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Green & Gold Speaker Archive
The Green and Gold Speaker Series features scholars, artists, writers, and thought leaders whose work resonates with a number of communities across the campus.
We invite you to explore our archive of past featured speakers to learn more about various topics aligned with diversity, social justice, equity, and becoming a more inclusive campus.
Environmental Justice
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is a renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator. Ali uses a holistic approach to revitalizing vulnerable communities and has worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice.
Reparatory Justice
February 6, 2023
Shirley N. Weber is California’s first Black Secretary of State and only the fifth African American to serve as a state constitutional officer in California’s 170-year history. In 2020, as a member of the California State Assembly, Weber authored AB 3121, which established a nine-person Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States.
Tribal Justice
November 15, 2022
Chief Judge Abby Abinanti is an enrolled member of the Yurok tribe and first CaliforniaTribal woman to be admitted to the California bar. Since 2007, she has served as Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribal Court where she has been instrumental in developing the Yurok Children's Code, the Yurok Family Code, and the Judicial Ordinances.
Chief Judge Victorio Shaw is an Indian Child Welfare Act specialist who also works for the protection of Indian children at the Indian Child and Family Preservation Program. He is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and is a descendant of Karuk, Yurok and Apache Mescalero people. As the longest tenured member on the Board of Trustees of California Indian Legal Services (C.I.L.S.), he has helped many families create and preserve healthy family structures.
Disability Justice
September 12, 2022
Haben Girma returned to Sac State as the first featured speaker for the 2022-23 Green & Gold series. As the first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Girma advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities in higher education and beyond. Haben has received global accolades and many honors such as White House Champion of Change, the Helen Keller Achievement Award, and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her disability justice work. Her best-selling book, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, was the 2022 -23 One Book
Zaylore Stout
April 11, 2022
Employment attorney focusing on sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and author of Our Gay History in 50 States. 
Zach Norris
October 19, 2021
Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Human Rights Activist, Criminal Justice and Community Empowerment Advocate, and author of Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment.
Haben Girma
February 25, 2020
Disability rights advocate, first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law, and author of Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard.
No recording available
Matika Wilbur
November 5, 2019
Creator of Project 562, a multi-year national photography project to document 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States.
Dr. Nazia Kazi
September 17, 2019
Assistant Professor and author of Islamaphobia, Race, and Global Politics.
Dr. Bettina Love
February 18, 2019
Associate Professor, Hip Hop scholar and author of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom
Zahira Kelly
2018 Event was cancelled due to air-quality related campus closure.
Social media influencer and commentator on AfroLatinx identity and Anti-Blackness in Latinx communities.
Alicia Garza
September 18, 2018
Co-founder of Back Lives Matter
Gabby Rivera
April 19, 2018
Author of YA novel Juliet Takes a Breath and writer for MARVEL's America series featuring their first queer Latina superhero.
No recording available
Dr. A.D. Carson
February 12, 2018
Assistant Professor of Hip Hop and the Global South at University of Virginia in Charlotesville - submitted a 34-track rap album as his dissertation.
No recording available
Dr. Miguel Gallardo
September 22, 2017
Psychologist, Professor, and author of Developing Cultural Humility: Embracing Race, Privilege, and Power
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