Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 minutes ago
ILEX Acción Jurídica is an organization with more than seven years of experience, led by Afro-Colombian women lawyers committed to the fight for racial justice in Colombia. It was founded primarily by women lawyers who graduated from the UCLA Master’s program with a specialization in Critical Race Theory (CRT).
We believe that the CRT framework is both a theoretical and practical tool for confronting the multiple manifestations of white supremacy, not only in the United States but also in Latin America. This approach has been central to ILEX in designing strategic litigation and research initiatives that contribute to the advancement of Afro-Colombian communities.
Through a panel format, we will present how ILEX, through research and legal mobilization, addresses expressions of white supremacy in Latin America, with a particular focus on Colombia.
While the concept of “white supremacy” is politically and theoretically debated, we highlight parallels with the United States in areas such as mass incarceration and racist police violence. Our contribution compares these dynamics across both contexts, showing how law, viewed through a critical racial lens, can become an instrument to confront them.
•Dayana Blanco Acendra, Attorney, Ilex Acción Jurídica, UCLA Law LLM ‘18
•Maryluz Barragán Gonzalez, PhD Student, Human Rights Defender, University Carlos III de Madrid, UCLA Law LLM ‘18
•Daniel Gómez-Mazo, Co-Founder, Ilex Acción Jurídica, UCLA Law LLM ‘14
•Audrey Mena Mosquera, Academic Researcher, Ilex Acción Jurídica
ILEX Acción Jurídica is an organization with more than seven years of experience, led by Afro-Colombian women lawyers committed to the fight for racial justice in Colombia. It was founded primarily by women lawyers who graduated from the UCLA Master’s program with a specialization in Critical Race Theory (CRT).
We believe that the CRT framework is both a theoretical and practical tool for confronting the multiple manifestations of white supremacy, not only in the United States but also in Latin America. This approach has been central to ILEX in designing strategic litigation and research initiatives that contribute to the advancement of Afro-Colombian communities.
Through a panel format, we will present how ILEX, through research and legal mobilization, addresses expressions of white supremacy in Latin America, with a particular focus on Colombia.
While the concept of “white supremacy” is politically and theoretically debated, we highlight parallels with the United States in areas such as mass incarceration and racist police violence. Our contribution compares these dynamics across both contexts, showing how law, viewed through a critical racial lens, can become an instrument to confront them.
•Dayana Blanco Acendra, Attorney, Ilex Acción Jurídica, UCLA Law LLM ‘18
•Maryluz Barragán Gonzalez, PhD Student, Human Rights Defender, University Carlos III de Madrid, UCLA Law LLM ‘18
•Daniel Gómez-Mazo, Co-Founder, Ilex Acción Jurídica, UCLA Law LLM ‘14
•Audrey Mena Mosquera, Academic Researcher, Ilex Acción Jurídica
