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Racial Justice

Black histories and Black futures
students in lecture hall

Homepage image: Chinaza Okonkwo of Los Angeles was one of 65 students enrolled in the 2018 Africana Studies Summer Institute, now in its 36th year. The Institute is one of the hallmarks of the Africana Studies Department. 

Black histories and Black futures

Professors and students reflect on 50 years of Black studies at Penn.

Kristina García

Viewing 2021 through a lens
Group of people wearing masks at a vigil in Philadelphia.

Vigil for Victims of Asian Hate held in Union Square on March 19, 2021. (Image: Kylie Cooper)

Viewing 2021 through a lens

Photojournalist Kylie Cooper’s annotated photo essay about the liminality of 2021 captured the Capitol insurrection, the Ground Zero commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and more.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Interfaith activism at the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community
A Zoom screen shows four women looking at the camera

Barbara D. Savage (top left) led Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad, founder of the Muslim Wellness Foundation; Rev. Leslie D. Callahan, first woman pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church; and activist Bree Newsome in the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community.

Interfaith activism at the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community

In the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Barbara D. Savage moderated a conversation on interfaith activism.

Kristina García

Racial justice protests influenced local news reporting
TV camera in front of a crowd of people.

Racial justice protests influenced local news reporting

A new Media, Inequality, and Change Center report finds that news coverage of policing did become more inclusive and less dehumanizing, but was still heavily slanted toward a police perspective.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Anti-racism and reproductive justice
Alexis McGill Johnson and Dorothy Roberts

Alexis McGill Johnson (left) and Dorothy Roberts spoke at the 21st Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice, centered on reproductive rights and anti-racism.

Anti-racism and reproductive justice

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts joined Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, in the 21st annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice. They addressed the intersectional nature of anti-racism and reproductive freedom.

Kristina García

Environment key to injury recovery for Black men
Person walking with cane past a tall apartment building.

Environment key to injury recovery for Black men

Data from a Penn Nursing study shows that injured Black men from disadvantaged neighborhoods experience higher injury mortality, years of life-expectancy loss, and psychological symptoms that persist after initial wounds have been treated.

From Penn Nursing News

Advocates urge action on bill to establish Asian American and Pacific Islander curriculum in N.J. schools
WHYY (Philadelphia)

Advocates urge action on bill to establish Asian American and Pacific Islander curriculum in N.J. schools

Jessica Kim, a doctoral student in the School of Social Policy & Practice, is organizing a demonstration in support of a bill to require New Jersey schools to teach students about the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. “Education is critical,” she said.

The role of progressive prosecutors in the criminal justice reform movement
A close up to the an ornamental scale in an office with law books on shelves behind it.

The role of progressive prosecutors in the criminal justice reform movement

Using Philadelphia as a microcosm, a new law course will analyze the emerging trend of progressive prosecutors’ offices and discuss how their strategies fit into a larger movement for criminal justice reform.

From Penn Carey Law