Join the ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts for our annual Bill of Rights Dinner on Friday, September 20, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport.
We are excited to gather with ACLU supporters and champions from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the ACLU’s work fighting for reproductive freedom, racial justice, voting rights, LGBTQ equality, immigrants' rights, criminal law reform, freedom of expression, and freedom from surveillance.
For over 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation's guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
For questions, please email aclumdinner@aeevents.com.
Speaker
Amanda Seales
Amanda Seales, is an Artistic Intellectual who uses humor and information to entertain and educate. She seamlessly weaves together the scholarship of a Master’s degree in African American studies from Columbia University and an unwavering dedication to social justice, with her skill sets as a comedian, host, actress, writer, radio personality, visual artist and more creating an eco-system of original content under, the banner of her independent entity Smart Funny & Black Productions.
Previous credits include: the role of “Tiffany DuBois” on HBO’s hit series Insecure, her HBO stand up comedy special, “I Be Knowin”, former cohost on daytime talk show, “The Real”, host of NBCs “Bring the Funny,” and the host/writer of the groundbreaking 2020 BET Awards. She speaks truth to change via her wildly popular instagram @AmandaSeales, weekly podcast, “Small Doses”, and book by the same name. Centering community building in her comedy, she is also the creator/host of the touring variety game show, “Smart Funny & Black”. She hosts, The Amanda Seales Show a radio program syndicated in several top markets including DC, Houston, and Philly and is also available wherever pods are casted.
A truth translator and innovator Amanda Seales is single handedly creating a new blueprint for multihyphenate conscious creatives to flourish.
Speaker
Yasmin Cader
Yasmin Cader is a Deputy Legal Director and the Director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality at the American Civil Liberties Union. The Trone Center encompasses the ACLU’s work on criminal and racial justice.
In her 30+-year career as a civil rights lawyer and public defender in Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles, Yasmin has represented juveniles and adults facing misdemeanor and felony charges, including clients charged with capital offenses as well as domestic and international terrorism. She also worked as a staff attorney with the Employment Litigation Section of the Department of Justice and co-founded Cader Adams Trial Lawyers, a women-owned litigation boutique in Los Angeles. Yasmin began her career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of Howard University and Yale Law School.
Yasmin currently lives in Los Angeles and, in addition to her role at the ACLU, is a leader in several programs devoted to racial justice work on a national level.
Honoree
Byron Rushing
Byron Rushing served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2018. He came to the House with a work background of community organizing and of Afro-American history.
In the legislature, Byron's priorities were human and civil rights, and the development of democracy; local human, economic and housing development; and housing and health care for all. He was the House Majority Whip. He was a leader of the Commonwealth's anti-apartheid efforts and a sponsor of the Commonwealth's twinning relationship with the Province of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. He was the chief sponsor of the Massachusetts Burma law.
He successfully sponsored legislation to create the Commission to develop a comprehensive plan to end homelessness in the Commonwealth. He sponsored the law for the over-the-counter sale of sterile needles and the law creating statewide guidelines for hospitals dealing with violence victims. He was a chief sponsor of legislation for substance abuse "treatment on demand,” He co-chaired the state's Health Disparities Council and was chief cosponsor of the law establishing a permanent disparities office in the Department of Public Health.
Byron was an original sponsor of the gay rights bill and the chief sponsor of the law to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public schools. He was one of the leaders in the constitutional convention to maintain same sex marriage in Massachusetts. He successfully co-sponsored the transgender civil rights bills.
He was a spokesman against the restoration of the death penalty in Massachusetts. He lead the ongoing effort for size acceptance and anti-discrimination on the basis of height and weight; for the repeal of archaic laws; and for the revision of the Massachusetts state seal.
BUY TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS
Entertainment
Boston Children's Chorus
Boston Children's Chorus's vibrant, jubilant, and powerful performances have established them as leading young artist in the city of Boston and beyond. Internationally recognized for their vibrant programming, passionate artistry, and ability to connect to audiences, Boston Children's Chorus showcases the talent and passion of the diverse young people of our city.
Named Boston's "Ambassadors of Harmony" by the Boston Globe, BCC presents over 50 performances per season in a wide range of public and private events.
In 2013, they were presented with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, distinguishing BCC as one of the top arts and humanities based programs in the nation; BCC accepted the award from First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
Justice Sponsor
Boger Family Foundation
Liberty Sponsor
Susan Whitehead
Constitution Sponsor
Carol Rose and Thomas Harrington
Eastern Bank Foundation
Fiduciary Trust Company
Fish & Richardson
Kim Marrkand and Kathleen Henry
Mintz
Suma Nair and Colin Dean
Stanley N. Griffith and Ann E. Schauffler
WilmerHale
Freedom Sponsor
AE Events
Boston Bar Association
Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History, and Culture
Boston Pride 4 the People
Carrie Chatterson Studio
Deval and Diane Patrick
Dick and Mary Neumeier
Disability Law Center
Discovering Justice
GLAD
Greater Boston PFLAG
Immigrants Assistance Center
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Judith Obermayer
MA Commission on LGBTQ Youth
Mass Equality
Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Public Health Association
Massachusetts Teachers Association
MCLE | New England
Morgan Lewis
National Lawyers Guild – Massachusetts Chapter
Opalite Media
Planned Parenthood
Reproductive Equity Now (REN)
TransHealth
Todd & Weld
Womens Bar Association
2024 Host Committee
Amy and Joshua Boger
Nina and David Bowman
Howard Cooper
Lolly Delli-Bovi and William Zucker
Ellen Paradise Fisher
Betty and Paul Francisco
Nicki Nichols Gamble
Taurean Green
Stanley N. Griffith and Ann E. Schauffler
Holly Gunner and Anne P. Chalmers
Brett Hale
Geraldine S. Hines
Shelley and Johnathan Issacson
Stephen Kay and Lisbeth Tarlow
Daniele Lantagne and Jeremy Brown
Becky and Mark Levin
Maria Manning
Suma Nair and Colin Dean
Sarah Patrick
Daniella and Kevin Prussia
Carol Rose and Tom Harrington
Ann Burks Sagan and Paul Sagan
Sandy Sedacca and Sherwood Ives
Norma and Ben Shapiro
Thomas Shapiro and Nadine Bonda
Ambassador John Shattuck and Ellen Hume
Sandra Susan Smith
Charlotte Streat
Bob Thomas and Polly Hoppin
Phil and Kate Villers
Lauren Weitzen
Douglass Williams
Aja Burell Wood
Harmony Wu
Arnie Reisman Freedom of Expression Fund
Learn about the Arnie Reisman Freedom of Expression Fund here.