Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad Symposium on Law & Education

Background

What: Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad Symposium on Law & Education

Date: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 

Time: 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Central Time) - 4:00 PM Pre-Event Reception & 9:00 PM Closing Reception

Location: National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St, Memphis, TN 38103

Theme: Civil Rights Litigation that Changed Memphis Legal & Political History 

and Lessons for Engaging Youth, Reducing Violence

Expected Audience: 75-100 Students, Parents, Judges, Lawyers, Educators, Political Leaders, Civic & Community Leaders 

Schedule

5:00 PM - 5:10 PM: Welcome by Hosts & National Civil Rights Museum

• Attorney Talib I. Karim, Abe Legal & STEM4US! 
• Imam Jamil Muhammad, President, Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad Center
• Dr. Russell Wigginton, CEO, National Civil Rights Museum

5:10 PM - 5:20 PM: Special Guest Remarks

• Bilqis Abdul-Qaadi, Former University of Memphis Basketball Player, Motivational Speaker

5:20 PM - 5:25 PM: Recognition of Sponsors

5:25 PM - 5:30 PM: Introduction of Speakers for Panel 1: Legal History & Legacy of Dr. Muhammad’s Landmark Civil Rights Litigation

• Attorney Rodney Strong, Griffin & Strong P.C.
• Shep Wilbun, Past Memphis City Councilman, Shelby County Commissioner & Juvenile Court Clerk
• Attorney Marcus Ward, Marcus D. Ward, PLLC
• Mtii Mwenzi, Educator & Former Paralegal for Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad
• Rev. Lasimba Gray, New Sardis Baptist Church, Litigant in Companion Lawsuit to Dr. Muhammad’s
• Judge Tariq Sugarmon, Memphis Municipal Court Judge, Candidate for Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge
• Tanya Clay House, National Bar Association Civil Rights Law Section (Invited)
• Attorney Gwen Baptist, The Baptist Law Firm (Moderator)

5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Moderated Question & Answer

6:00 PM - 6:20 PM: Audience Question & Answer Session

6:20 PM - 6:30 PM: End of Panel 1 & Intermission

6:30 PM - 6:35 PM: & Introduction of Speakers for Youth Engagement Forum

• Judge Tariq Sugarmon, Memphis Municipal Court Judge, Candidate for Juvenile Court Judge
• Stevie Moore, Parent Activist, Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives
• Meka Egwuekwe, Founder & CEO, Code Crew
• Mtii Mwenzi, High School Vocational Program Director & Former Paralegal for Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad
• Simone Rucker, Parent
• Jamal Muhammad, Lemoyne Owen College Student
• Gabriella Gilliom, High School Student
• Jannine Fullilove Gorden Juvenile Court Clerk-Elect (Moderator)

6:35 PM - 7:20 PM: Moderated Question & Answer 

7:20 PM - 7:40 PM: Audience Question & Answer Session

7:40 PM - 8:00 PM: Trailer for Documentary - "United Front: People's Convention Memphis, 1991" & Conversation with Filmmakers, Arthur and Anniece Robinson

8:00 PM - 8:10 PM: Introduction of Speakers for Panel 3: Benefits of Dr. Muhammad’s Civil Rights Litigation & Unfinished Works

• Attorney Rodney Strong, Griffin & Strong P.C.
• Shep Wilbun, Past Memphis City Councilman, Shelby County Commissioner & Juvenile Court Clerk
• Attorney Marcus Ward, Marcus D. Ward, PLLC
• Dianne Black Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress, Mississippi 1st District
• Imam Jamil Muhammad, President, Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad Center
• Shelby County Commissioner Van Tuner, Jr (Invited)
• Memphis City Council Member At-Large JB Smiley (Invited)
• Tennessee State Representative Joe Towns (Invited)
• Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy (Invited) 

8:10 PM - 8:40 PM: Initial Question to Speakers, Brief Opening Remarks

8:40 PM - 8:50 PM: Moderated Question & Answer 

8:50 PM - 9:00 PM: Closing Remarks

9:00 PM -10:00 PM: Reception

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Russell Wigginton, National Civil Rights Museum
• Attorney Rodney Strong, Griffin & Strong P.C.
• Attorney Gwen Baptist, The Baptist Law Firm
• Imam Jamil Muhammad Dr. Muhammad Center
• Mtii Mwenzi, Dr. Muhammad Center
• Shep Wilbun, Past Memphis City Councilman, Shelby County Commissioner & Juvenile Court Clerk
• Attorney Marcus Ward, Marcus D. Ward, PLLC
• Meka Egwuekwe, Founder & CEO, Code Crew
• Dianne Black, Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress, Mississippi 1st District
• Judge Tariq Sugarmon, Memphis Municipal Court Judge, Candidate for Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge
• Jannine Fullilove Gorden, Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk-Elect
• Filmmakers, Arthur and Anniece Robinson
• Stevie Moore, Parent, Anti-Violence Activist, Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives
• Simone Rucker, Parent
• Jamal Muhammad, Lemoyne Owen College Student
• Gabriella Gilliom, High School Student

Timing: The Symposium is being held in conjunction with the annual convention of the National Bar Association. The group is the largest organization of Black lawyers in the world. Their convention is set to be held in Memphis from Sunday July 23-Thursday July 28th. This marks the first in person National Bar Association Convention since the pandemic. 

