University Commitment to Racial and Social Justice
As a university, we must continue to invest in self-care, education and meaningful dialogue about what it takes to dismantle racism and how to create and sustain a university community where every Huskie feels valued and has the opportunity to thrive. - President Dr. Lisa Freeman
To each of you who carry the weight of racial injustice, I want you to know you are not alone. I carry it too. But your resilience, creativity, determination, and passion embody what it means to be a Huskie.... We need all of you to join us as we dismantle systems and build an anti-racist community where everyone can thrive. - Dr. Vernese Edghill-Walden, Vice-President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer
The movement to end systemic racism has sparked much-needed conversations about a number of issues including, but not limited to, racial inequality, police brutality, social justice, white privilege, mass incarceration, and civil rights. We are committed to making these conversations a priority at NIU Law - Dean Cassandra Hill, College of Law.
University Resources
- Race and Social Justice Initiatives Our new series, Race and the Law Conversations will provide a platform with expert panelists who will engage in conversations on a wide range of racial and social justice issues including, but not limited to, racial inequality, police brutality and mass incarceration.
- Anti-racism Reading List Social Justice Education at NIU
- Working Together for Racial and Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion NIU is committed to doing the hard work necessary to address systemic inequities and foster a more inclusive campus culture, knowing that achieving some goals and outcomes will require sustained, long-term effort, while other actions can lead to rapid, positive change.
- Black Law Students Association BLSA's purpose is to articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of students requiring support, emphasizing black law students and other students who have minority representation in the law school community. A goal is to foster and encourage professional competence among underrepresented students. BLSA strives to develop services that are beneficial to the community at-large. BLSA assists law students at the college with their legal studies by developing various support and study groups that will enable the College of Law to better retain its valued minority law students.
- Black Lives Matter at NIU Local and national incidents of racial injustice and loss have had a grave impact on the Black community, at NIU and across the country. As part of our response, we've gathered resources in support of our Black community. These resources can help us become more informed, process recent events and move toward healing as a campus and community.
- Office of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion NIU strives to create an environment that celebrates diversity to prepare students for a global workforce and to enrich the lives of all who live, study and work here. The Office of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is focused on helping NIU's diverse student population succeed in their educational goals, find supportive communities and graduate with the skills and experience needed to coexist with people from all backgrounds.
- Conversations on Diversity+Equity (CODE) Workshops CODE is designed to engage students, faculty and staff in learning about the cultural differences that shape our world. The main goal of the program is to create spaces for them to explore complex aspects of the diversity and equity framework. The ultimate outcome of providing these experiences for participants is to work towards an inclusive campus community where everyone respects the value and dignity of all of its members.
- Center for Black Studies The Center for Black Studies (CBS) plays a significant, essential and unique role in advocating for Black students at NIU, the larger DeKalb community, and the university’s commitment to multiculturalism and diversity. Established in 1971, the CBS supports the university’s mission of excellence and engagement in teaching, learning, research, scholarship, creativity, artistry and service.
- Latino Resource Center The Latino Resource Center is a unit of the Division of Academic Affairs at NIU. Better known as the LRC by students and staff, the Latino Resource Center focuses on student-centered service by developing partnerships focused on student learning while establishing an inclusive community that builds collaborative relationships across campus and the surrounding community.
- Center for Latino and Latin American Studies We serve as a home for the interdisciplinary study of the Latino experience in the United States as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. Our curricular offerings in the humanities, arts and social sciences are enhanced by our academic and cultural programming and community outreach activities.
- Common Reading Experience The Common Reading Experience is part of the First- and Second-Year Experience at NIU. Every two years, a committee composed of students, faculty, staff and community members recommends a book for incoming students to read in their English and communications courses. Faculty and staff members are also encouraged to incorporate the book's themes into their other courses, events and programs. The Common Reading Experience helps students build a sense of community at NIU. As they explore the book's themes with their fellow students, they're exposed to new perspectives and viewpoints. Their classroom learning is enhanced with a variety of events and programs. A highlight of the experience is a campus visit from the book's author.
