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Racial Justice

How historical racism influences modern poverty and racial inequality
Regina Baker.

Penn sociologist Regina Baker.

How historical racism influences modern poverty and racial inequality

Sociologist Regina Baker finds that Black people in southern U.S. states with significant institutionalized historical racial practices experience worse poverty today. These states also have a wider poverty gap between Black and white populations.

Michele W. Berger

Commemorating Juneteenth
Person dancing at a Juneteenth celebration wearing a t-shirt that reads BREAKING EVERY CHAIN SINCE 1865.

Image: USAG-Humphreys

Commemorating Juneteenth

As Penn observes Juneteenth as an official University holiday, Penn Today chronicles events and resources across campus.

Penn Today Staff

Engaging in intersectional conversations on race and racism
students in a classroom watching a guest speaker

Students in American Race: A Philadelphia Story, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program course, examined intersectional topics on race and racism through a broad, multidisciplinary lens. The course included directed readings, guest speaker presentations, such as this discussion led by Jessie Harper from the Graduate School of Education, and in-depth conversations about the city of Philadelphia.

Engaging in intersectional conversations on race and racism

In the spring, students engaged with complex topics, both intellectually and civically, as part of American Race: A Philadelphia Story, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program course.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Exploring racism’s health impact in a VA renal clinic
African American person at a renal clinic with a blanket on their lap and an IV in their hand.

Exploring racism’s health impact in a VA renal clinic

A new study by Penn LDI’s Kevin Jenkins provides new insights into how structural racism impacts Black patients’ lives and treatment experience for chronic kidney disease.

Hoag Levins

Reimagining the corner store to promote food justice
Eli Moraru, Charles Reeves, and Alex Imbot sit on Reeves' front porch in South Philadelphia

Eli Moraru (left) and Alexandre Imbot (right) have been working with community activist Charles Reeves (center) for two years. Their project, The Community Grocer, hopes to make nutrition accessible for all residents of Reeves’ South Philadelphia neighborhood.

Reimagining the corner store to promote food justice

With a 2022 President’s Sustainability Prize, Eli Moraru and Alexandre Imbot will take raw ingredients payable with EBT and turn them into hot, heathy meals while providing nutritional education resources.

Kristina Linnea García

How Lucas Monroe defines leadership
Lucas Monroe sits in the bleachers at the Palestra.

As a response to anti-Black violence, Lucas Monroe, a junior in the School of Arts & Sciences, took on a leadership role in social justice work, eventually serving as a fellow in the Office of Social Equity & Community along with being co-captain of the men’s basketball team.

How Lucas Monroe defines leadership

Lucas Monroe, a political science major, combines athletics and introspection to take on a leadership role in social justice work on campus and beyond.

Kristina Linnea García

America as it actually was
Woodcut print of a family in the 1800s.

America as it actually was

“Teaching Independence: Bridging the Communications Gap,” took an in-depth look at the challenges of teaching the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the nation’s founding in the current political climate.

From Penn GSE

Higher rates of chemical sedation among Black psychiatric patients points to inequities
Black patient receiving an injection in the arm by a medical professional.

Higher rates of chemical sedation among Black psychiatric patients points to inequities

Penn Medicine researchers also find that white patients are more likely to be chemically sedated in emergency departments at hospitals that treat high proportion Black patients, suggesting that hospital demographics can impact practice patterns.

From Penn Medicine News