Unprecedented Session 3 Recap
Event Recap with Insights from Lisa Graves and Alex Aronson
In the third webinar in our Unprecedented series, "How Did We Get Here: A History of the Conservative Legal Movement,” we started with a challenge to creatively expand our vision and belief in what is possible for our movements by hearing the poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread” by Martin Espada.
And then our speakers Alex Aronson and Lisa Graves took us to school. Lisa is the Executive Director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group that works with journalists and other researchers to shine a bright light on the dark money fueling regressive agendas targeting vital institutions such as our courts and public schools. Alex Aronson is the Executive Director of Court Accountability and is the former chief counsel to U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
They started their conversation at the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, to trace the origins of the modern Right-wing legal movement as a backlash to the integration of public schools. That, they explained, is when the Right began to consolidate power by merging business interests with a white-Christian nationalism to reinvigorate American racism, encoded in specific policies and political issues such “states rights,” bussing, welfare, public housing, and abortion. This combined with billions of dollars allowed them to create organizations with the explicit goals of taking over federal courts to bend to their interests.
Alex and Lisa have tracked specific players who have been funding and directing this movement over decades such as Leonard Leo and Antonin Scalia who worked behind the scenes to take over the federal courts. They went on to outline the specifics of Project 2025, the Right’s newest list of policies and plans should they gain even more power this year. And while Project 2025 is primarily about an aggressive dismantling and reorienting of the federal government, Alex and Lisa demonstrated how states and even localities have been Right-wing laboratories for developing and testing these reactionary ideas, and how they will be the places where these ideas are further cemented — if a united progressive front does not stop them. Most importantly, Alex and Lisa reminded us of what implications all of this will have on the everyday lives of the most marginalized communities.
This history is implicated in all of our work as progressive lawyers and organizers. Alex and Lisa made clear that lawyers must quickly and more thoroughly align with social movements that are building power to push back this regressive and oppressive campaign. The session highlighted the importance of studying the strategies of the MAGA bloc and more importantly strategizing within progressive movements for the future we know is possible. The speakers answered questions about the Left response and how lawyers can brace for what is to come. We encourage you to watch the full video.
We heard from participants that this webinar helped them home in on gaps in their knowledge and gather energy for the fights ahead. Suzannah from Arizona said, “I’m encouraged to become more radical in my work. I will find more ways to collaborate with others in this fight and I will examine where I have unconsciously conceded ground.”
Mara from Florida said, “I have learned so much! Today's webinar in particular presented the urgency and dangers we are facing perfectly. For me it was an effective call to action without causing panic or despair.”
Resources
We encourage participants to become familiar with Project 2025, the extreme Right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration. This agenda was mentioned several times by our speakers.
For some poetic inspiration, we recommend reading Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again.”
Register for Movement Law Lab’s next and final webinar in this Unprecedented series, “It’s Possible to Win: Inspiration from Democracy Fights Around the World” on May 17th.
