Author: Verna L. Williams

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Policing Race Discrimination RGSJ Events School-to-Prison

Beyond Policing: “From Re-entry to No Entry”

How can the University of Cincinnati prepare for the trial of Ray Tensing?  That’s the question audience members are contemplating after today’s panel discussion, “DOJ Reports on Policing in Ferguson and Baltimore:  What They Mean for Cincinnati and the Country.”

The Cincinnati Project, UC’s Center for Student Affairs, and Cincinnati Law’s Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice collaborated to  present five experts to discuss police killings across the nation.  Using the Department of Justice’s reports on Ferguson and Baltimore as a springboard, panelists examined such issues as the root causes of police violence against people of color, challenged the existence of a just criminal justice system, and urged a re-examination of the meaning of “public safety” that includes input from affected communities.  

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domestic violence

October 2: International Day of Non-Violence

On this International Day of Non-Violence, we go local.  That is, Cincinnati Law proudly celebrates its Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order (DV/CPO) Clinic.

In addition to representing survivors, our Clinic students have highlighted the importance of addressing intimate partner violence. Namely five years ago this month, thanks to Cincinnati Law Professor Kenyatta Hurd and Clinic students, the Cincinnati City Council adopted a resolution recognizing freedom from domestic violence as a fundamental human right and declaring that the city, as well as state and local governments, have an obligation to secure this right.

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Policing Race Discrimination

Ferguson, Baltimore…and Cincinnati: Lessons from DOJ Investigations

Terence Crutcher. Keith Lamont Scott.  Korryn Gaines. These are just some of the most recent additions to the growing roll of people killed by police. Communities across the nation struggle for answers, strategies, and, most importantly, an end to the violence.  On October 4, 2016, the University of Cincinnati will host this important discussion, building upon lessons learned from Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland.

DOJ found patterns of racial discrimination in stops, detentions, and use of force in both places.  In Ferguson, DOJ  said the police viewed African Americans “less as constituents to be protected than as potential offenders and sources of revenue.”  In Baltimore, DOJ found that the systemic constitutional violations stemmed from structural failures. What do these findings mean for other cities, including Cincinnati?

To be sure, Cincinnati has been cited as an exemplar for reform for troubled cities because of the collaborative agreement between the police and communities.  What can Cincinnati’s experience add to our understanding of race, class, and policing, particularly when it comes to addressing endemic inequities?

Co-sponsored by the Cincinnati Project of the College of Arts and Sciences and Cincinnati Law’s Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice,  a panel discussion will address these and other issues. Participants include the following: attorney Alphonse Gerhardstein, law professor Janet Moore, activist Iris Roley, history professor Tracy Teslow, and Africana Studies professor Earl Wright II.

The event begins at 3:30 p.m. in room 450 of the Lindner Center.  Please join us.

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child care economic justice Gender-based discrimination Intersectionality Race Discrimination work-family

History Lessons: Women of Color and Work-Family Conflicts

jocelynfrye_600x900Guest Contributor: Jocelyn C. Frye, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Author Toni Morrison once wrote, “If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  Her words are a reminder that there is value in each woman’s unwritten story, and we are all empowered to write our own narratives.  Morrison’s charge is particularly timely in the present-day conversation about women, work, and family where incomplete soundbites too often substitute for  richer discussion about the diversity of women’s experiences and the history they bring to the table. This problem is especially acute when it comes to the discourse around work-family issues.

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Education Gender-based discrimination Sexual assault Title IX

Five Myths that Block Effective Strategies Targeting Sexual Assault on College Campuses

fatima-goss-graves-200-x-200Guest Contributor:  Fatima Goss Graves, Senior Vice President for Program, National Women’s Law Center

Students around the country have already begun pouring back onto college campuses, ready to embark on a new academic year. This year many students will return to find their schools under investigation by the Department of Education for failing to effectively address sexual violence on campus.  Title IX’s nearly 45-year-old ban on sex discrimination in education requires schools that take federal dollars –virtually all schools – to take prompt and effective steps to address harassment and violence. With over 200 universities facing pending complaints, the problem of sexual assault finally has caught the attention of the very policymakers and educators who can make a difference.