- Upcoming Exhibit: Hateful Things (Feb. 1-Apr. 9, 2021) The exhibition contains 39 items from the late 19th century to the present, embodying the terrible effects of the Jim Crow legacy. In addition to items from popular and commercial culture, the exhibit also contains images of violence against African Americans as well as the Civil Rights struggle for racial equality. This powerful exhibit lifts objects from their original purposes to serve as reminders of America's racist past and challenges present-day images of racial stereotyping with the aim of stimulating the scholarly examination of historical and contemporary expressions of racism, as well as promoting racial understanding and healing. This exhibit is sponsored by the Center for Black Studies and Pick Museum of Anthropology.
University Dedication to Racial and Social Justice
- Bias Reporting When an incident is reported, the reporting party will be contacted and informed about support resources available to them at the university. If the behavior appears to be a violation of university policy and/or the law, the reporting party will be informed about additional ways the incident may be addressed.
- Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center Established in partnership with the Association of American Colleges (AAC&U) and hosted by colleges and universities, Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers pursue the shared goal of preparing the next generation of leaders and thinkers to break down racialized practices and to dismantle the belief in a “hierarchy of human value.”
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memory - NIU BLSA (Jan. 18, 2021) Statement from the NIU Black Law Student Association commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- A message from Chief Diversity Officer Vernese Edghill-Walden (June 18, 2020) Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled…the cry is always the same: ‘We want to be free.’ - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Diversity at NIU College of Law Northern Illinois University College of Law is strongly committed to facilitating access to the legal profession for members of traditionally underrepresented groups. Among our goals is to counter the effects of societal discrimination, to increase the number of lawyers who will serve in communities that are currently underserved and to obtain for our students the educational benefits that flow from a diverse faculty and student body. We therefore recruit faculty and students who represent diverse communities and identities in our society based on gender, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, race, culture, ethnicity and physical ability.
Messages from President Freeman
- Celebrating Juneteenth (June 17, 2021) We write today to share with you our excitement that this week both the state and federal government officially declared June 19 a holiday in observance of Juneteenth.
- Working Together for Racial and Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion (April 20, 2021) My hope is that the initiatives and opportunities captured on the site will grow and evolve over time and will serve as a catalyst for meaningful and lasting change. I welcome your ideas for the site, and have included a form where you can submit questions and updates. I look forward to working together to advance these goals and making NIU a home where we all are welcome and proud to belong.
- Denouncing Racism and Violence (March 18, 2021) This week, eight individuals, including six women of Asian descent, lost their lives in a targeted, mass shooting in Atlanta. These actions of anti-Asian violence are driven by hate and are completely reprehensible. Northern Illinois University is committed to speaking out and imploring our community and society to denounce hate and all forms of racism.
- Commitment to Addressing Racism (Sept. 24, 2020) I am committing NIU to do the hard work necessary to address systemic inequities and foster a more inclusive campus culture, knowing that achieving some goals and outcomes will require sustained, long-term effort, while other actions can be taken immediately. In the short term, I want you to know about the additional actions we’re taking to support our community since I first communicated about the racial slur spray-painted on the side of Center for Black Studies last week.
- Confronting Racism and Advancing Change (Aug. 12 Update) A Message from President Freeman: An Update on Confronting Racism and Advancing Change August 12, 2020 Dear Students, Faculty and Staff, Earlier this summer, I called upon our community to listen, learn, reflect and then act to change the systems that have disadvantaged and harmed our students, colleagues and friends who are Black or people of color. I heard from many of you who took the time to share honest, personal experiences and feelings, as well as ideas about the new measures needed to dismantle structures that perpetuate racism and inequity. Acknowledging the pain and tension caused by racism is important, but it’s not enough. As Huskies, whether within administration, the classroom or the student body, we must all take meaningful, lasting action to model the humanity and positive change we want to see in our nation.
- Confronting Racism and Advancing Change (May 31, 2020) I want the people of color in our community to know that NIU sees you and that NIU wants to be your community and a place where you have allies. NIU’s mission, vision and values are about equity, respect, building a better society, being accountable and being strengthened by diversity. This is a 24/7 commitment and responsibility, not just when classes are in session. I call on each of us – administration, staff, faculty, student, alumni and neighbor – to reflect on what we value as Huskies, as human beings. This is a time to listen and learn, and a time to ask ourselves how we can contribute to positive change.
