Join the Center for Racial Justice in welcoming Airea D. Matthews, acclaimed poet, educator, and Ford School alumna, to discuss her latest work Bread and Circus, a memoir-in-verse that combines poetry, prose, and imagery to explore the realities of economic necessity, marginal poverty, and commodification, through a personal lens.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
STPP Lecture Series
Join for a conversation with former New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio. In conversation with STPP Director Professor Shobita Parthasarathy, the discussion will explore how urban tech is shaping social policy in “smart cities” like New York and beyond. How can we ensure that emerging technology serves the public interest, and what role can local, state, national, and even international policy play?
Join the Center for Racial Justice in welcoming Dr. Kris Marsh, author and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, to discuss her latest book The Love Jones Cohort: Single and Living Alone in the Black Middle Class.
Join the Center for Racial Justice on Tuesday, September 26 for our Open House! Get acquainted with the upcoming initiatives CRJ has prepared for the academic year, and join us in extending a warm welcome to our AY 23-24 Visiting and Postdoctoral Fellows!
Join Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes with Drs. Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Erica Lorraine Williams for a special book launch event at Spelman College.
On Thursday, March 30 at 4pm, the Center for Racial Justice invites you to attend our CRJ Visiting Fellows Spring Showcase featuring the work of our inaugural cohort of visiting fellows: sociologist and legal scholar, Dr. Atinuke (Tinu) Adediran; freelance journalist, Makeda Easter; and writer and filmmaker, Julian Brave NoiseCat. Fellows will present their racial justice catalyst projects to the U-M community, followed by remarks from U-M community members: Vikramaditya S. Khanna (U-M Law), Srimoyee Mitra (U-M Stamps), and Forrest Cox (BA '13 and U-M Ross). A post-event reception will be held in the Rebecca M. Blank Great Hall. Please register here!
Join us as we welcome Dr. Ruha Benjamin to campus to discuss her newest book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want. In this talk, Dr. Benjamin draws on the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and introduces a micro-vision of change—a way of looking at the everyday ways people are working to combat unjust systems and build alternatives to the oppressive status quo.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on creative practices for authentic community building with Holly Bass, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this workshop, we will explore the differences between activism, organizing, and culture shift work. We will explore how to build authentic relationships with those most affected by potential policy changes and those in the best position to bring about legal and social change. We will also explore how creativity and joy can guide our social justice work as individuals and collectives.
Join Dr. Abdul El-Sayed - physician, epidemiologist, and newly appointed Director of the Wayne County Health, Human & Veterans Services Department, and a Ford School Towsley Policymaker in Residence - for a conversation with policymakers at the intersection of social justice and environmental concerns. Dr. El-Sayed will be joined by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Michigan Senator Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW '14) to reflect on their work to address environmental injustice in Michigan and beyond, and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on changemaking from the inside with Gabrielle Wyatt, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this virtual workshop, we will collectively visit frameworks and strategies for affecting change as institutional insiders. Specifically, we will discuss strategies for building and sustaining multi-generational change by exploring power, structural change, and leadership.
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on decolonizing development with Farah Mahesri, part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners. In this interactive 3-hour session, we will collectively explore what a decolonized space or a decolonized approach for global development actually look like. How can we structure our organizations and our programs to draw to center more liberatory practices and help us radically re-imagine global development?
Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on racial equity impact assessment with Niketa Brar (MPP '15), part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners.
Diversifying the teaching force could be a key step to closing student achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. In their book, Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom, Seth Gershenson, Brookings Senior Fellow Michael Hansen, and Constance Lindsay present nuanced policy recommendations to increase teacher diversity in classrooms and promote more inclusive schools.
The Center for Racial Justice proudly welcomes Angela Harrelson to the Ford School and the University of Michigan for the Masterclass in Activism. Angela Harrelson is the aunt of George Floyd, as well as the author of Lift Your Voice.
University of Michigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
Wallace House presents educator and writer for The New York Times Magazine, Linda Villarosa, as she examines racial health disparities in America and the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation.
Watch Party: Weill Hall
Betty Ford Auditorium (Room 1110)
The Center for Racial Justice, Ford School, and Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity present Bianca Wilson, in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes on LGBTQ rights.
The University of Michigan in partnership with the Ann Arbor Branch of the NAACP will host the 2nd annual Juneteenth Symposium. The 2022 theme is "Celebrate, Educate, Inspire."
Fordies: Join Students of Color in Public Policy and the Center for Racial Justice for an end-of-year celebration honoring and celebrating our graduates of all degree levels.
Join Northwestern University's Science in Human Culture Program for the Klopsteg Lecture, delivered by Shobita Parthasarathy, a professor of public policy and women's studies at the Ford School.
In conversation with Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Professor Roberts will share more on her new book Torn Apart, and her belief that the only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities.
Gay McDougall and Jamil Dakwar will join Professor John Ciorciari in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race shaping public policy in the global context.
Reginald M. Turner (JD '87) will visit the Ford School to share more on his leadership at the ABA, and his work on some of its most pressing issues like access to legal services, judicial reform, election integrity, and the eviction crisis.
Dr. Robert Fatoon Jr. and Dr. Millery Polyné will join Professor John Ciorciari in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race shaping public policy in the global context.
Public Policy and Institutional Discrimination Series
The series, open to U-M students, faculty, and staff, is designed to foster dialogue on important issues of U.S. public policy. Facilitated by faculty discussant Joshua Basseches, this session focuses on policy within and beyond environmental justice as it intersects with issues of social justice.
Dr. Kelebogile Zvobgo will join Professor John Ciorciari in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race shaping public policy in the global context.
Harry K. Thomas, Jr.—served as U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2016-2018), the Philippines (2010-2013) and Bangladesh (2003-2005) and is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a senior strategic engagement leader at Special Operations Command—will join Professor John Ciorciari in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race shaping public policy in the global context.
Dr. Brenda Plummer will join Professor John Ciorciari in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race shaping public policy in the global context.
