It has been nearly three years since the murder of Mr. George Floyd intensified long-standing calls to action for race equity and racial justice. While the calls continue and action persists, mainstream attention and commitments to change have waned, emboldened by white supremacist autocracy. This cycle is familiar. How can past and continuing complex legacies of racism be effectively addressed in institutional contexts? What can individual people, communities, and organizations do to hasten and sustain systemic change?

By participating in this workshop you will:

• Unpack the “to form a more perfect union” ideal vis-á-vis the contention, put forth by Critical Legal Scholars, that racism is permanent
• Explore the concept of critical hope: sustained commitment to work to bring about change—anywhere and everywhere—even in the face of brutal evidence that it may not ever come or come enough
• Examine notions of individual, group, and institutional commitment, obligation, and accountability to co-create and co-actualize policies and practices designed to erode, dismantle, and eradicate systemic racism and other, interlocking forms of oppression that permeate public life
• Discuss how situated contexts, positionalities, and standpoints impact personal engagement in change work and can be strategically leveraged to bring about structural change

The Grad Academy Pillars: Teaching, Leadership, Research

The Grad Academy Program: GTC, GRC, GMC

Panelists/Facilitator(s):

• Dr. Christine Clark, Professor, College of Education
• Dr. Norma A. Marrun, Associate Professor, College of Education
• Dr. Danielle Mireles, Assistant Professor, College of Education