Founders' Memorial Library Resources
Between the World and Me by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NAMED ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST Hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading," a bold and personal literary exploration of America's racial history by "the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race" (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN * NAMED ONE OF PASTE'S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review * O: The Oprah Magazine * The Washington Post * People * Entertainment Weekly * Vogue * Los Angeles Times * San Francisco Chronicle * Chicago Tribune * New York * Newsday * Library Journal * Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men--bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son--and readers--the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children's lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Call Number: E185.615 .C6335 2015ISBN: 9780812993547Publication Date: 2015-07-14
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by
ONE OF TIME'S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, and the inherent racism in a society that denies its nonwhite citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time. The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America. Praise for The Autobiography of Malcolm X "Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will."--Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father "Extraordinary . . . a brilliant, painful, important book."--The New York Times "A great book . . . Its dead level honesty, its passion, its exalted purpose, will make it stand as a monument to the most painful truth."--The Nation "The most important book I'll ever read, it changed the way I thought, it changed the way I acted. It has given me courage I didn't know I had inside me. I'm one of hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed for the better."--Spike Lee "This book will have a permanent place in the literature of the Afro-American struggle."--I. F. Stone
Call Number: BP223.Z8 L57944 1999ISBN: 0345379756Publication Date: 1992-09-29
White Fatigue by
White Fatigue: Rethinking Resistance for Social Justice explores how, despite the pleas and research of critical scholars, what passes for multicultural education in schools is often promotion of human relations and tolerance rather than a sustained critical examination of how race and racism shape social, political, economic, and educational opportunities for various groups, both historically and currently. Simultaneously, our nation's social mores have changed over time and millions of White Americans find racism morally reprehensible. This book illustrates that despite that shift, it is not uncommon to experience White Americans--in classrooms and other spaces--struggling to understand how racism functions. This struggle is often talked about as White resistance, White guilt, and White fragility. White fatigue is an idea that helps explain and differentiate this struggle for better understanding among White folks who feel racism is wrong but do not yet have an understanding of how racism functions. White Fatigue: Rethinking Resistance for Social Justice ultimately argues that if we are to advance our national conversation on race, educators must be willing to define reactions to conversations about race with more nuances, lest we alienate potential allies, accomplices, and leaders in the fight against racial injustice.
Call Number: LAW. LC1099.3 .F58 2018ISBN: 9781433150265Publication Date: 2018-01-04
When They Call You a Terrorist by
From one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement comes a poetic memoir and reflection on humanity. Necessary and timely, Patrisse Cullors' story asks us to remember that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love. Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement have been called terrorists, a threat to America. But in truth, they are loving women whose life experiences have led them to seek justice for those victimized by the powerful. In this meaningful, empowering account of survival, strength, and resilience, Patrisse Cullors and asha bandele seek to change the culture that declares innocent black life expendable.
Call Number: Founders Library E185.97 .K43 A3 2018ISBN: 9781250171085Publication Date: 2018-01-16
Alumni Working Toward Racial and Social Justice
- Hon. Vincent Cornelius ('89) Appointed to ARDC Equal Justice rules Committee The Honorable Vincent F. Cornelius (’89), Circuit Court of Will County, was recently appointed to serve on the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission’s (ARDC) newly formed Equal Justice Rules Committee (EJRC) to examine the ethical rules that govern Illinois attorneys’ conduct with the goal of determining whether amendment of those rules is necessary to enhance attorneys’ rights and refocus attorneys’ duties to act in a manner that supports the equal and fair application of justice.
- Ra'Mon Jones ('20) Publishes in Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal Class of 2020 graduate Ra’Mon Jones asserts that employment discrimination against Black people based on natural hairstyles and hair texture is a form of racial discrimination banned by the Civil Rights Act (Title VII). His article provides a provocative discussion on how negative perceptions of Black natural hair adversely affect Black employment opportunities, challenges the reasonableness of the mutable characteristics loophole that courts have imposed under Title VII to uphold this form of employment discrimination, modern professionalism, and potential solutions from legislative and business standpoints to eradicate this issue.
