Charles Ogletree, the distinguished Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard who taught both President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Harvard Law School, is coming to Detroit to keynote the 59th Detroit Branch NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner, May 4, 5 p.m., at Cobo Convention Center. The theme is “1964-2014…50 Years Later…One Man’s Commitment, One Nation’s Promise.”
Ogletree, considered one of the foremost thinkers on race and the law in America, and the founding director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard, will join a long list of prominent figures who have addressed what is deemed to be the largest sit-down dinner of its kind in the world.
Previous speakers include former president Bill Clinton, then-Senator Barack Obama, Rev. Jesse Jackson, the late Black scholar Manning Marable, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave the 2013 keynote address at the 58th Freedom Fund Dinner.
The Detroit Branch NAACP, under the leadership of its President Rev Wendell Anthony and Executive Director Donnell White also announced honorees at this year’s dinner including Congressman John Dingell, U.S. Senator Carl Levin, civil rights activist Rev. Dr. William Barber and Skillman Foundation president Tonya Allen.
Professor Ogletree’s visit could not have been more timely, especially in the wake of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s hateful comments about African Americans, including sports legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
“Donald Sterling in his denigration of African Americans, Latinos and minorities in general presents all of us with a teachable moment. Unfortunately, we have not yet arrived at a post racial society. Whether it is the unsavory and denigrating comments of Cliven Bundy in Nevada concerning his approval of slavery, this pattern of open discrimination seems to be rising,” Anthony said.
“Mr. Bundy even suggests that enslavement, where Blacks were forced to pick cotton, would seem to be a better system for African Americans rather than their ‘dependency on the government for handouts.’
“This is despite the fact that Mr. Bundy has refused to pay the government grazing fees for his cattle on land that he has not owned for the past 20 years.”
According to Anthony, Sterling’s remarks strikes “at the very heart of an illness that affects the growth and continuous progress of our nation to be a place where diversity is valued rather than a place where diversity is maligned. We must continue to work for an America that respects all of her sons and daughters.”
He said the Detroit Branch NAACP supports the decision of the Los Angeles Branch to withdraw its presentation of their Lifetime Achievement Award to Sterling.
“We applaud all voices, Black and white, professional players currently in the league and those retired, news commentators, corporate sponsors and even the president of the United States for their comments declaring that this kind of attitude and hatred is indeed unacceptable in the year 2014,” Anthony said. “We look forward to our own Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner.”
He continued, “We remain committed to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who continues to inspire, when he said 50 years ago, ‘I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.’ Let us all lift the burden of hate and intolerance off the shoulders of a nation that is indeed desperate for a better way and a better day.”
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