The 2018 Annual Jacoby-Lunin Lecture, “Khizr Khan: Defending ‘Human Dignities’” is presented by the Open VISIONS Forum in collaboration with the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies.
Khizr Khan will be at the Quick Center on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 8 p.m. to share his profoundly moving and edifying call to ensure that the U.S. remains a bulwark for humanitarian principles. Khan received global attention for his stunning moment at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in which he flashed a $1 pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution and powerfully championed the Bill of Rights.
A Harvard-trained lawyer and activist, Khan passionately defends the humanitarian protections, dignities, and liberties the Constitution affords all Americans. “I don’t call these the ‘Bill of Rights and amendments to the Constitution,’ I call them ‘human dignities’ that we all cherish, that we all aspire to have in our life,” Khan said. “Mankind has come to a point where we have to look at each other with equal dignity.”
Khan moved to the United States from Pakistan with his wife Ghazala in 1980. They became American citizens and raised their three sons in Silver Spring, Maryland. Their middle son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in 2004 while stopping a suicide attack near Baqubah, Iraq, and was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
In 2017, Khan’s book, An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice, was published. It chronicles his family’s immigration to the United States and their pursuit of the American Dream. The New York Times Book Review called his memoir “Moving... a story about family and faith, told with a poet’s sensibility... Khizr Khan’s book can teach all of us what real American patriotism looks like.”
A Gold Star father, Khan’s legal practice focuses on U.S. and cross-border electronic discovery, health privacy compliance, and civil rights and veterans’ rights advocacy. He is also the founder of a pro bono project established in 2010 to provide legal services for veterans, members of the military and law enforcement, and their families.
“Khizr Khan: Defending ‘Human Dignities’” is made possible through the generosity of the Frank Jacoby Foundation of Bridgeport. Additional sponsors include Delamar of Southport, Delamar Spa, TV Eyes, Moffly Media, and supporters of the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at ¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp. Tickets are $35 and Quick Members are $27. For more information or to reserve your seat, visit or call the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.