- Ryan Dowd ('03) - Director of Hesed House Hesed House’s mission is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless and give people the chance to hope again. Hesed House is a national model for ending homelessness – one person, one family at a time.
The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness by
Homelessness is a perennial topic of concern at libraries. In fact, staff at public libraries interact with almost as many homeless individuals as staff at shelters do. Empathy and understanding, along with specific actionable advice that's drawn from experience, makes all the difference in working with this group. In this book Dowd, executive director of a homeless shelter, spotlights best practices drawn from his own shelter's policies and training materials. Filled with to-the-point guidance that will help frontline public library staff and managers understand and serve this population better, this resource includes facts about homelessness every librarian should know; debunks widespread myths about these individuals, explaining how they see themselves, what issues they struggle with, and how libraries can shift towards supporting them; shares de-escalation techniques like showing respect, ways to avoid making things personal, and using proper body language; walks readers through dealing with common issues like a sleeping patron, questionable hygiene, offensive behavior, and asking a patron to leave; and advises on how to provide backup to a colleague and when to call the police. Filled with real life stories that illustrate the effectiveness of Dowd's approach, this one-of-a-kind guide will empower library staff to treat homeless individuals with dignity.
Call Number: Z 711.92 .P66 D69 2018ISBN: 9780838916261Publication Date: 2018-01-12
- Three Alumni Appointed to ISBA Committee on Racial Inequality Dr. Mary Milano (’78) and Kenya Jenkins-Wright (’03) have been appointed as co-chairs for the Illinois State Bar Association’s newly created Steering Committee on Racial Inequality, which was borne out of a resolution passed by the ISBA Assembly this past June. In addition, Matt Pfeiffer (’00) was appointed as a member of this committee.
Public Organizations
- Black Lives Matter Chicago Black Lives Matter Chicago is an intersectional vehicle that values Black people and our right to self-determination. We fight for justice with families most impacted, while working to create just and equitable systems.
- Chicago Justice Project PROVIDING FUEL FOR JUSTICE BUILDING INNOVATIVE DATA SYSTEMS DRIVING EVIDENCE BASED ADVOCACY
- Chicago Urban League The Chicago Urban League works for economic, educational and social progress for African Americans and promotes strong, sustainable communities through advocacy, collaboration and innovation.
- Black Youth Project 100 YP 100 holds trainings, protests, and social media campaigns for LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, and the decriminalization of black youth. BYP 100 is often involved in efforts to end systemic oppression, such as police brutality and economic decline in black communities. At its core, the organization builds and follows the leadership of young black people.
- Colors of Change We design campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real.
- Advancement Project Advancement Project is a next generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change.
- Dream Corps Diversity is the source of our nation’s strength. We want to live in an America where we respect one another’s beliefs, cultures, and expressions of self. Where we enthusiastically celebrate and grow strong from the richness of our differences and connect deeply through our shared humanity. We believe that when we face our problems together, we can repair our democracy and create a future that works for everyone.
- National Coalition on Black Civic Participation The National Coalition strives to create an enlightened community by building institutional capacity at both the national and local levels that provides and develops African American leadership. By educating, organizing and mobilizing citizens in our communities, the Coalition seeks to encourage full participation in a barrier-free democracy. Through educational programs and leadership training, the Coalition works to expand, strengthen and empower our communities to make voting and civic participation a cultural responsibility and tradition.
- Live Free As people of faith, we know that our country’s legacy of racism, violence, and economic exploitation runs counter to what is prescribed in our most sacred texts. Sadly, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world is also one of the most violent and punitive. With almost 12,000 gun murders a year (more than the annual death toll of U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War) and the highest incarceration rate in the world, we find ourselves in a moral crisis—a crisis which disproportionately impacts the poor and communities of color. With over 118 million people attending weekly services in over 350,000 congregations across the U.S., we believe that a social justice revival within our faith institutions would transform our nation’s hearts and minds, and ultimately, the policies and practices that perpetuate these evils. With hundreds of congregations as well as countless leaders and movement partners throughout the country, the LIVE FREE Campaign is working to end the scourges of gun violence, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of Black and Brown bodies that tears at the soul of our society.