first published in the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, Vol 16, Number 2 (2005)

Excerpt of Benjamin Cardozo quotation on the wall at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley.

THE AMERICAN CITY: A TOOL FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

by Matt Gonzalez

The Robert D. & Leslie-Kay Raven Lecture, UC Boalt Law School, April 15, 2004

MARY LOUISE FRAMPTON:  Welcome, to all of you and to our distinguished speaker, Matt Gonzalez.  We’re pleased to see such a big crowd out for you.  Not unexpected.  Well deserving.  There are really exciting things happening at Boalt now.  The Center for Social Justice is not only training the next generation of public interest lawyers, but we’re also fostering a new kind of scholarship that views the law in a larger social context that is much more accessible to the public and is directly responsive to disadvantaged communities.  And we’re doing this in collaboration with social justice practitioners, with advocacy organizations, with community organizations, and even with the bench, so this is a whole new approach, and it’s very, very exciting.

This is Raven Lecture this year is part of an inaugural event for the symposium tomorrow, called “The New Metropolis: Social Change in California Cities,” and this is a collaborative effort.  Actually, the New Metropolis symposium is sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Social Change, which is now directed by Professor Moran, and the Center for Latino Policy Research, so it’s a very exciting collaborative effort.  We hope that not only can you all come to the reception after this lecture but that you will come tomorrow, beginning at eight forty-five here, for a full day of fascinating scholars and community organizers, who will discuss this exciting topic.

Professor Moran, as the Robert D. and Leslie-Kay Raven professor, has the honor of introducing our speaker here.  I want to tell you just a little bit about Rachel.  She is a real superstar here at Boalt.  She’s been here since 1988, and many law schools have tried to steal her away, but we’ve always managed to bring her back.  This year, she is energizing the Institute for the Study of Social Change.  Both a wonderful teacher and a nationally renowned scholar, she teaches in the areas of torts and she’s taught bilingualism and the law in the past.  She’s an expert on education, and she is just a wonderful, wonderful resource for all of us here at Boalt.

So, Professor Moran. [Applause.]

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