Sept. 13: Celebrating the Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Join us in September to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. This is the second in a series of events over three years (2013 to 2015) observing the 50th anniversaries of four of our nation’s seminal civil rights tipping points. The Equal Justice Society commemorated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, at the Oakland Museum.

Civil Rights at 50: Celebrating the Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Saturday, September 13, 2014
6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard Street, San Francisco

With special honorees:

• California State Senator Ed Hernandez – author of SCA 5, seeking to partially repeal Prop. 209
• Frederick Jordan – champion of minority business enterprises (MBEs)
• Jane and Howard Moore, Jr. – civil rights attorneys and movement pioneers
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – co-counsel with EJS in social science briefs in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, and in Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc.

Our event will feature performances by artists from the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Zaccho Dance Theatre, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre.

Buy tickets to our event at $150 (general) or $75 (nonprofit*).
Purchase your tickets online
* Limited availability of tickets at the nonprofit rate.

Sponsor our event and be a visible part of our commemoration.
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Sign up your organization as an Organizational Partner of the Civil Rights at 50 campaign and help us promote the August 28 event to your audiences and supporters.
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ABOUT THE ARTWORK. This oil painting by Samuel Renaissance depicts the struggle of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike in 1968. The strike was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last campaign before his assassination. 1,300 Black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike to protest the city’s long pattern of neglect and abuse of its Black employees. Tens of thousands of students later joined the strike. The Memphis mayor called for martial law and brought in 4,000 National Guard troops. The following day, over 200 striking workers continued their daily march, carrying signs that read, “I Am a Man.”