Annual Report
Kevin R. Johnson
The Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies had an active year of programming. Besides the Critical Perspectives on First-Year Classes sessions, we (1) sponsored the Racial Justice Speaker Series, (2) co-sponsored the annual Immigration and Nationality Law Review conference, a program on Jewish and African American civil rights coalitions initiated by campus Inclusive Excellence, the Black Law Students Association conference, and numerous public interest events, and (3) awarded the Angela Harris Prize for student Critical Race Theory scholarship. I, along with Professor Raquel Aldana, continued Aoki Center work co-editing the Critical Race Theory book series for the University of California Press.
National developments provided grist for the many programs and speakers. Thanks to all in our community who supported communities, people in jeopardy, and the Aoki Center. We look forward to building community and raising awareness in the 2026-27 academic year.
The mission of the Aoki Center is to honor the memory of Professor Keith Aoki by fostering multi-disciplinary scholarship and practice that critically examine the law through the lens of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, citizenship, and class. By integrating the scholarship of the King Hall faculty with the research of academics in other departments and schools across the UC Davis campus and by connecting critical race theory to the world of practice and policy, the Aoki Center seeks to deepen our understanding of issues that have a significant impact on our culture and society. Inaugurated by faculty, staff, and students in the wake of Aoki’s untimely death in 2011, the Center was established to reflect Keith’s distinguished scholarship but also to remember his passion for art, music, advocacy, whimsy, and pure fun.
Racial Justice Speaker Series
Created in response to the tragic killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others and the widespread protests that followed, UC Davis Law’s Racial Justice Speaker Series returned this year. Reaffirming the law school’s commitment to racial justice, the series invites leading scholars from around the country to explore systemic racism as it pertains to all communities of color and areas of law. The goals are to inform, enlighten, and — most important — engage in meaningful conversation with our King Hall community and the larger public.
2025–26 RACIAL JUSTICE SPEAKERS
King Hall Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin, “Back to Dred Scott? Or Not? Birthright Citizenship and the President’s Executive Order,” Aug. 27
King Hall Professor Emerita Angela Harris, “Racial Capitalism and the Law,” Oct. 9
King Hall Professor Brian Soucek, “DEI: A Eulogy?,” Feb. 23
McGeorge Professor Ederlina Co, “Seeing Through Blind Spots: Lessons in Intersectionality from the Suffrage Movement for Abortion Rights and Justice,” March 17
UC Santa Barbara Professor Miroslava Chávez-García, “Architect of Hate: Garrett Hardin and the Rise of Eco-fascism in Modern America,” April 8
Pictured top Jack Chin, upper left Kevin Johnson and Miroslava Chávez-García, bottom left Kevin Johnson, Ederlina Co, and Raquel Aldana.
Critical Perspectives on First-Year Classes
Critical Perspectives talks have a twofold purpose: First, to expose 1L students to critical perspectives that often do not make it onto the syllabus of regular first-year classes and connect students to the concerns and perspectives that brought them to law school in the first place. Second, to connect King Hall students more closely with our extraordinary faculty in areas of their expertise, such as race, immigration, gender, and sexuality. Through these talks, interested students can learn more about the cutting edge of legal scholarship in these fields and develop a better understanding of faculty research projects.
2025–26 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES SPEAKERS
Professor Leticia Saucedo, “Torts,” Sept. 9
Professor Brian Soucek, “Civil Procedure,” Sept. 16
Professor John Hunt, “Contracts,”
Sept. 23
Professor Vikram Amar, “Constitutional Law,” Feb. 18
Professor Karrigan Börk, “Property,” Feb. 24
Professor Jack Chin, “Criminal Law,” March 10
Pictured Karrigan Börk.
