In Fall 2023, the group's study focused on reimagining and enriching our understanding of the world from Black and Indigenous perspectives.
- One of the books we utilized was Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which offers Indigenous wisdom, hearing and respecting the languages of other beings, and embracing the knowledge that plants and animals are our oldest teachers.
- The other book we utilized was The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which imagines an Afrofuturistic fictional world in the now-not-so-distant future (written in 1993, it imagines the world in 2024) which offers an exploration of social inequity, identity and resistance, and climate injustice.
Selected participants received two books and any subsequent readings, and received a $250 award for their full participation over the fall semester. Participants agreed to be responsible for reading all of the assigned materials, and must attend five planning and discussion sessions. Students applied to continue as a Social Justice Scholar in the Spring semester (with an additional stipend), which built upon the Fall semester learning with additional readings.
Meet our 2023-2024 Social Justice Scholars cohort!
Congratulations to the 10 selected Scholars: Gabriella Alba, Nicole Cintrón Ortiz, Bernice Eads, Eliana Matos, Dalene Mendoza, Jada Oliver, Feyi Rufai, Desiree Schafer, Sofia Shepelwich, and Wayzaro Ariella-yve Taylor!
You can read about their Spring 2024 trip to Rid-All Green Partnership in SJI's March 2024 newsletter.