“A Balm for What Ails Us: Respect. Renew. Reimagine.”
What does liberation look like?
On October 27-29, 2022, we held a special convening of social justice leaders at Case Western Reserve University. Our Think Tank was centered around the theme of “A Balm for What Ails Us: Respect. Renew. Reimagine.” Our goal was to provide space for envisioning what liberation looks like for communities historically and currently marginalized by oppressive systems. We cannot envision until we have healed, and we cannot heal until we have acknowledged our history. Our ambition was to foster conversations and reignite passion for social justice across the Cleveland community.
All events were free and open to the public, held at CWRU’s Tinkham Veale University Center at 11038 Bellflower Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106.
All 2022 Think Tank sessions were recorded! Click here to view the full playlist or scroll down for individual videos.
Thursday, October 27
6:00 pm | Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Ben Vinson III, Provost, Case Western Reserve University
- Ayesha Bell Hardaway + Mark Chupp, CWRU Social Justice Institute Co-Directors
6:30 pm | Keynote Address and Moderated Q+A
- Derecka Purnell, Author of Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom
- Moderator: Kamarea Valentine, CWRU '25
Friday, October 28
6:00 pm | Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Ayesha Bell Hardaway + Mark Chupp, CWRU Social Justice Institute Co-Directors
6:15 pm | Spoken Word Poetry Performance
- Raja Freeman, Poet and Teaching Artist, Twelve Literary Arts
6:30 pm | Panel Discussion: Liberation through Democracy
- Erika Anthony, Co-Founder and Executive Director, VOTES
- Brandon Hasbrouck, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee School of Law
- Lawrence Caswell, Managing Editor, Community for Signal Cleveland: Ohio Local News Initiative
- Gregory T. Moore, President and CEO, Promise of Democracy Foundation; former Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund
- Moderator: Ayesha Bell Hardaway, CWRU Social Justice Institute
Saturday, October 29
Healing through the Arts with Tondi Wiley, Visual Artist: An Interactive, Instructive Arts Session for Restoration and Renewal (ongoing throughout the day)
9:15 am | Continental Breakfast
9:30 am | Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Ayesha Bell Hardaway + Mark Chupp, SJI Co-Directors
10:00 am | Panel Presentation: Community Safety and Liberation
- Monica C. Bell, Professor of Law and Associate Professor of Sociology, Yale University
- Kareem Henton, Black Lives Matter Cleveland
- Kevin Truitt, Disability Rights Ohio
- Moderator: Ayesha Bell Hardaway, CWRU Social Justice Institute
11:30 am | Theatre Performance
- Ananias J. Dixon, Actor
- Performing Dead Wrong by Lisa Langford
11:45 am | Catered Lunch
1:00 pm | Panel Presentation: Community Health and Liberation
- Jessie Hill, CWRU School of Law: Reproductive Justice in a Post-Roe World
- Kenyon Farrow, Managing Director of Advocacy & Organizing, PrEP4All
- Da'na Langford, CEO and Medical Director, Village of Healing Cleveland
- Moderator: Mark Chupp, CWRU Social Justice Institute
2:30 pm | Break
2:45 pm | Musical Performance
- ANUvybe (hip-hop, neo-soul, R+B)
3:00 pm | Panel Presentation: Liberation through Education
- Shemariah Arki, Assistant Professor in Africana Studies and Director of the Center of Pan-African Culture, Kent State University; Founder + Program Director, Ellipsis Institute for Women of Color in the Academy
- Habeebah R. Grimes, CEO, Positive Education Program (PEP) Cleveland
- Derrick Holifield, Kenneth Clement Boys Leadership Academy (Cleveland Metropolitan School District)
- Moderator: Janice Eatman-Williams, CWRU Student Affairs
4:30 pm | Closing Presentation: Healing through Meditation: An Interactive, Instructive Session for Restoration and Renewal