Critical Futures

We talk to Josue David Cisneros, Patrick Earl Hammie, and Jorge Lucero from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign about the future of graduate education. We discuss the problems facing contemporary graduate students and our guests’ efforts to reimagine and recreate graduate school as an inclusive space where students can thrive through the Interseminars Initiative.

This episode is part of an ongoing series titled THE FUTURE OF…, where we chat with experts in various sectors to learn about what they are doing to shift the critical now for a radical new future.

Links:

• Website: Interseminar Event Series

We talk to Denise Octavia Smith (Executive Director, NACHW), Abdul Hafeedh bin Abdullah (Co-Founder, CHASM), and Rumana Shams Rabbani (Co-Founder, CHASM) about their efforts as Community Health Workers to advance access and equity in community health and healthcare.

This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.

Links:

• The National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW)
• Community Healing through Activism and Strategic Mobilization (CHASM)

We talk to Jaden Janak (Assistant Professor, St. Olaf College) about the future of abolition. We discuss abolition as the theory and praxis of destabilizing the carceral state to liberate Black, queer, and trans lives – while also cultivating livable lives for all.

This episode is part of an ongoing series titled THE FUTURE OF…, where we chat with experts in various sectors to learn about what they are doing to shift the critical now for a radical new future.

Links:

• Website: jadenjanak.com
• Article: "(Trans)gendering Abolition: Black Trans Geographies, Art, and the Problem of Visibility," (Lesbian and Gay Studies)
• Article: "Cultivating Solidarity from the Inside-Out: Abolitionist Efforts to Trans-gress Prison Walls," (Behemoth)
• Article: "Abolition is Here," (Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies)
• Article:"Finding Pride: Teaching Trans History in Secondary Social Studies," (Social Education)

We talk to Rhonda BeLue from University of Texas at San Antonio along with her community partner Michelle Lugalia-Hollon. In our conversation, we discuss how to cultivate alignment with community and for community when working to create more equitable healthcare systems.

This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.

Links:

• College for Health, Community, and Policy (HCAP)
• Layers of Change, LLC

We talk to Joquina Reed from J Reed Consulting LLC about the future of the present – about what it means to live in this space right now and leverage these moments for alternative futures.

This episode is part of an ongoing series titled THE FUTURE OF…, where we chat with experts in various sectors to learn about what they are doing to shift the critical now for a radical new future.

Links:

• Podcast: Divesting from Whiteness
• Podcast: Please Say Black
• The Anti-Blackness Reader project

We talk to Pat Matthews Juarez and Paul Juarez from Meharry Medical College along with their community partner Neely Williams from the Tennessee Community Engaged Alliance Against COVID-19 (TN CEAL). In our conversation, we discuss how to establish and maintain long-term community partnerships and transdisciplinary alliances that are built upon trust.

This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.

Links:

• Research article: "COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake Among Minority Populations in Tennessee"

• YouTube channel: “#FollowtheScience with Dr. Paul Juarez”

We talk to Selome Araya from Root Alchemy Institute about the future of healing and therapy and about how to move towards holistic approaches to health and wellbeing.This episode is part of an ongoing series titled THE FUTURE OF…, where we chat with experts in various sectors to learn about what they are doing to shift the critical now for a radical new future.Links:

• Selome Araya’s website

• Program: Healing at the Root

• Root Alchemy Institute

• Center for Anti-Racism, Social Justice, and Public Health
• Article: “The Health Disparities Industry: Is it an Ethical Conundrum?”, Shaw-Ridley & Ridley

We talk to Xavier Morales from the Praxis Project along with his community partner Judith LeBlanc from Native Organizers Alliance about leveraging community partnerships to drive change and realize health as a human right.

This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.

Links:

• Praxis Project

• Native Organizers Alliance

We talk to Brian Smedley from Urban Institute along with his community partner Kasey Dudley about how to approach community partnerships and prioritize equity, trust, and transparency.

This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.

Links:

• Urban Institute Event: "Unequal Treatment at 20: Accelerating Progress Towards Health Care Equity"

• Article:"Ending Health Care Inequities Is a Moral and National Imperative"

• Project: Bloomfield Commission on Civil Rights