Kirwan Conference Slated for Early 2010
"Transforming Race: Crisis and Opportunity in the Age of Obama" is the title of the Kirwan Institute’s semi-annual conference, slated for March 11–13, 2010. The conference will focus on the world, both domestic and international, after the 2008 presidential election. It will have three tracks: Racial Dynamics and Systems Thinking; Race Talk; and Race, Recession and Recovery. For more information and to register, go to Transforming Race.
People
Elsadig Elsheikh, research associate in the Kirwan Institute’s International Program, has been invited to serve as a visiting scholar in Columbia University’s 2009 Human Rights Advocates Program from August 31 to December 14, 2009. Elsheikh was chosen from an extremely competitive pool of 199 applicants from around the world and will work with a highly qualified group of human rights leaders. Read more about the appointment [PDF format].
Kirwan Initiatives
FairRecovery.org
The Kirwan Institute has launched FairRecovery.org as a resource for advocates, policymakers, and others committed to ensuring that current and future recovery efforts not only jump-start the economy in the short-term, but also invest in lasting opportunity for all. We advocate for federal initiatives and investments that are guided by three principles:
- Recovery fund investments must be marked by full transparency and accountability.
- Families and communities hit hardest by the economic crisis merit focused attention in the recovery process.
- Investments must promote equity and expand opportunity for all.
Economic recovery can serve all Americans fairly and effectively, or it can create and perpetuate unfairness and inequality based on race, gender, or other aspects of who we are. Join us in working to ensure that these investments help all Americans by calling for the right spending, implementation, and monitoring of funds. Kirwan’s partners in this effort include Opportunity Agenda, the ACLU, and INSIGHT. More information is available at FairRecovery.org.
Communities of Opportunity
The Kirwan Institute’s Communities of Opportunity program is engaged in a six-month initiative to investigate the “Future of Fair Housing” in the aftermath of the credit and housing crisis. We are building a “blueprint” of new models for fair housing and credit for marginalized communities through commissioned research with experts throughout the field. The initiative is also convening fair housing activists throughout the nation to identify promising new solutions and build collaborative networks for fair housing advocates.
Kirwan’s opportunity mapping projects are continuing with the launch of a new initiative in Seattle later this year and the completion of an opportunity mapping assessment for Connecticut this fall. The institute also just launched an effort to conduct opportunity assessments and investigate the impact of economic recovery programs in Florida. This year-long initiative will look at how economic recovery efforts are affecting Florida communities hurt by the recession and housing crisis.
Events and Presentations
Writer and Harvard professor William Julius Wilson is coming to Kirwan October 15 and 16 to participate in a roundtable discussion and present a lecture moderated by Fred Andrle, recently retired host from WOSU Radio Open Line. Wilson is the author of several books, including the recently published More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (W.W. Norton and Company). See more information at kirwaninstitute.org/events/archive/william-julius-wilson.php.
The Brown Bag Lecture Series continues to attract a variety of speakers and many audience members from across campus to the Kirwan Institute conference room on the fourth floor of Mendenhall. Recent presenters have included Kirwan associates as well as scholars from a variety of disciplines. Future topics will be posted on the web site as they are scheduled. The campus community is welcome to attend and participants may bring their own brown bag lunch.
 Hassan Kwame Jeffries, Ohio State associate professor of history with a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute, gave a lecture and book signing at the King Arts Complex on Wednesday, July 8. The book is Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and BlackPower in Alabama’s Black Belt, published in July by New York University Press. Bloody Lowndes is the story of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee organizers and local activists in rural Lowndes County, Alabama, and the establishment of an all-black, independent political party. The event was attended by over 120 people and introduced and moderated by Wendy Smooth, assistant professor, Kirwan Institute and the Department of Women’s Studies. Read more about the event [PDF format]. View photos from the event.
For the recent ISAIAH conference in Minnesota, john powell presented the training program "Structural Racialization: A Lens for Understanding How Opportunity Is Racialized." ISAIAH is a nonprofit coalition of 90 congregations from various faith traditions working in the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud regions that work together to establish racial and economic justice. The PowerPoint presentation is available for download [PPTX format].
Kirwan Co-sponsored Events
The Kirwan Institute is a proud supporter of many conferences and initiatives, including the following.
The Ohio African American Communities for Optimum Health, Inc. biennial workshop has its next workshop scheduled for Friday, November 6, 2009, and will feature Louis Sullivan, past secretary of Health and Human Services as a keynote speaker. Bill Robinson, executive director of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, will also be a keynote speaker.
Family Affair & Reunion 2009 is set for Tuesday, September 22, at the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center. The event provides an opportunity for academic departments and student life organizations to highlight services, support, and program offerings that help students succeed at The Ohio State University.
“Reading Between the Lines: Uncovering Unconscious Racial Bias” is the topic of a panel presented by the Kirwan Institute in partnership with the Writers’ Guild of America-West, the Screen Actors’ Guild, Americans for American Values, and the Equal Justice Society on September 30, 2009, in Los Angeles. Norman Lear, long-time television producer and writer, will introduce the panel.
Kirwan in Print
 Obama Reflections is the title of a book of commentary to be published by the Kirwan Institute this November to commemorate the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s election. The book assesses the impact that Barack Obama’s election and presidency have had on race in the United States and the world. It includes 25 personal essays from authors from the U.S. and abroad, including contributions from several well-known academics and social justice leaders. Complementary copies of the book will be distributed to Kirwan collaborators. Extra copies will be available for advance order at cost for $11.50. Ordering information will be available on our web site by mid October. View Obama Reflections cover.
Michelle Alexander, associate professor of law and a faculty affiliate of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, recently published The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, available this fall from The New Press. Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America—we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness.
Kirwan Online: Articles by Kirwan Staff
"Racial Profiling—Not Just for Middle-aged Elite University Professors Any More!" by Andrew Grant-Thomas, deputy director at the Kirwan Institute, carried by Imagine2050 – August 11. Read article
Commentary: "When Will Recovery Hit Black Neighborhoods?" john powell discusses the role of race in the recession and the recovery with Essence.com – August 10. Read article
"Racial Profiling Goes Deeper Than Gates Case" by Andrew Grant-Thomas, deputy director at the Kirwan Institute, featured on WOSU Radio – July 30. Read article
Want another way to keep up with Kirwan? Set up a Google Alert and see what the Internet brings to your desktop.
Call for Papers
Calls for papers for the next two issues of the Kirwan journal, Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, are available at the Race/Ethnicity web site. Topics for upcoming issues include Gender (Autumn 2010), Labor (Winter 2011), and Transforming Race (Spring 2011).
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