Center for Racial Justice | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Departments and Research Centers

Center for Racial Justice

The Center for Racial Justice is an innovative and cross-disciplinary hub in which social/racial justice changemakers, scholars, and students work collaboratively to develop new tools and strategies in the pursuit of racial justice.

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Showing 121 - 150 of 229 results
Policy Talks @ the Ford School, Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series

Justice across generations: Reflections on race, law and family legacy

Nov 13, 2023, 4:00-5:30 pm EST
Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
Join the Ford School for a conversation with Michigan Supreme Court Justice, Kyra Harris Bolden, the first Black woman to serve on the state’s highest court. Laurel Beatty Blunt - a Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Ford School and a judge in Ohio's Tenth District Court of Appeals - will lead the conversation with Justice Bolden on her journey to the Michigan Supreme Court, and the intersection of race and the law in the past and present.
Watch live from this page
Justice Bolden portrait
Racial Foundations of Public Policy

Bread and Circus, a memoir-in-verse

Nov 9, 2023, 6:00-8:00 pm EST
Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium, Room 1120
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. 
a conversation and poetry reading with airea d matthews on november 9 2023

CommuniTea

Nov 7, 2023, 5:00-6:00 pm EST
Becky Blank Great Hall
Join your fellow Ford Students for CommuniTea! A student-led series of informal, bi-weekly gatherings held in Weill Hall, focusing on key topics of interest to our community
CommuniTea

CommuniTea

Oct 24, 2023, 5:00-6:00 pm EDT
Weill Hall, Room 3240
Join us for CommuniTea! A student-led series of informal, bi-weekly gatherings held in Weill Hall, focusing on key topics of interest to our community.
CommuniTea
Racial Foundations of Public Policy

The Love Jones Cohort: Single and Living Alone in the Black Middle Class

Oct 3, 2023, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT
Weill Hall, The Betty Ford Auditorium, Room 1110
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.
a conversation with dr. kris marsh on october 3, 2023 at 4pm in weill hall. there is a photo of dr. marsh, a Black woman with long black hair smiling and crossing her arms, she is promoting her new book the love jones cohort

Center for Racial Justice Open House

Sep 26, 2023, 5:30-8:30 pm EDT
Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium, Room 1120
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!
CRJ Open House promo image

CommuniTea

Sep 12, 2023, 5:00-6:00 pm EDT
Becky Blank Great Hall
We're excited to introduce CommuniTea, a student-led series of informal, bi-weekly gatherings held in Weill Hall, focusing on key topics of interest to our community. 
CommuniTea, a student-led series of informal, bi-weekly gatherings held in Weill Hall, focusing on key topics of interest to our community

Post-Affirmative Action ruling: Understanding the implications

Jul 6, 2023, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT
On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases about the consideration of race in college admissions, and on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, thereby striking down the Supreme Court's 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ruling. Join for this virtual event to hear from Mara Ostfeld - political scientist and Research Director of the Center for Racial Justice - and Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt -  10th District Court of Appeals Judge for the State of Ohio and Ford School Towsley Policymaker in Residence - on the legal, social, and political implications of the ruling.
Headshot Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt and Mara Ostfeld

CRJ Visiting Fellows Spring Showcase

Mar 30, 2023, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT
Annenberg Auditorium, Weill Hall
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!
Headshots of Atinuke Adediran, Makeda Easter, and Julian Brave NoiseCat

Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want

Mar 14, 2023, 11:30 am-1:00 pm EDT
Michigan Union (Rogel Ballroom)
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. 
ruha-benjamin-featured-viral-justice-1090x691

Activating joy with Holly Bass: Creative practices for authentic community building

Mar 9, 2023, 12:00-1:30 pm EST
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.
Holly Bass Racial Justice in Practice

Changemaking from the inside with Gabrielle Wyatt

Feb 23, 2023, 12:00-1:30 pm EST
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.
Gabrielle Wyatt Racial Justice in Practice

Farah Mahesri on decolonizing development

Feb 17, 2023, 1:00-4:00 pm EST
Weill Hall (Paul and Nancy O'Neill Classroom)
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?
Farah Mahesri Racial Justice in Practice
STPP Lecture Series

