The Indiana University Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs is hosting a virtual event titled “Defending Democracy: Confronting Voter Suppression and White Supremacy in the New Millennium” as part of its Social Justice in America Series.
The event will open with a Social Justice Fair on Wednesday, September 30, from 2–4 p.m. via Zoom. The fair will provide participants with resources about programs and organizations that focus on social justice work at Indiana University and within the greater Bloomington community.
Also on September 30, the series will host a workshop facilitated by Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, the first Black woman executive director of the Highlander Research & Education Center, located in Tennessee. Woodard Henderson is an activist who was fought against environmental racism and promoted workers’ rights, racial justice, reproductive justice, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and international human rights throughout her career. She is a nationally recognized leader in the Movement for Black Lives.
The virtual workshop, held via Zoom from 6–8 p.m., will focus on pertinent social justice issues in Bloomington and invite discussion about potential solutions.
On Thursday, October 1, from 6–8 p.m., the event will conclude with a virtual Town Hall that will address issues relating to voter suppression, gerrymandering, and hate crimes in Bloomington and the country.
Woodard Henderson will be joined by IU law professor Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, whose work focuses on race and democracy, and community activist Abby Ang, founder of No Space for Hate.
“Defending Democracy” is moderated by Jeannine Bell, the Richard S. Melvin Professor of Law at IU, who is the author of the books Policing Hatred: Law Enforcement, Civil Rights, and Hate Crime (New York University Press, 2002) and Hate Thy Neighbor: Move-in Violence and the Persistence of Racial Segregation in American Housing (New York University Press, 2013).
For more information or to register for any of the virtual events, visit diversity.iu.edu/sjas.
