PRESS

Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights & Justice in the News

November | 2023

• Spotlight on: Ada Goodly Lampkin, director of the Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights and Justice at Southern University Law Center

October | 2023

• BRAVE CAVE: Warehouse of Secrets

February | 2023

• Shreveport police chief mourns an unarmed Black man shot dead by one of his officers as state police investigate

January | 2023

• LDOC violated the constitution by keeping people imprisoned past release dates, feds say

December | 2022

• ‘Vocal and Unafraid’: How Justice Jackson Is Talking About Race on the Supreme Court

June | 2022

• Juneteenth Father's Day Celebration Honoring Jerome "Big Duck" Smith
• Honoring Fathers of the Movement: A Juneteenth Celebration

May | 2022

• Check out the national civil rights augmented reality exhibit at the Southern University Law Center
• FRONTLINE Announces Un(re)solved, an Unprecedented Multiplatform Investigation of Civil Rights Era Cold Case Murders

April | 2022

• Civil Rights-era cold case exhibit open at SULC until June
• Taking a look at America’s Un(re)solved history

Videos

October | 2023

 Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights & Justice Director Ada Goodly and Project Manager John Collins were interviewed by WAFB reporter Scottie Hunter for his investigative report about Baton Rouge Police Department's BRAVE Cave.

Conference Presentations & Spotlights

November | 2023

CRRJ Spotlight on Director Goodly Lampkin

The Civil Rights & Restorative Justice (CRRJ) Project at Northeastern University School of Law recently highlighted our own Ada Goodly Lampkin, Director of the Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights and Justice.

CRRJ’s article acknowledged how Director Goodly Lampkin’s upbringing, education, career, and personal experiences have motivated the work that she passionately pursues today. The article expresses that she has embraced the healing power of truth instilled by her racially complex upbringing.

Director Goodly Lampkin was raised in a family where secrets were discouraged, her grandmother's example inspired her to utilize any privilege for the benefit of the less fortunate. After joining the military with plans to attend law school, Goodly Lampkin's life took a turn when she became a single parent in 2008. Balancing work and motherhood, she later pursued her dream, attending law school at Southern University Law Center. Her awareness of Black communities' struggles grew during college, where she reinforced her leadership skills as an advocate for underserved communities as the president of the Black Student Union at LSU.

Joining the CRRJ Project in 2014 while a student at SULC, one of Director Goodly Lampkin’s first cases that she conducted was an investigation of the 1930 lynching of George Hughes, a 41-year-old farm laborer. It was through this investigation that she gained an appreciation for CRRJ’s mission. As she navigated the challenges of her busy life as a single mother, a law student, a training sergeant for the U.S. Army, and a CRRJ student investigator, she recognized the importance of connecting families with resources and training students under CRRJ's framework.

In addition to her current role as Director of the LAB Institute at SULC, Director Goodly Lampkin also sits also sits on the advisory board for Historical Injustice and Present Policing (HIPP), a trauma informed training partnership with CRRJ. She also utilized her own experiences as a student investigator with CRRJ to establish and lead two projects at SULC, one in the spring and the second in the summer. The Burnham Honors Cohort, which began in the spring of 2023, is a project partnership between the institute, CRRJ, Philander Smith College and Tougaloo College.

See the full CRRJ spotlight here.

October | 2023

Director Goodly Lampkin’s Contributions at the Southern Clinical Conference: Inspiring a Journey of Historical Justice

The Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights & Justice is thrilled to highlight the remarkable contributions made by Ada Goodly Lampkin, Director of the Institute for Civil Rights & Justice, at this year's Southern Clinical Conference. The event took place in Atlanta from October 20th to 22nd and was aptly themed "Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Opportunities and Challenges for Clinics and Externships in the South."

Organized by the Georgia State University College of Law, this conference brought together clinical faculty from across the nation to explore the myriad ways in which clinical faculty can instigate meaningful change and "good trouble."

One of the conference's standout moments was the presentation titled "Creating a Clinic Based on Historical Violence: The Implications of Place," co-presented by Ada Goodly Lampkin, alongside Olivia Strange, a dedicated CRRJ attorney and Zitrin Fellow, and D'lorah Hughes from the University of Kentucky's College of Law.

In their thought-provoking discussion, they delved into the realm of historical clinical pedagogy and its potential to address the ongoing consequences of unaddressed historical violence. They emphasized that historical justice necessitates innovative approaches that often transcend conventional legal systems. Their aim was to inspire others interested in exploring clinical models rooted in civil rights history, legal history, and redress.

Ada, D'lorah, and Olivia also examined the profound impact of clinical programs when guided by community members and institutions most affected by a history of racial violence. Ada Goodly Lampkin remarked, "We certainly understand the value of having representation in dealing with these cases and the families' intergenerational trauma, so academic pipelines are a critical bridge to address these disparities and open doors that might otherwise remain closed."

As the CRRJ expands its reach beyond the Deep South, including states such as Kentucky, Missouri, Washington D.C., and Oklahoma, Ada's leadership and partnership with institutions like the Southern University Law Center's Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights and Justice, under her guidance, exemplify the success of the model generated by CRRJ. Partnerships with those who are best positioned to network with impacted communities and investigate historical cases in their jurisdictions are vital to our mission.

The Institute for Civil Rights & Justice looks forward to the continued success of its 10 year partnership with CRRJ and expanding the reach of this important work.

See more about the Southern Clinical Conference here.