But efforts to transform the response to sexual assault will fail if focused on the wrong solutions. Here are five myths that can prevent meaningful approaches to combatting sexual assault on college campuses.

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child care early childhood education Education Intersectionality wage gap

Cincinnati Preschool Expansion, Issue 44: For our children and their teachers

Guest Contributor:  Clement Tsao, (Cincinnati Law ’12), Labor Attorney, Cook& Logothetis, LLC

Much has bclement-tsaoeen written about the benefits of preschool and quality early learning programs. Significant investments in preschool have been linked to improved kindergarten readiness, future academic success, a reduced achievement gap for students of color, as well as long-term savings on government and taxpayers. If you’re not yet convinced, you can check out some good research and writing on the arguments for preschool investment here, here, here and here.

But, high quality preschool isn’t just about education and economics; investment in preschool is also about labor policy. After all, it’s people, i.e., the teachers, who engage with our children and can be a determinative factor in a quality learning environment. That’s why investing in preschool also requires investing in our current and future preschool teachers.

This fall, Cincinnati voters will have the opportunity to do both, thanks to Issue 44. 

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Social Justice

Thoughts about a Social Justice Warrior

Just about a year ago, Jackie texted me.

“Hey Cuz.  Hope you are well.  Can you give me a call this evening…”

Anytime someone sends a text asking you to call, that’s a bad sign.  It foreshadows something texts can’t handle.  “Damn,” I thought.

“Cousin,” she’d called me that since she and Pete got married in 1987; since his last name is Williams, folks assumed I was family.  After all, Williams is a pretty unique name for Black folks…that was a joke that never got old.  Even now, as I anticipated the worst.

“I have cancer.”  OK. I thought, maybe it’s not so bad.  Maybe it’s treatable.  Maybe they caught it early.  Maybe…

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Affirmative action Gender-based discrimination Intersectionality Race Discrimination

“I didn’t choose to be straight, white and male”: Blinding privilege

The Pew Research Center found in July that while 63% of women surveyed found gender still posed obstacles for women’s progress, 56% of men said such challenges were mostly history.  Then, this week, a headline in The Guardian put a human face on that divide with this: “’I didn’t choose to be straight, white and male’: Are Modern Men the Suffering Sex?”

Uh, no. 

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capital punishment criminal justice Race Discrimination RGSJ Events

Capital Punishment and Race: Join the Conversation

I no longer ask, “Do these people who committed these crimes deserve the death penalty?” I ask, “Does society deserve to kill people, when they’re so unwilling to engage in an honest conversation about the impact of race?”

Bryan Stevenson’s blunt question is at the heart of the provocative documentary Race to Execution. Cincinnati Law’s Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice and the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati will screen the film and host a panel discussion including filmmaker Rachel Lyon on September 21, 2016.

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Categories
economic justice Intersectionality

Breaking the Debt Cycle: CFPB Targets Payday Lending

I need[ed] some money ASAP.  So I called my Mom.

“Mom, I need some money!”

And, she’s like, “No, why don’t you just go ahead and get a pay day loan?”

“What’s that”? 

“You just borrow some money from them and then you pay them back once you get your money on payday.”

I said, “Oh, okay sure.” So I do it, I get my little pay day loan.

This excerpt from a community-based research project involving UC Law Professors Emily Houh and Kristin Kalsem, and Public Allies Cincinnati shows how easy borrowing money can be.  The dialogue is from a “zine,” a small black and white publication that graphically depicted interviews about payday lending, a financial resource relied upon primarily by low-income communities of color.

Almost 30% of Americans don’t have banks, or, if they have them, rely heavily on alternative financial systems like payday loans, rent-to-to-own, or car title loans to make ends meet. Most do so because they don’t believe they have enough money to open a bank account. In addition, these banking alternatives are easy to use and conveniently located.

But these pluses come with significant minuses.

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