Indigenous DNA and data: Community approaches to equity in genomics and health

Feb 6, 2023, 4:00-5:30 pm EST
Weill Hall, Room 1110
Dr. Krystal Tsosie will describe community-engaged research and describe paths forward that center Indigenous people as the agents of access for their own genomic and health data. The future of Indigenous genomics is not mere inclusion but through recognition of Indigenous genomic and data sovereignty.
Krystal Tsosie, has long dark hair pulled over her right shoulder, she is wearing glasses, a purple shirt and turquoise necklace

Niketa Brar (MPP '15) on racial equity impact assessment

Feb 3, 2023, 9:00 am-12:00 pm EST
Annenberg Auditorium
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.  
Nikita Brar Racial Justice in Practice

Niketa Brar (MPP '15) on racial equity impact assessment

Feb 2, 2023, 11:30 am-1:30 pm EST
Annenberg Auditorium
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.  
Nikita Brar Racial Justice in Practice
EPI Speaker Series

Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom

Jan 24, 2023, 4:00-5:30 pm EST
1120 Weill Hall (Annenberg Auditorium)
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.   
EPI-Teacher-Diversity

Masterclass in Activism with Angela Harrelson

Jan 20, 2023, 4:00 pm EST
Rackham Amphitheatre
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. 
Photo of Angela Harrelson
Racial Foundations of Public Policy

Racial Foundations of Public Policy: Housing

Nov 10, 2022, 4:00-5:15 pm EST
Watch Party: Weill Hall Betty Ford Auditorium (Room 1110)
The Center for Racial Justice presents John N. Robinson III, in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes on housing.
John Robinson III

United States general election 2022

Nov 8, 2022, 7:00 am-8:00 pm EST
At your polling location or local clerk's office, or by absentee ballot
Key dates and deadlines for the November 8 election, plus how to register and vote.
Voting booths with Ford School votes written on top

Masterclass in Activism, fall 2022

Nov 3, 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT
Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium, Rm. 1120
The Masterclass in Activism is a Center for Racial Justice event series in which the center's director is in conversation with noted activists and thought leaders who have made significant marks on the policy landscape. 
bass-brar-wyatt-masterclass-nov2022-featured-1090x681

"Students for Fair Admissions" cases: Understanding the oral arguments

Nov 2, 2022, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT
Weill Hall, Room 1220
On October 31, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two companion cases on affirmative action: Students for Fair Admissions (S.F.F.A) v. Harvard and S.F.F.A. v. University of North Carolina. How will each side make its case? What arguments will the judges find most compelling? What questions will they ask?
Headshots of Ann Lin and Laurel Beatty Blunt
Racial Foundations of Public Policy

Racial Foundations of Public Policy: LGBTQ rights

Oct 27, 2022, 4:00-5:15 pm EDT
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.   
Bianca Wilson
Racial Foundations of Public Policy

Racial Foundations of Public Policy: Health policy

Oct 13, 2022, 4:00-5:15 pm EDT
Watch Party: Weill Hall Betty Ford Auditorium (Room 1110)
The Center for Racial Justice presents Steven Thrasher, in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes on health policy.
Steven Thrasher

Center for Racial Justice Visiting Fellows fall welcome symposium

Oct 6, 2022, 4:00-5:15 pm EDT
Weill Hall Betty Ford Auditorium (Room 1110)
The Center for Racial Justice welcomes the inaugural cohort of Visiting Fellows—Dr. Tinu Adediran, Makeda Easter, and Julian Brave NoiseCat—to the Ford School and the University of Michigan. Fellows will be in conversation with Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes, founding director of the Center for Racial Justice, to share more about their catalyst projects and their work within the racial justice landscape.
Headshots of Atinuke Adediran, Makeda Easter, and Julian Brave NoiseCat
Policy Talks @ the Ford School

Social policy is health policy: Lessons from the pandemic

Sep 23, 2022, 4:00-5:00 pm EDT
Weill Hall Annenberg Auditorium (Room 1120)
Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Paula Lantz discuss the devastating structural inequities exposed by the COVID pandemic—and why all policymakers must now be equipped with a toolkit for navigating pandemics. 
Headshots of Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Paula Lantz