Social Justice Speakers

Lilly Ledbetter was employed by Goodyear Tire and Rubber for nineteen years before she discovered that she was paid far less for the same work as her male peers were being paid. The lawsuit she filed against them eventually reached the Supreme Court. While she will not ever receive the money that was denied her in the many years she worked for Goodyear, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which is named after her, was passed so that other women will not have to suffer from such inequity. She notes "I'm just thrilled that this (law) has finally passed and sends a message to the Supreme Court: You got it wrong."

MacArthur Fellow Lateefah Simon is part of a new wave of African American civil rights and community leaders. She is the Director of Justice for California 's Women and Children Campaign at the Rosenberg Foundation. Ms. Simon has advocated tirelessly on behalf of communities of color, youth and women since her teenage years.  She made O Magazine's first ever Power List in 2009 and was recognized with a Lifetime TV Remarkable Women Award. 

Once called "the most popular children's entertainer in the western world" (Washington Post), Raffi now lectures on his Child Honouring philosophy. He calls it a "compassion revolution." Raffi challenges his audience to become a catalyst for change with an idea whose time has come.

Norma Ramos is a longstanding public interest attorney and social justice activist. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, which is the first organization to fight against human trafficking internationally, now in its twenty-first year.

How does a child who was both a victim and survivor of the Cambodian genocide grow to become an internationally recognized human rights leader? Subject of the documentary The Flute Player and a founder of Children of War, an international youth leadership organization for building community, activism and healing for teenagers, Chorn-Pond opens our eyes and hearts, and helps us to heal.

In the debate about immigration, we often forget the human side of the story. Enrique Morones is determined to help us remember. The founder of Border Angels, a humanitarian organization which provides support and relief to migrant workers on the US-Mexican border, he wants Americans to know the truth about the people behind the immigration policy debates, both migrants and the vigilante Minutemen.

Author of "The Moral Underground," Dr. Lisa Dodson is widely known for her policy research on low-wage families. Her newest book “The Moral Underground" examines the profound harm of a deeply stratified economy and was recently called gripping by Publisher's Weekly. [Photo Credit: Ellen Shub]

Haitian-American musician Richard Auguste Morse's words and observations following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti were picked up by major news bureaus around the world. Morse is known throughout Haiti for giving voice to political injustice.

As experienced veterans of academia, Dreifus and Hacker ask: What do students and families receive for the approximate quarter of a million dollars which four years at a top-tier American university cost them? Their new book "Higher Education?" has been called "thought-provoking," "timely," and "readable."

Finding your liberties and conscience under attack? Attorney, activist and a founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Silverglate addresses the issues that profoundly affect us all: freedom of conscience, academic freedom, civil liberties, freedom in cyberspace, and individual rights. His new book, "Three Felonies a Day," explores how the Department of Justice uses vague federal statutes to prosecute innocent citizens.

Rinku Sen is the President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and Publisher of Colorlines magazine.  She weaves together journalism with her extensive experience in community organizing to further social change.  Sen has written extensively about immigration, community organizing and women's lives for a wide variety of publications.  Her latest book, "The Accidental American:  Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization" won the Nautilus Book Award Silver Medal.

Dr. Zohara Boyd and Dr. Peter Petschauer were both children in Europe during World War II, but had very different experiences. Dr. Boyd grew up in Poland during the Nazi occupation and obtained documents of a Polish Catholic family to survive. Dr. Petschauer was the son of a SS officer in Germany. They met as academic colleagues and now share their stories and lessons they've learned with people around the nation.

A leading organizer in the Chinese student democracy movement, he is among forty-nine individuals blacklisted by the Beijing government. As research fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and President of The Foundation For China In The 21st Century, he continues to provide a forceful and unique perspective on this historic struggle. Jianli Yang, returned to his adopted home in 2007 in the United States after five years in Chinese prisons.

Nathan Rothstein is the co-founder of the New Orleans Youth Urban Rebuilding Professional Initiative, a project dedicated to building the largest and most diverse young professional network in New Orleans to help connect, retain and attract young people to the city.

Legendary activist and founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Jones was recently portrayed by actor Emile Hirsch in Gus Van Sant's film Milk, which won two Academy Awards,including Best Original Screenplay.

Anna Rosmus triggered a firestorm of controversy in her German hometown by writing about the deeply buried role it played under the Nazi regime. Committed to combating the neo-Nazi movement and the extreme right, Rosmus is the author of several books dealing with both the historical and contemporary impact of the Nazis on Germany and the rest of the world.Her newest release, "Valhalla Finale," is a photo book about the end of WWII.

Roy Brooks, author of "Re-Thinking the American Race Problem" is a leading legal scholar and civil rights activist. He argues persuasively that African Americans are owed reparations for the centuries of enslavement their ancestors endured. Brooks' new book is "Racial Justice in the Age of Obama." 

Suzan Shown Harjo is a poet, journalist and activist for Native American rights and culture. She is president of The Morning Star Institute, a non-profit cultural rights and arts advocacy group; served on the Native American Policy Committee for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and as an Advisor to the Transition in 2008-2009; and Harjo is currently the Guest Curator and General Editor for the National Museum of the American Indian’s upcoming exhibit and publication on Treaties.

Led the Obama Campaign's Government Reform Policy, and served as top official on the Obama Transition Team and in the Obama Administration at the Justice Department. Leading legal scholar on democracy, politics, and policy.