Photo Courtesy of The American Program Bureau
Skidmore will be hosting Professor Charles Ogletree, Jr. this Thursday at 8:00PM in Gannett Auditorium for a lecture and book signing. The event, titled “Do Black Lives Matter? Race and Justice in America Now,” will explore hotly contested racial issues in modern society. Ogletree is a professor of law at Harvard University, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
Ogletree has published nine books, the most recent of which is titled Life without Parole: America's New Death Penalty? “While Professor Ogletree’s writings are varied, the thread that connects them is his commitment to generating dialogue around difficult questions of law with the intention of foregrounding the justice system’s responsibility to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to exercise their legal rights,” stated Professor of Government Ronald Seyb in an email to Faculty describing the event. According to Harvard Law School, Ogletree’s areas of interest are equally widespread, encompassing “international law, capital punishment, juvenile justice, comparative and foreign law: South Africa, criminal law and procedure: criminal defense, race and law, clinical legal education, criminal law and procedure: Criminal Justice Administration, [and] race and the law: race and criminal justice.”.
Ogletree founded The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law. The organization is devoted “to devise and implement research-based solutions and remedies” to issues revolving around race in America through various means, such as testifying before Congress.
Ogletree’s list of accomplishments is extensive. His name has been included among Ebony Magazine’s 100 Most Influential African-Americans, as well as on the list of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America. He has also received an induction into the Hall of Fame for the National Black Law Students Association.
To learn more about Professor Ogletree and one of his important projects- “Building Educated Leaders for Life”- before Thursday night’s lecture, listen to him speak here.