Applying Our Research 

Last November, The Applied Research Center's groundbreaking Shattered Families investigation established that there are thousands of children -- an estimated 5,100 -- stuck in foster care whose parents were detained or deported by immigration officials. At Facing Race, report author Seth Wessler will moderate a session entitled Shattered Families: Racial Justice and Prospects for Systemic Change, which will explore child welfare practices in communities of color, solutions for more equitable policy and strategies for protecting families from the structural racism embedded in other systems like criminal justice and immigration and inequity embedded in tribal relationships to U.S. institutions. Workshop presenters include Yvonne Gilgrist of Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Jovanna Frieson of Child Welfare Organizing Project, and Terry Cross of National Indian Child Welfare Association. 

Also at Facing Race, the themes expressed in Senior Researcher Yvonne Liu's Good Food, Good Jobs report, will be explored further in a session titled, No Justice, No Peas with Diana Robinson of Food Chain Workers Alliance, Suguet Lopez of Líderes Campesinas, Navina Khanna of Live Real/Movement Strategy Center, and Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. Yvonne will also participate in a workshop entitled, Where is the Color in Occupy? Race, Class and Gender in the Occupy Movement, while Research Director Dom Apollon will moderate a session on Race and Masculinity with Bayeté Ross Smith of Question Bridge: Black Males, Jack DeJesus of Forward Together, Alan Jenkins of The Opportunity Agenda and Salem Acuña of Southerners on New Ground.

Finally, the Department will spearhead ARC's co-sponsorship with the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (a Project of Tides Center) of a pre-conference convening on the need to improve research and data collection on the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Though space is unfortunately limited at this initial invitation-only gathering, inquiries from interested community-based organizations and researchers are welcome at [email protected].

Network News

In the new edition of the Critical Issues Forum, a journal published by the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, Terry Keleher, ARC’s Leadership Action Network Director writes: “Racial justice leadership addresses the composition as well as the competencies of an organization’s leadership and membership. Cultural competency is important, but perhaps even more critical is “equity competency” – the ability to model and promote equitable, inclusive and unifying practices. In his essay, “Building Community Leadership and Power to Advance Racial Justice,” Keleher includes a comparison of organizing without vs. with a racial equity framework, along with a set of criteria for identifying and assessing racial equity practices.

You’ll have an opportunity to learn more about racial justice leadership and “equity competency” by attending some of the workshops offered at the upcoming Facing Race conference. ARC’s training team will be leading several workshops, including, From Colorblindness to Equity-Mindedness: Breaking Through Bias to Build Racial Justice and Structural Racism 101: Critical Concepts for Getting to Racial Justice.

To hone your racial justice leadership skills, check out these and other Facing Race workshops.

Colorlines.com Spotlight

“The drive-by hate-yous are definitely the fringe, and we’re not going to change their minds anyway,” says writer and comedian Negin Farsad of reactions to her documentary film “The Muslims are Coming.” “What’s truly pervasive is, you know, just a lot of questions about Muslims. A lot of confusion: what is the deal with this religion?” Farsad’s fascinating conversation with Colorlines.com is one of several we’ll be having on the site with thinkers, organizers and culture makers who are gathering with us for Facing Race.

See Colorlines contributors in action during the conference! Gender columnist Akiba Solomon leads Reproductive Rights at the Intersection of Class, Race and Immigration Status, while education reporter Julianne Hing explores What's the Future of College for Students of Color?, News Editor Jamilah King moderates Can You Hear Me Now? How Activists and Artists are Rebuilding the Media, Community Manager Channing Kennedy moderates Like Racism, But Funnier: Social Change Through Internet Jokes, and Multimedia Editor Jorge Rivas shares strategies in No Budget? No Problem! 2013's New Tools For Creating Content and Telling Your Story.

Of course, we’re also staying focused on the November election. Imara Jones continues dissecting the presidential debates; follow him @imarajones as he live tweets the Oct. 23 debate. Read Akiba Solomon’s startling investigative report from Texas, where she tracks the emerging impact of this year’s “war on women.” And join us on Election Night, as Brentin Mock, Aura Bogado and our team of community journalists fan out to key states to watch what happens at the polls.