Fighting for Housing and Community Justice: The Role of Lawyers in the Movement (2A)

NY CLE: 1.5 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice, Transitional/Nontransitional 

Program Chair: Lina Lee, Executive Director, Communities Resist

Speakers:
Shekar Krishnan, Co-Founder of Communities Resist and City Council Elect for District 25
Gregory E. Louis,  Co-Founder of Communities Resist, Associate Professor of Law, CUNY

Moderator:
Lina Lee, Executive Director, Communities Resist

Communities Resist is a new legal services organization for housing and community justice in NYC, founded by public interest lawyers who have worked together for years. We are an organization comprised largely of and co-founded by people of color. As community advocates rooted in anti-displacement work for years in some of the most gentrified neighborhoods in NYC (based in North Brooklyn and expanding to Western Queens), we undertake our work with the belief that housing is a basic human right. We believe that the fight for tenants’ rights and housing justice must advance racial, gender, and economic justice

Our session covers the role of community lawyers in fighting to defend poor neighborhoods of color from gentrification and displacement. We approach this topic from two different perspectives: we will discuss the nature of our struggle against gentrification; we will also discuss our formation as Communities Resist.