Reflect
As we approach the end of the school year and look back at the events of the past 18 months, we should take time to reflect on the changes we have seen and look forward to the changes we would like to see. This theme encourages you to build community through reflection.
Events
Headline Event
Teach In: Envisioning New Futures, Protests, Politics, and Public Safety Beyond Policing
May 5, from 5:15 p.m.-6:45 p.m.
The protests that started last year in the wake of George Floyd’s murder have continued and even picked up in recent weeks in the wake of the Derek Chauvin Trial and the recent murder of Daunte Wright. While last year’s protests no doubt created the conditions that led to the “speedy” arrest of police officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s death and pushed the Minneapolis City Council to embrace the abolitionist language of defunding the police, activists refuse to accept that solutions rest primarily in the criminal legal system and remain critical of the slow pace of change. Rather they have raised new concerns about how the trial has prompted the surveillance and militarization of the city. Nearly one year after these protests began, how have these movements as well as the debates about police reform and abolition changed and evolved? What are the new (and continuing) critical movements and political issues that we should be focusing on in the coming months?
This Teach-In will feature student scholar activists, who are struggling for justice on their campuses and in the communities within which their campuses are situated. The Teach-In will also feature professionals, scholars, and activists, whom our student scholar activists have identified and would like to be in conversation with and introduce to our Teach-In audience.
Intention and Action: Becoming a Change Agent
May 6, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
M Global Presents... Why World Languages Matter in Social Justice Education
May 11, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Reparations Reading Group—After the Chauvin Verdict: What Next in the Struggle for Racial Justice?
May 11, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Plessy v. Ferguson and the Legacy of “Separate but Equal” After 125 Years
May 18, 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
The Legacy of Bearing Witness while Black in Minnesota
May 19, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Mindsets and the Power of Perspectives
May 20, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Action
Summer of EngageMNt
The Summer of EngageMNt program provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students from across the University's five campus system to apply and develop their leadership skills in response to current and emerging community needs. The initiative is coordinated by the University's Office for Public Engagement (OPE), in collaboration with the Center for Community-Engaged Learning (CCEL).
Participating students are matched with community partners to work on service assignments that address a broad range of societal issues. The program also includes weekly education and reflection sessions led by staff members from OPE and CCEL.
Student Application- Deadline: Monday, May 17
Resources
On Community:
On Justice and Accountability:
On Identity, Power, and Privilege:
Stories
- ¡PRESENTE! 50 Years of Chicano & Latino Studies - Poetry Reading Recording
- “What Just Happened to Us?” By Mitra Jalali
CESP Digital Stories
Sydnney Islam's Digital Story
Yue Zhao's Digital Story
Isaac Lee's Digital Story
