From Vera Institute of Justice:
These Black leaders made history as they fought for racial equality and justice for all people. Their stories inspire Vera today in its mission to end the mass incarceration and fight for the dignity of those most directly impacted by the criminal legal system—people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty.
W. Haywood Burns (1940–1996)
W. Haywood Burns was an attorney and longtime civil rights activist who, in 1969, helped found the National Conference of Black Lawyers, which has represented Black Panthers, Vietnam war resisters, and Assata Shakur, to name a few. Burns got his start in activism as a teenager, participating in a successful effort to integrate a swimming pool in his hometown of Peekskill, New York. He graduated from Harvard College and, while a student at Yale Law School, participated in the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi. He was the assistant counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and served as general counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s campaign. Burns successfully defended Angela Davis against kidnapping and murder charges and coordinated the defense of the 62 incarcerated people indicted in the Attica prison uprising. Burns served as a trustee for several civil rights and justice organizations, including the Vera Institute of Justice. Today, the Haywood Burns Institute works to dismantle structural racism in his honor. It praises Burns as a “beacon of light to those who believe the battle for human rights and justice can be won through activism, humility, and dedication.” Continue reading >>>
|
|
|
|
