Recanati-Kaplan Talks and Newmark Civic Life presents: Looking Back to Go Foward, an online event with Marlene Fried, Loretta J. Ross, and Ruth Reichard.

What can the history of the fight for social justice teach us about protecting democracy during this time of retrenchment? What can it tell us about the resilience, resistance and leadership we need?

Throughout history, we have faced moments of increased rights and periods of retrenchment when hard-won rights were stripped away — government sponsored assimilation/annihilation programs stripping Native Americans of their cultures; Mexican American women losing rights in 1848; reproductive health care threatened with the 1873 Comstock Act; Civil Rights disbanded as Reconstruction ended; LGBTQ people going underground after The “Lavender Scare,” etc.

Each of these moments has tested democracy itself, and each time, many have risen to defend it. We have resisted through grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and legal advocacy, and have rebuilt movements that expanded rights and strengthened the foundations of democratic society. In this critical political moment, this panel will draw on history to explore what we can learn from past eras of repression to help develop strategies that can build resilience and leadership for what lies ahead.

Get your free ticket here for this online event.