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Fighting Racism and Other Forms of Bias

Eva Patterson, President & Founder
Building upon the foundation of understanding racism and its impact, Equal Justice Society will host Fighting Racism and Other Forms of Bias: What’s Working!?, which will be a more intimate two-day convening of activists, academics, and attorneys focusing on how we can reduce or counteract bias.

In June 2017, the Equal Justice Society (EJS) hosted the Resilience of Racism Conference, which explored mind science concepts such as implicit bias and racial anxiety in an effort to better understand and ameliorate racism in all of its manifestations while also acknowledging the unfortunate resurgence of white supremacy.

EJS is a national legal organization focused on restoring Constitutional safeguards against discrimination. Founded by Eva Patterson and other civil rights advocates, EJS seeks to reverse an imbalance in our courts, where it is now more difficult for those experiencing discrimination to receive justice, and in the hearts and minds of the public, where too many believe that discrimination no longer exists.

Topics for discussion will include:
  • Responding to assaults on implicit bias
  • Effective strategies for reducing bias
  • Interplay between mind science and white supremacy
  • Practical approaches to reduce bias in various fields such as Healthcare/Medicine, Criminal Justice, Education, Tech, Housing, and Employment
  • Mind science in the 2016 elections and beyond
  • Debugging implicit bias through storytelling 

Plus a film screening & discussion of Healing Justice. (trailer below)



Confirmed speakers include:
  • Hon. Bernice Donald, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • Hon. Mark W. Bennett, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa
  • George Gascon, District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco
  • Tirien Steinbach, Executive Director, East Bay Community Law Center
  • William Snowden, Founder, The Juror Project
  • Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
  • Shakti Butler, Founder & President, World Trust Educational Services
  • Jerry Kang, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UCLA
  • Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, Department of Psychology, UC Berkeley
  • Arlene Mayerson, Directing Attorney, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
  • Darlene Flynn, Director, Department of Race and Equity, City of Oakland
  • Roberto Gonzalez, Chair of Anthropology, San Jose State University
  • George Hofstetter, teenage tech genius, entrepreneur

Advance registration is required; space is limited. For more information,contact Melissa Male. This conference is made possible through generous grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Henry L. Hecht Family Fund.

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