About Jaribu
JARIBU HILL is the founder and executive director of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights. She is a human rights attorney and a veteran community organizer. Hill is also an international human rights spokesperson and a frequent writer and commentator on human rights themes.
Jaribu has served as keynote speaker and cultural presenter at numerous international convenings, including the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and the 1998 Human Rights Defenders’ Summit in Paris, France, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR.
At the Front Line Conference in Nantes, France, in June 2007, Hill was the featured cultural artist where she presented a musical and spoken word tribute to Rosa Parks, for whom the event was dedicated.
Hill was resident poet and legal observer for the 2000 Women in War Crimes Tribunal in Tokyo, Japan. For this occasion, she penned the acclaimed poem: “Haunting Mirrors,” which was made part of the Tribunal’s final judgment.
Recently, Jaribu was a principal commentator during the acclaimed documentary: Murder in Black and White, which aired on TV One cable. Jaribu is the coauthor of The Black College Guide and Knowledge is Power—A Know Your Rights Manual.
Jaribu is the first alum to receive the Dean’s Medal from CUNNY Law School and is featured in a special issue of the law school’s magazine as one of the 25 most notable graduates.
Jaribu is the founding convener of the Southern Human Rights Conference. She is the founder of the Fannie Lou Hamer Roundtable and the Mississippi Project. After Katrina, Jaribu and the Workers’ Center established the Southern Relief Fund/Witness Delegation to provide support for victims of Katrina. As former director of the Southern Regional Office of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Hill won an important judgment against the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
Hill’s scholarly works are featured in numerous publications including: Black Scholar, National Black Law Journal, Southern University Law Review, Associated Trial Lawyers of America Faculty Series, and Harvard Law School Civil Rights Journal.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the coveted “Gloria” Award and the R. Jess Brown Award (the highest award given to a lawyer by Mississippi’s Magnolia Bar Association).
Jaribu also is a singer, composer, and recording artist and is currently working on a book of original poems to be published in 2009. She is a former member of the renowned singing duo “Serious Bizness” and released her first solo CD in 2001.
Workers’ Rights Are Human Rights
