Page 20 - Human Rights Program 2025 Annual Report

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FROM GLOBAL STANDARDS TO LOCAL
JUSTICE: 60 YEARS IN THE STRUGGLE
AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND
POLICE VIOLENCE
The Scallen Lecture with Collette Flanagan, founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality
2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination (CERD), one of the oldest UN human rights conventions targeting
oppression and discrimination. This year also marks five years since the murder of George Floyd
at the hands of Minneapolis police. Over the past 60 years, the civil rights movement in the
United States and anti-racist movements around the world have secured landmark gains. At the
same time, systemic racism and deep racial inequalities persist, including the epidemic of law
enforcement violence in the United States.
In February, HRP hosted two events
honoring the movement against racism and
police violence and reflecting upon today’s
challenges. The series began with a
screening of the 2024 documentary film
MAMA!
MAMA!, by director Sofia Drai. The
documentary follows three Minnesotan
mothers– Amity Dimock, Katie Wright, and
Del Shea Perry– in their pursuit of justice for
their fallen sons. Following the screening,
Dimock, Wright, and Jason Heisler, the
father of Kobie Dimock-Heisler, joined a
panel discussion, followed by an audience
Q&A. The event was a powerful evening of
reflecting on the sobering realities of law
enforcement violence in Minnesota, while
honoring the advocacy of the mothers.
Panel discussion at the MAMA! documentary screening