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ACLU of Arkansas Spring Party 2010 |
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Arkansas Civil Liberties Union Foundation 2010 Spring Party
Date: Saturday, May 8, 2010
Place: Genesis III, Union Train Station, Little Rock
Time: Bar & Buffet, 5:30-7:00 pm. Program at 7:15 pm.
Band: The Groanups
Cost: $50.00 per person ($25 of which is tax deductible)
$25.00 for students (not tax deductible)
Deadline to RSVP: May 4th
Make checks out to: ACLUF
Mail checks to:
ACLU of Arkansas
904 West Second Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
Download the Invitation (150 KB).
Three Arkansans to be Honored at Upcoming Spring Party
“We wanted to have an event that was affordable for more members so more people could attend, and we wanted one that was more fun,” said ACLU of Arkansas board president Jim Metzger.
Dick Bennett of Fayetteville and Jack Lavey of Little Rock will each receive the Civil Libertarian of the Year: Lifetime Achievement Award and 11-year-old Will Phillips of West Fork will be named the Champion of Liberty.
Dick Bennett has been fighting for civil liberties his entire adult life. At Stanford during the Civil Rights movement, Bennett joined the ACLU and began a letter-writing campaign about the injustices of the Jim Crow laws and the less well-known opposition to them by white southerners. Later, the Vietnam War ignited his fervent and ongoing political engagement. Shortly after the ACLU of Arkansas was organized in 1968, Bennett joined and worked with Betty Siegel to keep track of membership and income for several years. He also helped start, and continues to be involved in, the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the ACLU of Arkansas.
Jack Lavey began fighting for labor equality in the early 1960s as a labor lawyer. After a stint at the National Labor Relations Board in Washington D.C., Lavey headed to Fort Worth, TX, to be a part of the union-organizing and civil rights movements. In 1966 he migrated to Little Rock to join the McMath Law Firm, and in 1969 joined Phil Kaplan and John Walker in the first racially integrated law firm in the state. He later opened his own practice. Lavey became involved in the ACLU because of the widespread civil liberties violations throughout the state. Lavey enlisted attorneys to help the newly formed affiliate address the voluminous complaints and continues to support the ACLU today.
Will Philips will receive the Champion of Liberty Award for exercising his first amendment rights in the face of school and peer pressure. In October of 2009, the fifth-grader refused to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance. Will took issue with the portion of the pledge that promises “liberty and justice for all,” when discrimination against racial minorities and gay men and lesbians is so pervasive in America. After four days of refusing to stand, Will’s teacher told him that he must say the pledge, but Will stood firm. Though some friends supported his decision, many students harangued him for continuing to exercise his right to free speech. Will’s fight garnered national media attention and he appeared on CNN. While Will and his parents did not need the ACLU’s help to secure an agreement with the school to allow him to not say they pledge without pressure from school officials, the ACLU did reach out to him in support when the story surfaced.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 April 2010 )
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