The 2013 Bending the Arc: The Robert Howard Annual Symposum featured a convening of local youth activist leaders, as well as an evening discussion with Angela Davis and local activists on gun violence, social justice activism and the work we must do to build a path forward.Watch a CAN-TV broadcast of the keynote and panel discussion: See photos from the day’s events by clicking on the photos below Youth Gathering – Gallery Panel Discussion – Gallery Event Co-SponsorsBlack Youth ProjectEllen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media at Columbia CollegeCrossroads FundThe Institute For Research On Race and Public Policy at UICChicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under LawFirst Defense Legal AidNational Lawyers Guild of ChicagoPublic SquareProject NiaSaint James CathedralWoods Fund of ChicagoBackground on Robert Howard and programming in his honor:Robert Howard (1942-2013) was an attorney on the front lines of civil rights and political reform battles in Chicago over the last 45 years. He served as general counsel for the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League, successfully suing Chicago over bias in hiring women and minorities on the Chicago Police Force and playing a key role in setting up the Office of Professional Standards, which was an internal mechanism to hold officers accountable for police misconduct. He was a driving force behind the effort to disband the Red Squad, an initiative in the Chicago Police Department which was set up to spy on community organizers who were seen by the Richard J. Daley administration as threatening the political order. He also served the Chicago Public Schools for almost twenty years, designing the school system’s desegregation plan and overseeing its implementation.In honor of Bob’s work and legacy for social justice, Crossroads Fund is excited to be a partner in the presentation of Bending the Arc: The Robert Howard Annual Symposium. This is a yearly public program celebrating movements for racial, social and economic justice across generations, while inspiring participants to engage in social movements today. The initial year of Bending the Arc will include a series of gatherings, trainings and public programs focused on youth leadership in movements for racial justice, and against violence and the prison industrial complex.As a part of Bending the Arc: The Robert Howard Annual Symposium, throughout the spring and summer of 2013 Crossroads Fund will convene youth organizers and their allies from across the city to share strategies, learn about the history of youth organizing from movement elders and receive organizing training from the School of Unity and Liberation.Bending the Arc: The Robert Howard Annual Symposium FoundersCarol Ashley Doug Cassel Cathy Cohen Ronald Futterman Theaster Gates Jacky Grimshaw Julie Hamos Aram Hartunian Sarah Howard Marilyn Katz Rick McCombs Judd Miner David Narefsky Barbara Phillips Charles Phillips V Matt Piers Beth Richie Renault Robinson Don Rose Jane M. Saks Bettylu Saltzman Rebecca Sive Rob Warden Laura Washington Robert Weissbourd
