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Ericka Huggins – 2015 Race Conference Keynote Speaker

Ericka HugginsCCS is proud to announce that Ericka Huggins will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Race Conference.

Ericka Huggins is a human rights activist, poet, and educator, as well as a former political prisoner and leader in the Black Panther Party. Upon release from prison in 1972, Ericka became writer and editor for the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service. Ericka was the Director of the Oakland Community School, and created the vision for an innovative curriculum that later became the model for the charter school movement. In 1976, Ericka was both the first woman and first Black person to be appointed to the Alameda County Board of Education. Over the past fifty years she has worked on a variety of issues including education reform, HIV/AIDS, and incarcerated youth. Ericka has lectured on human rights, restorative justice, and the role of spiritual practice in sustaining activism and promoting social change. To see a detailed biography of Ericka, click here.

Her keynote address is titled “Becoming an Ally: An Antidote to the Disease of Racism.” Her address will be delivered at 5:30 pm on Thursday, November 5th. Registration for the Race Conference will begin on Sunday, October 11th. Please check back soon for a link to the registration page.