Join us for a public screening of The United States of ALEC followed by a conversation with Lisa Graves, the Executive Director of Center for Media and Democracy and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and award-winning journalist Laura Washington. Mary H Schaafsma, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters; Alton Miller, former press secretary for Mayor Harold Washington and Associate Professor in the Marketing Communication department at Columbia College; and Marcela Hernandez, Outreach Organizer for the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, will also be joining us as respondents.

 

Brought to you by legendary journalist Bill Moyers, United States of ALEC reports on a political force most of us have never heard of: ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. Using interviews, documents and field reports, The United States of ALEC explores the role of this national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations in proposing and passing controversial legislation including voter suppression bills, “stand your ground” gun laws, and right to work legislation. What is ALEC and who is behind it? Should corporations have a voice and a vote?

 

More about our guest speakers:

 

Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, the publisher of PR Watch, SourceWatch, and BanksterUSA. She previously served as senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government, as a leading strategist on civil liberties advocacy, and as an adjunct law professor at one of the top law schools in the country.

Laura Washington is a nationally-known, Chicago-based journalist, author and educator specializing in African-American affairs and politics. She is a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a political analyst for ABC-7 television. Washington served as Publisher of The Chicago Reporter Magazine and as a Fellow at the DePaul University Humanities Center.

Marcela Hernandez, Outreach Organizer for the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition.

Alton Miller, Associate Professor in the Marketing Communication department and former press secretary for Mayor Harold Washington.

Mary H Schaafsma, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.