Dennis Parker, director of the ACLU National Racial Justice Program, will be the featured speaker Friday at the annual Carle Whitehead Bill of Rights Dinner at The Four Seasons Hotel in Denver.
With its focus on racial profiling, affirmative action, indigent representation, felon enfranchisement issues and the school-to-prison pipeline, the program seeks to remove barriers to equal opportunity for communities of color through litigation, public education, community organizing and legislation.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Parker was the chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the New York State Attorney. He also worked for 14 years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund litigating cases involving elementary and secondary education, affirmative action in higher education and equal educational opportunity.
Parker also lectures on civil rights issues and is an adjunct professor at New York Law School. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Law School.
At the Carle Whitehead Bill of Rights Dinner, the ACLU of Colorado will honor the late Dr. Vincent Harding, a nationally recognized civil rights leader. Laura Rovner will also be honored at the event for her legal work as the director of the University of Denver’s Civil Rights Law Clinic, and Bob Connelly will be recognized for his years of service as a board member of the ACLU of Colorado.
