On January 6, 2021, much  of the  social media community  posted how vastly different the Capitol Insurrection rioters were treated  than the Black Lives Matter Protesters from previous events.   Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in a Talks and Thoughts Conversation conversing on race disparities, law enforcement and politics when dealing with Black Lives Matter Protests and other protests organized by white militia groups or domestic terrorists.  Panel presenters will include civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson,  University of Baltimore law professor and author Michael Higginbotham,  Johns Hopkins historian and legal scholar Martha S. Jones,  retired Anne Arundel County Police Commander TJ Smith and Maurice Davis, Director of Security at the University of Maryland Medical Center.  This discussion will be moderated by Dr. Kaye Whitehead radio host of WEAA’s Today with Dr. Kaye and  Loyola University professor of communications and African American Studies.

Click Here to Register. 

Program Time: 3 pm EST

Panelists’ Information:

Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., associate professor of communication and African and African American Studies, is a three-time New York Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and the award-winning radio host of Today with Dr. Kaye on WEAA 88.9FM. Her scholarship examines the ways race, class, and gender coalesce in American classrooms as well as in political and social environments. Named one of Essence magazine’s 2019 “Woke 100 Women” changing the world and one of “25 Women to Watch” by the Baltimore Sun, she is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the country.

DeRay Mckesson is a civil rights activist focused primarily on issues of innovation, equity and justice. Born and raised in Baltimore, he graduated from Bowdoin College and holds honorary doctorates from The New School and the Maryland Institute College of Art.  As a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter Movement and a co-founder of Campaign Zero, DeRay has worked to connect individuals with knowledge and tools, and provide citizens and policy makers with commonsense policies that ensure equity. He has been praised by President Obama for his work as a community organizer, has advised officials at all levels of government and internationally, and continues to provide capacity to activists, organizers, and influencers to make an impact.

Professor Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History, and a Professor at the SNF Agora Institute at The Johns Hopkins University. She is a legal and cultural historian whose work examines how black Americans have shaped the story of American democracy. Professor Jones is a public historian, writing for broader audiences at the New York Times, Washington Post, the Atlantic, USA Today, Public Books, Talking Points Memo, Politico, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Time. Professor Jones serves on the US Capitol Historical Society.

F. Michael Higginbotham is a constitutional law professor and author who teaches at the University of Baltimore School of Law.  Higginbotham is  the former interim dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law, the former President of the Public Justice Center and the former chair of the Maryland Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic Weapons. He is the author of Ghosts of Jim Crow: Ending In Post Racial America.

T.J. Smith is a retired Anne Arundel County Police commander, former chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department and former press secretary for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr.

Maurice Davis is the Director of Security at the University of Maryland Medical Center.  For the past twelve years he has worked closely with the University of Maryland Campus Police and the Baltimore City Police Department to ensure the rights and protection of all those who enter the medical center.  Prior to UMMC, he retired as a Lt. Colonel after 28 years with the Maryland Natural Resources Police.  He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Police Executive Leadership Program, the FBI National Academy, and holds a Master’s Degree in Management from Johns Hopkins University.