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“What can we do outside the legal realm to change our society to be more inclusive and equitable?”

That question is at the center of an upcoming panel discussion at the ��������–St. Louis, says Assistant Professor of Anthropology Sarah Lacy, who will moderate the Aug. 7 event.

“Beyond Reform: The Limits of Legislating Equality for Black & Brown and LGBTQ+ Liberation” will explore ways that various groups subject to discrimination can work outside purely legal channels – and collaboratively – to achieve equality in society. The 6:30 p.m. discussion will take place in the SGA Chamber of the Millennium Student Center.

“We all suffer when one suffers, and by embracing the struggles of other communities, our protest spaces become diverse and also safer,” Lacy says. “We should not abandon legal battles and political ambitions, and we should continue to push political candidates to adopt platforms that lift up the oppressed. But we also need to think about how we affect public consciousness more directly, and that is partially the point of this upcoming community discussion.”

Panelists will include Barbara L. Graham, an associate professor of political science at UMSL; Eljeer Hawkins, an activist and union organizer in New York City; and Dean Spade, an associate professor of law at Seattle University and founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.