The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the nation’s most renowned civil rights leaders, will join former New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly, for a conversation on policing, gun violence and civil rights at the University of Florida on Nov. 17.
Sharpton has worked to challenge America’s political establishment to include people of all races, genders, socio-economic statuses and beliefs. He is the founder of the National Action Network, one of the most active social justice groups in the nation. Under Reverend Sharpton’s leadership, the organization has focused on issues such as immigration, gun violence and seeking justice in instances such as the Trayvon Martin case. President Barack Obama has praised Sharpton as “the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden.”
Kelly has dedicated more than 50 years to public service and is one of the most well-known and highly esteemed leaders in law enforcement. As the longest-serving commissioner of the NYPD, he led one of the world’s largest and most respected police departments in the post-9/11 era. Kelly has additionally served as the Undersecretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department, the Vice President of Interpol and the Director of the International Police Monitors in Haiti. Kelly retired from the US Marine Corps Reserves after 30 years of service including a combat tour in Vietnam. Commissioner Kelly holds a BBA from Manhattan College, a JD from St. John's University School of Law, an LLM from New York University Graduate School of Law, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is the recipient of several honorary degrees. Kelly opens up about his life in law enforcement and his fight against international terrorism in his best selling memoir, “Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting its Empire City,” released in September by Hachette Book Group.
The event will be moderated by Professor Katheryn Russell-Brown. At the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, Professor Russell-Brown serves as the director of the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations and the assistant director of the Criminal Justice Center.
