2009 Delegation Is Headed to the Delta

The 2009 Delegation is getting ready to head down to the Delta. We will be reporting from our project sites in January.

Who we are and where we are headed:

Eric Kushman, J.D. Candidate 2011, is headed to The Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights, founded by Jaribu Hill, CUNY Law 1995, is a worker advocacy organization that sees as its mission, providing organizing support, legal representation and training for low-wage, non-union workers in the state of Mississippi. Through direct action campaigns, organizing sessions and trainings, we seek to raise awareness among workers as to the many ways their human rights are violated in the workplace and in their communities. Through strong partnerships with our worker members, we seek to develop strategies to combat racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of oppression. Through local, national and international networking and coalition building, we seek to build bridges between workers in the southern region, other parts of the country and the world. http://www.msworkerscenter.org

Shirley Lin, 2008 Mississippi Worker’s Center for Human Rights Delegate, said, “Interning with CUNY Law alumna Jaribu Hill '95 at MWCHR was an awe-inspiring experience. For two weeks, we assisted the Workers' Center's staff by conducting legal research on systemic labor and employment issues that clients and community members continue to face on the job. For the Housing is a Human Right Campaign, the four of us drove from town to town to investigate and document residents' experience with housing discrimination and egregious living conditions that most often go unaddressed due to absentee landlordism and ineffective housing laws. The Mississippi Project strengthened my commitment to challenge the law to conform to its own standards, and rise to a human rights mandate to provide justice for all.”

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Amanda Jack (AJ), 2011, Ebette Fortune, 2010, Joshi Valentine, 2009, and Paul Catafago, 2011, are headed to Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) represents innocent prisoners serving life sentences in Louisiana and Mississippi, and assists them with their transition into the free world upon their release. IPNO works in the states with the country's highest incarceration rates, and the highest rate of wrongful conviction in the country. By identifying and remedying cases and causes of wrongful conviction, IPNO engages in high impact, frontline advocacy in the courts of law and public opinion, and leads a community-based response to the mistakes made by our criminal justice system. Since its inception in 2000, IPNO has achieved the release of twelve wrongfully convicted prisoners. www.ip-no.org

Beena Ahmad, 2008 IPNO Delegate said, "We came back with a sense of confidence that we had the capacity to uncover a wrong and the importance of joining forces to accomplish our individual and collective goals."

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Paula Z. Segal, 2011, is headed to the ACLU of Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Project. The Project is working to make accurate sex-education programs that include information that teenagers need to make healthy life decisions available in Mississippi and will be introducing a comprehensive sex education bill in the 2009 state legislative session, to limit restrictions on abortion and to keep Mississippi's only abortion clinic open, and on cases involving pregnant woman in Mississippi who are charged with murder of their unborn children through substance abuse. www.msaclu.org/Issues/ReproFreedom.html

Davida Silverman, 2008 ACLU Delegate said, “The Mississippi Project was not just about the work. It was about being part of something bigger and knowing that I could build and sustain social justice movements as a legal advocate. I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Mississippi Project and hope that the Project continues for years to come."