Detroit native and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will be the keynote speaker at the annual dinner of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, at The Marygrove Conservancy. The dinner will be held in Madame Cadillac Building on the Marygrove campus, located at 8425 W. McNichols in the City of Detroit.
Ellison was born in Detroit and graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Wayne State University. Prior to his election as Minnesota attorney general in 2018, he served for 12 years representing the state's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House and four years in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
He was the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, the first African American representative from Minnesota and served as deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017-2018.
Ellison, who also led the prosecution team that won the conviction of ex-officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, has announced that he will seek a second term as Minnesota Attorney General. Prior to entering elective office, he spent 16 years as an attorney specializing in civil rights and defense law, including five years as executive director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis.
At the dinner, the Coalition will also recognize two individuals and two organizations for their involvement and leadership with civil rights and social justice activism:
• Special Lifetime Achievement Award Dorothy Dewberry Aldridge
• Community Activism Award Yusef Shakur
• Criminal Justice Activism Award Michigan Liberation
• Organization Activism Award Detroit Will Breathe
To purchase individual tickets, tables and related sponsorships, visit MCHR.org. For additional information contact MCHR Executive Director Chantelle Yancy at mchrannualdinner@gmail.com.