Panels

Legal History: Join discussion of legal scholars, civil rights litigators, and historians analyzing Dr. Muhammad's landmark litigation and the legal precedent that can be used to address today's crisis impacting our youth. 

Education & Youth Engagement: Take part in conversation with youth, parents, educators along with activists, judges, and law enforcement leaders.  What's causing this surge in youth violence? Was the shooting of Memphis Rapper Young Dolph a sign of the negative power of social media? Can teaching African American history and computer coding in schools give students greater self-worth and help them make better decisions?

Political Impact of Expanded Voting Rights: Lend your voice to panel of elected leaders, business leaders, and political activists to assess the impact of expanded African American voting rights from Dr. Muhammad's litigation.  What has fair and expanded political representation meant for improving the lives of all residents in Memphis and Shelby County? Hear from elected officials, government workers and businesses who benefitted from the changes made after Dr. Muhammad's lawsuit ended decades of voting discrimination in Memphis and Shelby County.

Sponsors & Hosts

• Memphis Chamber of Commerce
• Griffin & Strong P.C.
• The Baptist Law Firm
• Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad Center
• Hon. Shep Wilbun
• Walton Law Group, LLC.
• Memphis Dawah Association
• Marcus D. Ward, PLLC
• Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
• Code Crew
• New Sardis Baptist Church
• Friends of Dianne Black for U.S. Congress (Mississippi, 1st)
• Hon. Tariq Sugarmon
• Jannine Gorden Fullilove
• Glenn Vaulx
• Amira Safronoff
• Carla Stotts Hills

History

• In 1988, the late Dr. Talib-Karim Muhammad, a civil rights and religious leader from Memphis filed a pro-se class-action lawsuit, challenging at-large voting districts and run-off elections procedures in Memphis. Eventually, he was assisted by Atty. Margaret Carey and together they attracted the attention of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
• In February of 1991, the Justice Department filed a separate lawsuit that combined Dr. Muhammad’s suit and a second class action suit filed by another group of Memphis activists represented by W. Otis Higgs. In addition to the claims filed by Dr. Muhammad, the Justice Department also cited the City of Memphis’ pattern of annexation as contributing to the unlawful discrimination against the City’s African American majority.
• In August 1991, Federal Court Judge Jerome Turner ruled in favor of the Justice Department and the combined parties and ordered that the City of Memphis was barred from using run-off elections in the 1991 City Elections. 
• On the political front, in April of 1991, a group of activists including Dr. Muhammad organized the People’s Convention to select a consensus candidate. This gathering was held at the Mid-South Coliseum and attracted over 5000 people despite the pouring rain that day.  The outcome was the selection of Dr. Willie W. Herenton, former superintendent of the Memphis City Schools, as the consensus candidate to challenge the two-term Republican incumbent Mayor Richard “Dick” Hackett Jr.
• Herenton, a Democrat, eventually succeeded in wresting the seat from Hackett by a mere 142 votes in the 1991 mayoral election to become Memphis’s first elected African-American mayor and thus made history in one of the city’s most important exercises in democracy.
• The city had been largely devoid of African American representation in nearly all areas of Memphis and Shelby County government, even though African American voters represented a significant majority in Memphis and at least a plurality in the County, starting in 1990, according to that census data. 
• Yet, Judge Turner’s 1991 ruling was just the first step and Dr. Herenton’s elections were just the first steps. Over the next years, a series of changes came out of the Justice Department litigation to empower Memphis voters including the end of city-wide at-large elections. This led to the elections of dozens of new leaders including Judges. In 1995, Dr. Muhammad was elected to the Memphis City Council in the newly created At-Large Council District.
• Dr. Muhammad also filed a lawsuit to make changes to the Memphis School system.  Dr. Muhammad observed rise in youth violence in the 1980s and 90s. He believed that a remedy for this violence was to infuse our youth with a greater sense of pride.  To accomplish this, Dr. Muhammad's suit sought to increase lessons on the history of all people, particularly African Americans.  Dr. Muhammad also believed that STEM education represented an important tool for engaging youth.
• Dr. Muhammad died in 1997, the last year the National Bar Association last hosted its Annual Convention in Memphis. That year, Dr. Muhammad was honored at a reception hosted by the National Bar Association's president, the late legendary Corporate Attorney Clyde E. Bailey.  Speakers at that event included Memphis Mayor Herenton, Commissioner Wilbun and other leaders. 
• This year's Symposium seeks to highlight Dr. Muhammad's landmark litigation and extract lessons for developing innovative ways at engaging our youth and keeping them away from violence. 

Who's Organizing the Symposium: This effort is being led by Abe Legal, a legal technology company, founded by Dr. Talib Karim Muhammad's sons.

What Can I Expect After Registering: After signing up, you can expect a welcome email, weekly updates, and invites to speaker and sponsor prep meetings.

Need More Information:  Click here to chat with an organizer at a time that works best for you.