Advancing Education Equity and Access Through Community-Lawyer: Lessons from South Africa
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Room 320-D
12:45 – 2:00 pm | Lunch will be served
Registration is required
The Levin Center is excited to welcome our spring quarter Global Practitioner in Residence, Mbekezeli Benjamin. Mbekezeli is a passionate young human rights lawyer. Originally from the South African township of Soweto, outside of Johannesburg, he is committed to addressing the obstacles faced by disadvantaged communities in accessing educational opportunities. Mbekezeli has worked on various matters that have come before South African courts at all levels from the Magistrate’s Court up to the Constitutional Court. He has been involved in matters related to the right to housing, the right to protest and the right to a livelihood. These matters have touched on various fields of the law including property, land,
constitutional law, criminal law, and labor law.
For this talk, he will be joined by his colleagues at Equal Education (“EE”) and Equal Education Legal Centre (“EELC”). EE is a movement of learners, parents, teachers and community members working for quality and equality in South African education, through analysis and activism. EELC provides support for campaigns led by members EE around the country. Through collaboration, EE and the EELC work to address systematic inequalities in the South African education system and to coordinate strategies, advocacy and action to bring about sustained change. EELC lawyers are activists and remain actively engaged in the struggles of EE, and are on hand to provide legal materials, and strategic litigation to advance the movement equality and quality education.