Getting Radical in the South (GRITS) is a student-run public interest law conference that focuses on the difficulties and constraints inherent to social justice work in the South, and the unique strategies that legal practitioners and other public interest workers have developed to meet those needs.

Agenda:

12:30 – 1:00 | Registration

1:00 – 2:00 pm | GRITS Kickoff: The Power of Storytelling

Renee Bracey Sherman

Writer, Organizer, Activist

Renee Bracey Sherman is the Beyoncé of Abortion Storytelling. She’s a Chicago-born, midwest-raised writer and activist committed to the visibility and representation of people who have had abortions in media and pop culture. Learn more about Renee here.

Melissa Madera

Host, Founder, & Director of “The Abortion Diary”

Dr. Melissa Madera: Originally from Washington Heights, New York, Dr. Melissa Madera (a.k.a. the abortion diarist) is a first generation Dominican-American, and the Jill of all trades at The Abortion Diary. Learn more about Melissa here.

2:00 – 2:30 pm | Refreshments

2:35 – 3:35 pm | Sex Work in the South

• Noor | Cicada Collective & SWOP ATX
• Alexandria LaRue | Sex Worker and Activist
• Clay Kasper

3:45 – 4:45 pm | Labor Organizing in the South and Southwest

• Christine Valenzuela | National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United 
• Mike Cartwright | UAW Local 276
• Montserrat Garibay | AFL-CIO

5:00 – 6:00 pm | Reproductive Justice: Coupling Litigation and Advocacy

• Amanda Williams | Lilith Fund
• Rosann Mariappuram | Jane’s Due Process

6:00 – ? pm | Happy Hour (Spider House Cafe and Ballroom, 2908 Fruth St.)

Saturday, February 29

9:00 – 9:40 am | Breakfast

• Breakout Session: People of Color in Public Interest
  • ImeIme Umana | Civil Rights Corps
  • Wendy Shang | Pretrial Justice Institute
  • Beto Mesta, Jr. | Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
  • Kiah DeBolt | The Safe Alliance
  • Judge Aurora Martinez-Jones | Associate Judge in Travis County

9:50 – 10:50 am | Understanding Texas Legislation

• Donna Howard | Texas House of Representatives
• Molly Bursey | Moms Demand Action
• Jeffrey Jacoby | Texas Campaign for the Environment

11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Breakout Sessions

• Immigration Detention and “Crimmigration” Panel
  • Chito Vela | Walker Gates Vela
  • Linda Rivas | Las Americas
  • Katrina Black | RAICES
  • Jennifer Scarborough | ProBAR
• Environmental Justice Panel
  • Mario Atencio | Diné CARE
  • Bryan Parras | Sierra Club
  • Kerene N. Tayloe | WE ACT for Environmental Justice

12:10 – 1:10 pm | Lunch & Discussion: Judicial Nominations in the Trump Era

• Steve Vladeck | Professor at the University of Texas School of Law

1:15 – 2:15 pm | Breakout Sessions

• Tips for Post Conviction Litigation in the South
  • Sara Ann Brown | Foley & Lardner LLP
  • Kay Hutchinson | Texas Defender Service
• Gun Violence and Criminal Justice Reform Activism in Central Texas
  • Diana Earl | Moms Demand Action and Everytown
  • Molly Bursey | Moms Demand Action

2:25 – 3:15 pm | Breakout Sessions

• Secondary Trauma for Social Justice Workers
  • Caitlin Sulley, LMSW | Director of the Sexual Assault Research Portfolio at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
  • Jessi Duran | Intern with the Sexual Assault Research Portfolio at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
• Can you be an activist and a lawyer at the same time?
  • Leah Rodriguez | Equal Justice Works Fellow at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
  • Gowthaman Ranganathan | Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellow at UT Law
  • Kiah DeBolt | The Safe Alliance

3:35 – 4:35 pm | Punishment Without Guilt

• Emily Gerrick | Texas Fair Defense Project 
• ImeIme Umana | Civil Rights Corps
• Wendy Shang | Pretrial Justice Institute

4:40 – 5:30 pm | Reclaiming Free Speech

• Gadeir Abbas | Council on American-Islamic Relations

5:30 – 6:30 pm | Closing Comments and Refreshments