My wow experience...

Yesterday I went to this Rebellious Lawyering conference at Yale Law School. I went looking for something that would help me remember why I want to become a lawyer. It has been a difficult school year, reading cases about rich people and their ridiculous arguments which cost lots of money to them and our justice system. How does it further our democratic process by allowing one rich person to have 20 lawyers to sue his best friend for calling him an idiot, while 80 percent of the population who have real legal issues of housing discrimination and violence against them get no legal representation. They are shut out of our system - just like Karl Llewellyn said in the Bramble Bush

The first speaking event was about whistle blowers in the US government and how we need them to support our democratic process. It was nice to listen to people fighting for protection of our values and not trying to make a buck like other lawyers. But what they said about our biased media destroying our democracy and turning us away from the idea of freedom of speech - well I already knew all that.

The last speaking event I went to was about human trafficking and immigration policy. There were 3 speakers. One was a law professor, and I vomited a little in my mouth. I already f-ing spend 5 days a week listening to law professors. And, just as suspected, his speech was void of passion, enthusiasm, and optimism. The speech was completely self-serving and half-assed. Another speaker was a practicing attorney, and her speech was informative, but lacking empathy for the human lives she was talking about. So I sat through these annoyances and thought of my own ideas on immigration policy. Finally, there was a speaker from the U.N. - he was amazing. Some of the statements he made were profound and so right on! He said "democracies don't build fences, totalitarian governments do..." I loved it. I love the UN even more than I did before. His English was perfect but he didn't pronounce some words in an American accent so the law professor rolled his eyes. Prick.

Ok, last but certainly not least is the speaking event i went to on anarchist lawyering. I was in utter shock and amazement over the message of the speech. I came looking for something at that conference and i found it at the anarchist lawyer speech. The attorney was everything I wanted to be and everything I wanted to do. She was a living breathing example of possibility for me. It is possible to make it through law school without being transformed into a corporate loving, war mongering, greedy, soulless shell of a human being. It is possible to use your legal education to affect change and do what you love. It is possible to survive financially and not have to sell out by crossing over to the other side of the picket line. I love her! I almost started crying from this hour of validation and inspiration I received. I did cry later. It was the same kind of choked up I get when I know I am on the path I was meant to be on and I get shivers. So I emerged from Yale Law School with a new found commitment and resolve...