Academic Panel on Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Verdict
October 1, 2020 at 1 p.m. CDT, accessible live on Zoom
In September 2020, a grand jury in Kentucky charged one of three former police detectives involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor. He was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree, a decision that has led to continued protests across the country and amplified calls for justice and reform of the U.S. criminal justice system.
A panel of experts from Northwestern University discuss the ramifications of this grand jury decision on gender, race, law, political movements, and policing.
The panel, Where Do We Go From Here After the Breonna Taylor Verdict: Gender, Race, and the Future of Social Movements, was at 1 p.m. CDT Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 and was accessible live on Zoom.
The panelists’ discussion included an analysis of the grand jury decision and of policing and its impact on politics and the election, the erasure of Black women and femmes in the public outcries against state violence, and the influence of social movements both historically and contemporarily.
The Panelists
Sheila Bedi, clinical professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, is an expert in civil rights, as well as the legal and policy strategies that support social justice movements aimed at dismantling the carceral state.
Sekile Nzinga, lecturer in Gender and Sexuality Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Northwestern Women’s Center, is an expert in Black feminism theory and intersectional feminist praxis. She also serves as interim chief diversity officer and associate provost for diversity and inclusion.
Robin Walker Sterling, the associate dean for clinical education and the director of the Law School’s Bluhm Legal Clinic, is an expert in clinical advocacy, critical race theory, criminal law and procedure, and juvenile justice.
Alvin Tillery, Jr., associate professor of political science and African American studies in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy, is an expert in politics and race relations.
TiShaunda McPherson, assistant vice president for Equity and a former civil rights attorney, will moderate the panel.
The panel is co-sponsored by the Women’s Center, the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy, Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Equity, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI) and the Office of the Provost.