Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will join with East End Cooperative Ministry to present the annual Kelso Lecture in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Sun., Jan. 20, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. John C. Brittain, professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., will serve as the keynote speaker. This event is free and open to the public.
Brittain is a tenured professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law. In the past, he served as dean of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, a veteran law professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law for 22 years, and the chief counsel and senior deputy director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., a public interest legal organization started by President John F. Kennedy to enlist private lawyers to take pro bono cases in civil rights. He also has been the president of the National Lawyers’ Guild, a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of the ACLU, and legal counsel to NAACP at the local level and national office of the General Counsel. In 1993, the NAACP awarded Brittain the coveted William Robert Ming Advocacy Award for legal service to the NAACP without a fee. Brittain earned a B.A. (1966) and J.D. (1969) from Howard University. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut, Mississippi, California, and associated federal courts. Brittain served on the Board of Directors of the Hartford Community Foundation. He is the current Chairperson of the Norflet Fund Cy Pres, a charitable organization created by a settlement in a lawsuit involving John Hancock for racial discrimination against African Americans in selling life insurance that will distribute approximately $16 million in grants to benefit African Americans in education, health, and post-Katrina relief. Additionally, his numerous publications have focused on civil and human rights, and he has participated in filing nearly a dozen briefs in the Supreme Court.
Contact the Office of Continuing Education at 412-924-1345 or for information.
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a graduate professional institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Founded in 1794, the Seminary is located in Pittsburgh, Pa. and more than 300 students are enrolled yearly in the degree programs. The Seminary prepares leaders who proclaim with great joy God’s message of good news in both word and deed. PTS is rooted in the Reformed history of faithfulness to Scripture and commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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