An Examination of the Rights of Children

The Schomburg Center to host forum analyzing the evolution and necessity of children’s rights

The Children’s Studies Fourth Child Policy Forum of New York, The Human Rights of Children: On the 55th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the 20th Anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, will unveil aspects of the history of Brown v. the Board of Education and show how the landmark Supreme Court decision established the basis for substantive constitutional rights for American children.

In connection with the 20th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the chairpersons of the New York State Assembly and Senate Committees on Children and Families, and the current sponsor of the bill for a New York Office of the Child Advocate, will discuss pressing child welfare issues. Legislators are expected to articulate a plan of action for New York State.

Previous forums and initiatives have explored the human rights perspective on the rights of the child, and have resulted in positive change for children and young people with the initiation of legislation for an independent Office of the Child Advocate for New York, the establishment of a Child Rights Working Group of New York, and the creation of legislation to address U.S. treaty obligations regarding the UNCRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

The fourth forum is cosponsored by the Brooklyn College Children’s Studies Center, CUNY and the New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Opening remarks will be made by Dennis M. Walcott, Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development. Participants include Owen M. Fiss, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale University; Howard Davidson, J.D., executive director, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law; New York State Assemblyman William A. Scarborough, chairperson of the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families; New York State Assemblywoman Barbara M. Clark; and New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, chairperson of the NYS Senate Committee on Children and Families.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 14, 2009, 1–4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in New York City. Admission is free. To RSVP, please call 718.961.3192.