activism

23Jun

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Activism In Students Sparked By Critical Race Theory

Jerusha Osberg Conner, Villanova University Critical race theory – an academic framework that holds that racism is embedded in society – has become the subject of an intense debate about how issues of race should or shouldn’t be taught in schools. Largely missing in the debate is evidence of how exposure to critical race theory actually affects students. As a researcher who specializes in youth activism, I have conducted research on and with youth organizing groups in which critical race theory is a core component of the political education. Eighty-two percent of youth organizing groups regularly offer political education, which involves a critical examination of social issues, usually through workshops and group discussions. My research – along with that of other scholars – points to ...

Black Writers And Journalists Have Wielded Punctuation In Their Activism – Here’s How

2Apr

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Black Writers And Journalists Have Wielded Punctuation In Their Activism – Here’s How

Eurie Dahn, The College of Saint Rose Using punctuation and capitalization as a form of protest doesn’t exactly scream radicalism. But in debates over racial justice, punctuation can carry a lot of weight. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, mainstream news organizations grappled with whether to capitalize the first letter of “black” when referring to Black people. Of course, writing “Black” was already common practice in activist circles. Eventually The Associated Press, The New York Times, USA Today and many other outlets declared that they, too, would capitalize that first letter. It turns out the push to capitalize “black” is only the most recent way Black writers and activists have pushed back against entrenched power through ostensibly bland elements of writing. As I...

John Lewis traded the typical college experience for activism, arrests and jail cells

24Jul

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EDUCATION

John Lewis traded the typical college experience for activism, arrests and jail cells

As an 18-year-old student attending a training session for activists at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, John Lewis stuttered and struggled to read. A visiting professor mocked his stammered speech and “poor reading skills” and dismissed Lewis’ potential as a “suitable leader” for the burgeoning movement. Famed activist and organizer Septima Clark rose to his defense and her support of Lewis paid off. The unassuming teenager from the backwoods of Troy, Alabama, became a giant of the Black freedom struggle and, ultimately, would go on to serve more than three decades in Congress. He died on July 17. Enthralled by ‘Social Gospel’ Lewis enrolled in American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, mainly because it charged no tuition, but also due to the prof...

Making the Gun Violence Epidemic Visible Through Art and Activism

4Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS

Making the Gun Violence Epidemic Visible Through Art and Activism

Two art projects explore the impact of gun violence, with a focus on mass shootings and police brutality. Leslie Lee calls herself an “artivist.” It’s a word combining art and activism, rooted in community and Latinx art from the late 1990s, but Lee says she was doing this work before it had a name. “I have always been interested in metaphor and content that addressed various social issues,” she says. A 71-year-old grandmother, Lee has made art professionally as a sculptor and painter for more than 50 years, and she says she’s developed the “tenacity required for large-scale projects.” In response to the October 2017 shooting deaths of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Lee established The Soul Box Project in Portland, Oregon, where she lives. Th...

13Aug

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Lawyers Turn to Activism as Civil Liberties Come Under Attack

A new generation of social justice attorneys has risen to defend against the hard-line policies of the Trump administration, from immigration and abortion access to voting and gender rights. To train a new generation of lawyers to fight for the rights of immigrants after the 2016 elections, Claire Thomas started an asylum clinic at the New York City law school where she taught. In Seattle, Michelle Mentzer retired five years early as an administrative law judge so she could volunteer as an attorney with the ACLU. And in Texas, Anna Castro traded her full-time job for contract work so she could prepare to attend law school to better serve her community. The country is seeing a wave of legal activism as attorneys and attorneys-to-be have risen to defend civil liberties from the polic...