SYMPOSIUM—THE MORE WE FIGHT, THE MORE WE WIN: MOVEMENT LAWYERING IN THE ERA OF #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Movement lawyering is not only about representing the people in specific acts of litigation in order to meet an end goal—it is about supporting the people in their quest for freedom. Understanding the correlation between police brutality, prosecutorial misconduct, and white supremacy is essential in beginning to work to fix the problem. The solution, as it works out, is often not strictly litigation, but in organizing and supporting the people most affected by the problems at large. In this piece, Attorney Carl Williams presents multiple examples of organizing to change, including an analysis of understanding the correlation between white supremacy and prosecutorial misconduct in Bridgeman v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District. In tackling the underlying problems of what created the drug lab scandals of Massachusetts, you must work to understand and combat the true enemy of white supremacy through litigation, organizing, and movement lawyering. The Article content was presented at the Symposium “Perspectives on Racial Justice in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter” on October 20, 2017