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Human Rights in Focus: Working Toward a More Just Future

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

The Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights and the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System invite you to join them in celebrating 76 years of human rights! Panelists, leaders in local, national, and international human rights spaces, will discuss the human rights progress that’s been made and the work still left to do.

This event honors December 10th’s 76th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. To read more about the Declaration, click here.

About the Panelists:

Karen Cook Bell is Professor of History at Bowie State University.   She is the University System of Maryland Wilson H. Elkins Endowed Professor.  Her areas of specialization include slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and women’s history. Her scholarship has appeared in the Journal of African American History; the Journal of Women’s History; Georgia Historical Quarterly; Passport; The Civil War and the Summer of 2020 (2024); Women in Exile in Early Modern Europe and the Americas (2024); Slavery and Freedom in Savannah (2014); Converging Identities: Blackness in the Contemporary Diaspora (2013); Before Obama: A Reappraisal of Black Reconstruction Era Politicians (2012); and U.S. West-Africa: Interaction and Relations (2008). She is the author of Claiming Freedom: Race, Kinship, and Land in Nineteenth Century Georgia (University of South Carolina Press, 2018), which won the Georgia Board of Regents Excellence in Research Award; and Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America, which is published with Cambridge University Press. Running From Bondage received the Best Book Award from the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society; the Letitia Woods Brown Honorable Mention Award from the Association of Black Women Historians; and was a finalist for the Pauli Murray Prize for Best Book in African American Intellectual History from the African American Intellectual History Society.  She is editor of Southern Black Women’s Struggle for Freedom during the Civil War and Reconstruction (Cambridge University Press, 2024);  co-editor of the Broadview edition of Twelve Years a Slave; and general editor of the “Cambridge History of Black Women in the United States.”  Dr. Cook Bell is also the editor of the Cambridge Studies on Black Women in US History Book Series published by Cambridge University Press.  She is an AAUW Alumnae.

 
Cleveland L. Horton II was appointed as the Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights in September 2024, bringing a wealth of experience and a steadfast commitment to civil rights advocacy. With an impressive tenure as a Maryland State employee, Mr. Horton has consistently demonstrated his dedication to safeguarding the rights of all Marylanders. A graduate of The Community College of Baltimore County with an Associate of Arts in Business Administration, specializing in Human Resources Management, Mr. Horton went on to earn both a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Human Resources Management from the University of Baltimore.
Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Horton has championed the causes of equality and justice, striving to foster a more inclusive and equitable society. His deep understanding of state policies and procedures, along with his passion for social justice, positions him as a strong leader for the Commission in this critical era.

Mr. Horton is known for his collaborative leadership style, working effectively with stakeholders across diverse backgrounds to foster partnerships and drive positive change. His approach, rooted in integrity, empathy, and a tireless commitment to fairness, ensures that the Commission will continue to advance its mission of ensuring equal access to opportunities and upholding the dignity of every Marylander. As Executive Director, Mr. Horton remains committed to building on the Commission’s legacy of success, implementing forward-thinking strategies to address emerging civil rights challenges, and serving as a beacon of hope and progress for the citizens of Maryland. Under his leadership, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights will continue to stand as a champion of civil liberties and a catalyst for positive social change.

 
Jennifer Li Dotson 李麗玲 (she/her) is a software developer that facilitates free access to AI powered fundraising technology generating digital revenue for more than 3000 nonprofit organizations around the globe for Fundraise Up. Dotson currently serves with the US Commission for Civil Rights, Committee on the Status of Women and the Committee on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs. She has previously led philanthropy teams at the National Kidney Foundation, American Red Cross, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She holds a BSc from Georgetown University and MSc from the London School of Economics. Her favorite way to unplug is volunteering with her daughter's Girl Scout troop and coaching her son's soccer team or hiking Pacific Northwest trails with her rescue husky.

 
 
Judge Sean D. Wallace is President of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal.  He was elected to the Dispute Tribunal by the UN General Assembly in 2022, with 190 nations each casting a vote, and is the first American to have been elected as a full-time judge of the Tribunal.  His peers elected Judge Wallace president effective 1 June 2024.   He is based in Nairobi, Kenya, at the UN headquarters in Africa.

Judge Wallace previously served 21 years as a judge in the Maryland Circuit Court.  During that time, he was president of the American College of Business Court Judges, president of the Maryland Circuit Judges Association, and Chair of the Maryland Judiciary’s Complex Litigation Committee.  Judge Wallace was also active in training lawyers and judges from across the country and the globe.

Prior to assuming the bench, Judge Wallace practiced law for 17 years, both in private and government practice including several years as Prince George’s County Attorney.  He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Maryland School of Law, and the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executives in Government program.

Judge Wallace has been awarded the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award and the Caritas Service Award from Catholic Charities of Washington D.C.  In 2015, the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland recognized him for his “commitment to diversity and to the advancement of women and minorities.”