The Urgency of Poverty

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018
8:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
College of Law, Room 237

This symposium, inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign, and will explore the transactional lawyer’s role in economic justice. The keynote speaker will be Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

This event has been approved for 5.25 hours of general CLE credit. Registration is required in order to attend and lunch will be served. The cost is $50 for lawyers seeking CLE credit and $10 for those not seeking CLE credit. Students may attend free of charge. To register, send your BPR number (if applicable), CLE program name, and contact information, including e-mail, to Micki Fox.

View the schedule of events here.


Poor People’s Campaign

In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. conceived the Poor People’s Campaign, uniting suffering and outraged citizens who sought action to provide jobs and income for the poor.They invited people who had been divided to stand together against the “triplets of evil”—militarism, racism, and economic injustice—to insist that people need not die from poverty in the richest nation ever to exist. They sought to build a broad, fusion coalition that would audit America. King’s goals were never realized and today 43 million Americans are estimated to live in poverty.

 

Poor People’s Campaign – Today

Earlier this year, several pastors started a revival of the Poor People’s Campaign, with the support of organized labor, focusing on raising the minimum wage. This “National Call for Moral Revival” is uniting people across the country to challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, and the effects of each.

The Symposium at UT Law

Our event will feature the following panels:

  • Infrastructure and Economic Development
  • Economic Justice and Civil Rights
  • Solidarity Economics
  • Reclaiming Corporations