Aoki Center Speakers and Panels
“The Impact of Contemporary Immigration Enforcement on Immigrant Communities,” (left) at King Hall on Oct. 29, featured Aidín Castillo Mazantini ’11, Executive Director of the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center; Professor Amagda Perez ’91, Co-Director of the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic and Executive Director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation; Giselle Garcia ’23, former Aoki Center fellow and Programs Director at NorCal Resist; and Professor Raquel Aldana, former UC Davis Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity and former Aoki Center Co-Director.
Professor Amy Motlagh (left) visited King Hall on March 18 to discuss her new book, Colorblind: Racial Thinking and Cultural Production in Modern Iran and the Diaspora. Professor Motlagh teaches Comparative Literature and Middle East/South Asia Studies at UC Davis and is the inaugural Bita Daryabari Presidential Chair in Persian Language and Literature.
Co-sponsored Events
“Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” a joint symposium of the Black Law Students Association and the Social Justice Law Review, Feb. 27. Pictured below, top left: BLSA President Jaleel Baker ’27, Professor Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe, Dr. Erin Kerrison, and Adanté Pointer.
“Public Interest Community Building” lunch, March 12. Co-sponsored with several King Hall organizations. Pictured below, bottom left: Professors Nila Bala, Kelly Behre, Courtney Joslin, and Clarisa Sudarma.
“Abolition: Theory and Practice,” a conversation with Professor Nila Bala and Tracie Olson, the first female Chief Public Defender of Yolo County and current President of the California Public Defender’s Association, April 1. Co-sponsored with the Women of Color Collective and King Hall Defenders.
“Understanding Immigration Law: Authors Discuss the Fourth Edition,” LaLSA’s culture week event, April 2. Professors Raquel Aldana and Kevin R. Johnson (pictured below, bottom right) discussed the edition they recently co-authored with Professors Bill Ong Hing, Leticia M. Saucedo, and Enid Trucios-Haynes. The Immigration Law Association also co-sponsored.
“Community Resistance: Immigration Law in the Face of Mass Deportation & Repression,” the Immigration & Nationality Law Review Volume 46 Symposium, April 17. Pictured below, top right: Soni Chaturvedi ’25, Shaina Aber, Nancy Hormachea, Anusha Entezari ’27, Sara Jahangiri ’27, Chloe Dillon, Professor Kevin R. Johnson, Aidin Castillo Mazantini ’11, and Raha Jorjani.
“Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance,” April 24. Co-sponsored with UC Davis Inclusive Excellence and several other organizations.
The Center will also once again co-sponsor the Ethnic Studies Youth Organizing and Leadership Opportunity (YOLO) Summer Academy, June 24-26, 2026.
Angela Harris Prize for Critical Race Scholarship
Cesar A. Ledesma ’26 won the 2026 Harris Prize for writing “Conditional Belonging: Modern Immigration Enforcement in Public Institutions Is Leading to the ‘Social Death’ of U.S.-Citizen Children in Mixed-Status Families.” Ricardo Martinez ’27 won honorable mention for “Accountability Post Trumpism: A Constitutional Model for a Justice-First Truth Commission.”
Professors Raquel Aldana and Kevin R. Johnson presented the awards to Cesar A. Ledesma (left) and Ricardo Martinez (right) at the Public Service Graduation on April 22.
News Updates
Professor Kevin R. Johnson Moderates Talk with Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Professor Johnson had the extraordinary honor of moderating a discussion with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at UCLA School of Law on Feb. 6. “In gracious fashion, with wit and wisdom, Justice Sotomayor inspired law students, judges, and attorneys,” he observed.
Aoki Center and Coalition of Scholars File Amicus Brief in Birthright Citizenship Case
The Aoki Center and a coalition of constitutional, civil rights, and other scholars led by Professor Evelyn M. Rangel-Medina filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara on Feb. 25.
Aoki Center Sponsors Reparations Commission Interviews
The Aoki Center is sponsoring a series of online interviews with members of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. Donald K. Tamaki and Dr. Cheryl Grills spoke to Jenny Feng ’26, Nia Dumas ’27, and Professors Kevin Johnson and Jack Chin.
