Friday October 2nd, 2020, 1:30 – 5pm PST / 4:30 – 8pm EST

Sponsored by:
UCLA School of Law Critical Race Studies Program
UCLA School of Law Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
Mobilization for Justice
Legal Aid Society
Impact Center for Public Interest Law, New York Law School
UCLA Law National Black Law Journal

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Black America reckoned with another crisis: homelessness and evictions. Comprising only 13 percent of the U.S. population, Blacks accounted for approximately 40 percent of the homeless population in 2019. As the pandemic persists, many housing courts have reopened and resumed eviction proceedings. Though moratoriums may postpone an eviction, they do not provide monetary relief to prevent the eviction entirely. This conference gathers housing experts from across the nation to discuss gentrification, the experiences of Black litigants in housing courts, grassroots tenant organizing efforts in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and impact litigation which challenges anti-Blackness and discrimination against tenants. The panelists are tenant attorneys, tenants, organizers, professors and funders from organizations in New York, California, Missouri, Chicago, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

Moderators:
Leah Goodridge, Supervising Attorney, Housing Project, Mobilization for Justice (New York)
Robert Desir, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society (New York)

1:30-1:35 PM (PST) / 4:30-4:35 PM (EST)
Introduction to the Conference

1:35-2:55 PM (PST) / 4:45-5:55 PM (EST)
Practitioners Speak: The Impact of Gentrification, Evictions, and Housing Court Procedures on Black Tenants.

3:00-4:00 PM (PST) / 6:00-7:00 PM (EST)
Tenant and Organizer Roundtable: Pushing Back Against Systemic Racism

4:00-5:00 PM (PST) / 7:00-8:00 PM (EST)
Policy and Impact Litigation

Time

Oct 2, 2020 04:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)