BJALP Black Health Symposium

The Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy (BJALP) will be hosting a Black Health Symposium on April 3, 2020 at Berkeley Law. We secured speaking commitments from leading legal academics and public health experts, including Dean & Distinguished Jesse H. Choper Professor of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, Professor Khiara Bridges, Professor Osagie Obasogie, Professor Michele Goodwin, Professor Erin Kerrison, and Alameda County Director of Public Health Kimi Watkins-Tartt . This symposium will be marketed to legal practitioners in the Bay Area, particularly those who work with Black clients facing unique public health challenges. While these practitioners will be the main focus of our recruiting, we believe the content of this symposium is relevant to a variety of legal practitioners who are interested in learning about these issues and learn how they can get involved in the solutions as well as educating theses practitioners on how to combat implicit bias and stigmas related uniquely to black health in the workplace.

We are working with the Event Planning office to offer MCLE credit to participants under the categories of Elimination of Bias and Substance Abuse/Mental Illness. By centering the unique challenges the Black community faces in receiving adequate healthcare, we anticipate any lawyer with black colleagues and/or black clientele will benefit from this symposium. We hope attorneys leave our symposium with a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of Black health issues impacting their communities and clientele.

On an organizational level, this event is an opportunity for BJALP, one of Berkeley Law’s newer journals, to establish a more substantial presence in the broader legal community. Dean Chemerinsky, Professor Bridges, and Professor Obasogie are acclaimed scholars. Both Professor Bridges and Professor Obasogie publish extensively on Black health. We plan on publishing a transcript of this Symposium in the journal and hope it leads to future submissions on Black health and the law as the journal continues to grow.