A special educational event marking the 160th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment was held on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. An audience of judges, attorneys, law clerks, legal scholars, law students, and community members filled the Bazarsky Lecture Auditorium.
Howard Law Professor Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney and legal scholar, opened the event with a keynote on the Reconstruction Amendments, emphasizing their role as the constitutional foundation for combating racial injustice and systemic inequality. The day also included:
• An exploration of New England’s slavery ties and why they matter
• A performance of Voices of the Enslaved
• A panel discussion on impacts on justice, sentencing, and society
• A conversation about legacy and justice with Hon. Myron Thompson, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama.
Participants reflected on a pivotal legal/historical milestone and explored the meaning of freedom and justice for all – past and present.
The night before, a special screening of Jeffrey Robinson’s Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America took place at the Jane Pickens Theater, also in Newport.
Speakers & Panelists:
Prof. Christy Clark-Pujara, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dept. of History
Prof. Akeia de Barros Gomes, Director for the Edward W. Kane and Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History and Lecturer at Brown University, Public Humanities
Prof. Michele Goodwin, Georgetown Law
Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill, Howard University School of Law
Thomas Koonce, TEK Transformative Solutions
Traci Picard, Researcher and Historian
Prof. Deborah Ramirez, Northeastern University School of Law
Tamera T. Rocha, Esq., Rhode Island Supreme Court
Kyera Singleton, Ph.D. Executive Director, Royall House and Slave Quarters
Hon. Myron Thompson, Senior District Court Judge, US District Court, Middle District of Alabama
Sponsoring Organizations:
U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
R.I. Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts
Flaschner Judicial Institute
Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice at Brown University
The Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina
R.I. Chapter of the Federal Bar Association
Justice Harry J. Elam Judicial Conference