Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
This panel convenes distinguished alums, advocates, and scholars to examine innovative approaches for implementing critical race studies in professional practice. Panelists will analyze emerging and persistent challenges in translating theoretical frameworks into actionable strategies and highlight effective approaches to race-centered litigation, policy development, and movement-building initiatives. This discussion will illuminate how legal advocates are reimagining racial justice work in response to rising anti-CRT sentiment and increasing authoritarian tendencies within contemporary American political culture.
Panelists will address multifaceted challenges and evidence-based solutions operating at local, state, and national levels, offering concrete pathways for advancing social justice within the current political climate. The conversation will examine how practitioners navigate institutional and real-world constraints, exploring successful case studies and strategic innovations that demonstrate CRT’s practical applications. By connecting theoretical foundations with experience, this panel bridges academic scholarship and advocacy practice.
The discussion will emphasize collaborative approaches to systemic change, examining how legal professionals, community organizers, and policy advocates can leverage critical race theory insights to challenge structural inequities effectively. Speakers will demonstrate how CRT principles inform strategic decision-making, coalition-building, and long-term movement sustainability, providing attendees with actionable frameworks for translating critical race scholarship into meaningful social transformation across diverse professional contexts.
•Ahilan Arulanantham, Professor from Practice and Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law & Policy, UCLA School of Law
•Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Distinguished Professor of Law and Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights, UCLA School of Law
•Sandy Hudson, Writer, Producer, and Activist, Founder, Black Lives Matter-Canada, Co-Founder, Black Legal Action Centre, and Co-Owner, Above the Palace, UCLA Law JD ‘22
•Caleb Jackson, Judiciary Counsel, U.S. Senate, UCLA Law JD ‘18
•Saúl Sarabia, Founder and Director, Solidarity Consulting and Academic Coordinator, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UCLA Law JD ‘96
•Moderator: Sunita Patel, Professor of Law, Faculty Director, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, and Faculty Director, Veterans Legal Clinic, UCLA School of Law
This panel convenes distinguished alums, advocates, and scholars to examine innovative approaches for implementing critical race studies in professional practice. Panelists will analyze emerging and persistent challenges in translating theoretical frameworks into actionable strategies and highlight effective approaches to race-centered litigation, policy development, and movement-building initiatives. This discussion will illuminate how legal advocates are reimagining racial justice work in response to rising anti-CRT sentiment and increasing authoritarian tendencies within contemporary American political culture.
Panelists will address multifaceted challenges and evidence-based solutions operating at local, state, and national levels, offering concrete pathways for advancing social justice within the current political climate. The conversation will examine how practitioners navigate institutional and real-world constraints, exploring successful case studies and strategic innovations that demonstrate CRT’s practical applications. By connecting theoretical foundations with experience, this panel bridges academic scholarship and advocacy practice.
The discussion will emphasize collaborative approaches to systemic change, examining how legal professionals, community organizers, and policy advocates can leverage critical race theory insights to challenge structural inequities effectively. Speakers will demonstrate how CRT principles inform strategic decision-making, coalition-building, and long-term movement sustainability, providing attendees with actionable frameworks for translating critical race scholarship into meaningful social transformation across diverse professional contexts.
•Ahilan Arulanantham, Professor from Practice and Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law & Policy, UCLA School of Law
•Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Distinguished Professor of Law and Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights, UCLA School of Law
•Sandy Hudson, Writer, Producer, and Activist, Founder, Black Lives Matter-Canada, Co-Founder, Black Legal Action Centre, and Co-Owner, Above the Palace, UCLA Law JD ‘22
•Caleb Jackson, Judiciary Counsel, U.S. Senate, UCLA Law JD ‘18
•Saúl Sarabia, Founder and Director, Solidarity Consulting and Academic Coordinator, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UCLA Law JD ‘96
•Moderator: Sunita Patel, Professor of Law, Faculty Director, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, and Faculty Director, Veterans Legal Clinic, UCLA School of Law