UC Davis Law Ranks No. 6 for Social Justice
The National Jurist’s preLaw News has ranked UC Davis Law No. 6 on its list of “top law schools for social justice” based on “how social justice is embedded across legal education, from classroom instruction and experiential learning to clinics, centers and career support.”
Professor Raquel Aldana Speaks on Immigration, Trauma, and Public Interest Law
Professor Raquel Aldana appeared on Beyond Borders: The Immigration Evaluation Podcast on April 21, highlighting research she and her co-authors recently published in the American Journal of Law and Medicine. In addition to publishing Understanding Immigration Law, Fourth Edition, with Professor Johnson (see above), and other works, Professor Aldana spoke on immigration, trauma, and public interest law at events from UC Davis to the University of Pennsylvania. She received the 2025 Chancellor’s Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the 2026 King Hall Latinx Law Student Association Faculty Award.
UC Davis Law Review Symposium Honors Professor Kevin R. Johnson
“Celebrating Dean Kevin R. Johnson: Honoring a Legacy of Transformative Scholarship and Leadership” convened scholars from across the United States, Oct. 31, 2025. Their articles will appear in Law Review's June 2026 issue. Law Review also interviewed Professor Johnson for “Legal Voices: Kevin R. Johnson on the Second Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies and Tactics." Professor Johnson was a visiting scholar at UCLA School of Law in fall 2025 and gave endowed lectures at St. Louis and Cincinnati Law Schools.
Professor Lisa Pruitt Speaks on Rural Justice
Professor Pruitt spoke at the Maine Law Review and Colby College conference, “Rural Legal Perspectives: Challenges and Opportunities,” on April 24. On March 17, she was a panelist at “Justice where every woman lives: isolated and rural areas included,” a Virtual Parallel Event, United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 70th Session, organized by Parallel Event, National Rural Women’s Coalition (Australia). This past semester, she spoke at Harvard, Michigan, and Vanderbilt Law Schools.
Professor Michael V. Singh Co-Edits Race Ethnicity and Education Issue
Aoki Center affiliate Professor Singh, from the Department of Chicana/o/x Studies, co-edited a special issue of the journal Race Ethnicity and Education titled “Critical Dialogues in Latinx Education.”
Affiliates
King Hall Faculty Affiliates
Professor Kevin R. Johnson, Director
Professor Raquel Aldana
Professor Nila Bala
Professor Karrigan Börk
Professor Andrea Cann Chandrasekher
Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin
Professor Stacy-Ann Elvy
Professor Emerita Mary Louise Frampton
Professor Emerita Angela Harris
Professor Lisa Ikemoto
Professor Irene Ortiseweyinmi Joe
Professor Thomas W. Joo
Professor Courtney G. Joslin
Professor Lisa Pruitt
Professor Leticia Saucedo
Professor Brian Soucek
Professor Aaron Tang
Professor Mary Ziegler
Campus Affiliates
Erica Kohl-Arenas, Director of Imagining America, Associate Professor of American Studies
Bruce Haynes, Professor of Sociology
Richard S. Kim, Professor of Asian American Studies
Beth Rose Middleton Manning, Professor and Designated Emphasis Chair, Native American Studies
Andrés Reséndez, Professor of History
Mindy Romero, Founder and Director of California Civic Engagement Project
Michael V. Singh, Assistant Professor, Chicana/o/x Studies
Lawrence Winn, Academic Administrator, Co-Director of Transformative Justice in Education Center
Organizational Affiliates
Race and Law Centers Network
Ethnic Studies YOLO Academy
Staff
Sue Walther Jones, Law Centers Associate Director
Jesus Barraza Garcia, Law Centers Program Coordinator
Explore our website to read our blog, find upcoming events, watch recordings, sign up for email updates, and give to the Aoki Center: law.ucdavis.edu/centers/aoki. We’re also on Facebook. Questions or ideas? Email us at [email protected].