Co-sponsored with the Brennan Center for Justice
Moderated by Executive Director Jason WilliamsonApril 19, 2022
Book Talk: "Racing Religion: A Conversation with Sahar Aziz,"
Moderated by Executive Director Jason WilliamsonMarch 7, 2022
Book Talk: "The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth" a Conversation with Kristin Henning,"
Moderated by Co-Faculty Director Vincent SoutherlandNovember 5, 2018
Film Screening: Monsters and Men
Co-sponsored with NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), and NYU’s Strategies to Reduce Inequality (SRI) initiative
Panelists: The film’s director, Reinaldo Marcus Green; Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, executive director of the McSilver Institute; Jerika Richardson, senior advisor and secretary to the Board at the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board; Harry Siegel, senior editor at the Daily Beast, columnist at the New York Daily News, and co-host of FAQ NYC; and the Center’s executive director, Vincent SoutherlandSeptember 14, 2017
Screening of "I Am Not Your Negro"
A Conversation on Race in America
Panelists: Lurie Daniel Favors '05, general counsel of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, Khary Lazarre-White, executive director and co-founder of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, and Dr. Joshua Bennett, critically acclaimed poet and scholar