The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., who appeared three years ago on an ebola panel at UC Irvine, returns to campus Friday for “Charlottesville: A Defining Moment in America: A Conversation with Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.”
Part of the 2017 Chancellor’s Distinguished Speakers Series, Jackson’s visit includes a “fireside-style” discussion with Michele Goodwin, the UCI Chancellor’s Professor of Law, who joined the civil rights icon on the panel that discussed “The Constitutional Implications of Ebola: Civil Liberties & Civil Rights in Times of Health Crises” on campus Nov. 19, 2014.
Attendance is free at Friday’s event, which is scheduled to run from noon-1:15 p.m. at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. There is $10 parking available in the nearby Student Center Parking Structure.
Those who show up will hear Jackson “describe the compounding tragedy of Charlottesville, Virginia, as a defining moment in U.S. history, similar to foundational civil rights events in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama,” say the event organizers. “He’ll speak on the rise of hate, including hate crimes and the mainstreaming of hate groups, and focus on the contemporary desecration of synagogues and mosques, the burning of historically black churches, and the deaths of Heather Heyer and individuals perceived as Muslim.
“Jackson will address such profound questions as what is gained by this hate and who actually benefits. He’ll also point out that often the same people who seek to undermine voting and civil rights seek to undermine the rights of women and members of LGBT communities.”
The event is co-sponsored by the UCI School of Law, which will be kicking off its yearlong colloquium series on “Hate in a Period of Political Turmoil,” and, as part of its new Confronting Extremism Initiative, the Office of Inclusive Excellence.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.