Appleseed Staffer Attends Chicago Movement Lawyering Retreat
On July 15th and 16th, I was lucky enough to participate in a “Movement Lawyering Retreat” for Chicago attorneys and activists. The retreat was a small collection of lawyers and organizers brought together by two dedicated individuals: Candace Moore and Quinn Rallins. Their idea is to ultimately build a network of legal support for the Movement for Black Lives in Chicago using the example of the national Law for Black Lives network launched by the Center for Constitutional Rights in 2015.
“Movement lawyering” refers to a philosophy of providing legal assistance (something both licensed lawyers and other legal workers can do) to organized groups of people working for social change. Movement lawyering challenges the idea that progressive social reforms are achieved only or primarily in the courts or through legislative change, and instead recognizes grassroots movements as a primary force of social progress. While lawyers and our skills play a role, they are but one piece of a larger puzzle fed by much broader momentum.
Criminal justice reform advocates no doubt recognize this description as one that applies to our current moment. We are faced with completely new opportunities and responsibilities for reform precisely because the Black Lives Matter movement has shifted public scrutiny onto the criminal legal system and made it a primary site of its demands for racial justice. For a more in-depth (but still short) introduction to movement lawyering, read Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Professor Bill Quiqley’s piece, “Ten Questions for Social Change Lawyers” [PDF].
At the retreat, approximately 20 participants discussed the personal experiences that brought us to social justice work. We were treated to an overview of current organizing under the broad umbrella of Black Lives Matter in Chicago as a foundation for the rest of our discussion. Black Youth Project 100 (“BYP 100”), the Ujamaa Community Land Trust, and Assata’s Daughters described their work and the ways it has been supported by lawyers and the legal community. For example, BYP 100 received a volunteer movement attorney’s help drafting an ordinance that would remove the power of Chicago Police Officers to make discretionary arrests for marijuana possession, citing the disproportionate 15:1 arrest rate of Black residents compared to white residents. Along with Chicago Appleseed, attendees from First Defense Legal Aid, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, Cook County Bar Association, People’s Law Office, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and others shared their own experiences providing legal support to community-based organizations, activists, and organizers.
Together, attorneys and activists discussed the important roles that lawyers can play through offering our expertise and access in various ways that expand the reach of movements. Whether it is through community legal education workshops such as Know Your Rights trainings, assistance researching and drafting legislation, or engaging our negotiation skills on behalf of an organization, lawyers can play critical roles when invited to be part of movements. One key theme of the retreat was the importance of lawyers recognizing and following the leadership of those most impacted by the issues we seek to address. While we possess legal expertise, organizers and community members possess experiences and knowledge that imbue them with different expertise. They are always the experts on their own needs, and the work of lawyers is only improved when we recognize that we can and must learn from our clients, too.
The retreat ended with each participant sharing our personal goals and asking the group for the support needed to accomplish them. Commitments were made to better leverage our individual and institutional resources to the benefit of movements in this historic moment ripe with opportunity. Discussion of how best to involve pro bono lawyers was central, and any interested attorneys are invited to become FDLA First Defenders or a National Lawyers Guild Legal Observers. The retreat group will reconvene in the fall with an expanded agenda and the goal of holding ourselves to our own goals while ensuring we as legal professionals remain accountable to impacted communities and their goals.
Funding assistance for the Chicago Movement Lawyering Retreat was provided by Woods Fund and in-kind donations from Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.