Gun Violence is a Civil Rights Issue
Session Type(s): Panel, Streamed Session
Starts: Friday, Jul. 14 10:30 AM (Central)
Ends: Friday, Jul. 14 11:30 AM (Central)
Room: Continental A
Gun violence is a civil rights issue. Not only does gun violence disproportionately harm communities of color and other marginalized communities, we need the framework of civil rights to dismantle the immovable white supremacist resistance to gun policy reform. This panel will look at bias and hate, and how hate with guns elevates it into terrorism. From race-motivated mass shootings, police shootings and immigration, to faith, mental health and more, we will also look at how gun violence’s intersections impact different communities. Perhaps most importantly, this panel will take a hard look at the structural racism, bias and hate behind the extreme opposition to gun policy reform and explore how to begin dismantling it, opening up the way for sweeping change so we can finally curb our raging gun violence epidemic and begin building a future with safety from gun violence for everyone.
Moderator
Gloria Pan
Gloria Pan is a mission-oriented campaign strategist, organizer, leader, communicator, and writer, with more than 20 years of experience in the progressive space advocating for women and families, civil rights, gun violence prevention, and economic justice. Since her days as the communications director for the Institute for the Connected Society (iFOCOS), she has been a front-row observer, explorer, and practitioner of tech-based innovations in communications and campaign strategies that could help make the world a better place.
Panelists
Manjusha Kulkarni
Manjusha P. Kulkarni (Manju) is the Executive Director of AAPI Equity Alliance, which serves and represents the 1.6 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County. In March 2020, Manju co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, the nation’s leading aggregator of COVID-19-related hate incidents against AAPIs.
Alongside fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders Cynthia Choi and Russell Jeung, Manju has been recognized as an honoree of the prestigious TIME100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg 50 lists, and as a recipient of the 2021 Webby Social Movement of the Year award. More recently, she was awarded a spot on the 2022 Forbes 50 Over 50 list for her leadership in advancing the Stop AAPI Hate movement.
Manju’s work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR and CNN, as well as in numerous local and ethnic media outlets. As part of her advocacy work on behalf of AAPI communities, Manju has shared her expertise with countless individuals and entities including the Aspen Institute, the World Bank and the United Nations.
Manju serves on the Board of Directors of LA Voice and is a member of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board. Manju holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.
Jamal Watkins
Jamal R. Watkins, a native of California and resident of Washington, DC, serves as the National Outreach Director for the AFL-CIO. In his role he is responsible for strengthening and growing National strategic partnerships with the labor movement across a range of priority campaigns and program work.
Prior to this Jamal held several leadership positions including:
• Deputy National Political Director at Service Employees International Union (SEIU);
• Chief of Staff at the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI);
• Managing Director of Campaigns for the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization – Amnesty International (AIUSA); and,
• Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director of City Year Los Angeles (CYLA), which is a national non-profit AmeriCorps organization.
Mr. Watkins has worked in several distinct areas including politics, campaigns, communications, education, human resources and fundraising playing key roles as a National Recruiter for the DNC, Fundraising Canvass Director for Grassroots Campaign, Florida State Director of the Young Voter Alliance during the 2004 Presidential Election, Regional Coordinator on the “Yes on Proposition 79” Campaign for Health Access of California, and most recently developing a voter mobilization and engagement field strategy for the 2014 mid-term election cycle.
Jamal earned his BA in Philosophy at Stanford University with a minor in Political Science and completed graduate level work at New York University for Speech and Interpersonal Communication. As a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated his motto is “onward and upward.”