Former Black Panther Party leader to speak at VCU on social justice

By Brian McNeill

Elaine Brown, an activist, author and former leader of the Black Panther Party, will deliver a lecture at Virginia Commonwealth University on modern social justice.

Brown's talk, "Where Do We Go from Here? Social Justice in the New Millennium," will be held at 5 p.m. on March 5 at VCU's Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St. The event is free and open to the public.

Brown is the co-founder of the National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform, Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice and the nonprofit education organization Fields of Flowers. She is the author of "A Taste of Power" (1992) and "The Condemnation of Little B" (2002), as well as the forthcoming "Melba and Al, A Story of Black Love in Jim Crow America," and co-author of the forthcoming "For Reasons of Race and Belief, The Trials of Jamil Al-Amin."

Following the lecture, Brown will sign copies of her books.

Brown's lecture is part of Do2withVCU, a new VCU initiative to promote community engagement in Richmond. The intiative is a project of VCU's Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute.