Social Justice Origin Stories

This is Volume 3 of The Justice We Imagine, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. This series focuses on storytellers' responses to three essential questions:   When is true social justice possible? What shapes our approach to the work? And why does understanding and sharing our social justice origin stories matter? As you listen to their responses, reflect on what your answers migh...

This is Volume 2 of “For Those Who’ll Come After“, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. In this series, storytellers reach across time, sharing messages and reflections for future generations, sharing what they want them to know, remember, and carry forward in the ongoing pursuit of social justice. 🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTube! h...

Sheldon Gay shares his journey of late identification as gifted and neurodivergent, which fostered his commitment to humanizing Black, gifted, and otherwise neurodivergent experiences to promote acceptance and self-love. Through his podcast 'I Must Be Bug'N,' Sheldon aims to dismantle the pathology associated with labels and celebrate the strengths and challenges, what he terms “the 'cape and the...

Tracie Jae, human culture strategist and educator describes how her family both shielded her from, and prepared her to engage with racial injustice, and shares about the breadcrumbs that helped her to learn that racism shouldn’t be normal. She tells the story of the birth of her identity as The Quiet Rebel, and breaks down her more HUMAN (Honest, Urgent, Meaningful, Accountable, Nuanced) approach...

In this educational segment of Social Justice Origin Stories, Dr. Darryl B. Rice, Associate Professor of Management and Richard T. Farmer Associate Professor at Miami University, shares the research findings he and co-authors Dr. Tsedale Melaku and Dr. Jennifer R. Bishop write about in their forthcoming article: Jim Crow 2.0: Understanding Present-Day Anti-DEI Laws as A Function of Cross Generatio...

This is Volume 1 of “For Those Who'll Come After“, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. In this series, storytellers reach across time, sharing messages and reflections for future generations, sharing what they want them to know, remember, and carry forward in the ongoing pursuit of social justice. 🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTube! h...

Beca Velázquez-Publes, Founder, Coach & Consultant at The Liberated Leader, opens up about the lessons she learned early on from her parents that made working for social justice a part of her DNA. She talks about the evolving nature of purpose and how her work with the Urban Core Collective solidified her social justice journey, allowing her to build a space that resisted norms in the nonprofi...

Quincy M. Simmons, a rising senior at SUNY New Paltz in Journalism, Film, Video, and Black Studies, shares what motivated him to use his love for comic books, manga, and anime to address social justice issues through his podcast, 'The Masks We Wear. He talks about mental health, neurodiversity, and toxic masculinity, and how exploring comics as modern mythology can offer powerful reflections on to...

This is Volume 2 of “Take This With You“, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. Storytelling is a gift, and in this series, storytellers reflect on what they hope stays with you after their episode ends. As you listen to their sharing, consider this moment as an invitation to reflect on your own journey. 🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTu...

Chinyere Neale reflects on a time in her life when the frustration she often felt toward well-meaning but uninformed white people who considered themselves allies in racial justice work became a mirror for her own growth. After attending an LGBTQIA+ ally training at work one day, she came to a humbling realization that she also had the capacity to be well-meaning but uninformed in a different way....

This is Volume 1 of “Take This With You“, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. Storytelling is a gift, and in this series, storytellers reflect on what they hope stays with you after their episode ends. As you listen to their sharing, consider this moment as an invitation to reflect on your own journey. 🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTu...

Kelly Maxwell reflects on how coming out as a lesbian in the 1990s sparked a deeper examination of her whiteness and a lifelong commitment to understanding her relationship to privilege and oppression. She traces her journey from growing up in an almost exclusively white small town in Ohio to dedicating 17 years to social justice education through intergroup dialogue at The Program on Intergroup R...

After narrowly avoiding a car accident in a parking lot one day, Angie Freeman (they/them) reflects on how that experience, and their initial reaction in the moments before and after learning the other driver was Deaf, expanded their awareness of their unexamined privilege. The experience set them on a path to learn American Sign Language (ASL), learn more about the lived experiences of Deaf peopl...

This is Volume 2 of The Justice We Imagine, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. This series focuses on storytellers' responses to three essential questions:   When is true social justice possible? What shapes our approach to the work? And why does understanding and sharing our social justice origin stories matter? As you listen to their responses, reflect on what your answers migh...

As an intellectual activist, Dr. Nadia Brigham has possessed the ability to recognize the patterns of injustice from an early age. She tells stories from her early life, highlighting pivotal moments that sparked her passion for social justice. She reflects on her journey of completing her dissertation research exploring the ways power is wielded through language and narratives that dehumanize Blac...

This is Volume 1 of The Justice We Imagine, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. This series focuses on storytellers' responses to three essential questions:   When is true social justice possible? What shapes our approach to the work? And why does understanding and sharing our social justice origin stories matter? As you listen to their responses, reflect on what your answers migh...

Dr. Emely Medina-Rodríguez, a social researcher and program evaluator committed to equity and culturally responsive practices, shares the story of her journey from Puerto Rico to Chicago and the events that inform her practice and activism as a researcher. Her storytelling teaches listeners about the need to challenge extractive traditional research practices that don’t prioritize the needs of com...

Reflecting on significant learning experiences that have shaped his approach to social justice, speaker, author, and coach Dr. Keith Edwards describes education as an act of faith; investing time in cultivating the necessary relationships required to do the work with the belief that we’re making an impact even if we are not around to witness the outcomes. Speaking from the perspectives of someone...

Claire Downing, Founder and Principal at The Moonlight Collaborative, shares a story of how witnessing her parents’ activism and the ways they navigated differences as an interfaith family shaped her own commitment to activism; paving the way for her to be able to develop a commitment to continually understand and embrace the complexities of her identities and relationship to privilege and oppress...

Dr. Bryan O. Buckley tells the story of how his Caribbean background and the lessons he learned from watching his grandparents' activism shaped his approach to leading for equity in public health. He reflects on pivotal moments in his life and career, the game-changing impact of mentoring and sponsorship, and how his superpower as a connector enables him to build relationships with people closest...

In sharing the Social Justice Origin Story of the global Rockstar Woman™ Movement, founder Shannon Cohen recalls how manifesting her dream of establishing truly inclusive professional networks and affinity spaces for women was born from a mix of inspiration, observation, and agitation, with a particular desire to create spaces that were markedly different from the exclusionary, predominantly white...

Pastor Phil Jackson shares the social justice origin story of the Firehouse Community Arts Center in Chicago, essential leadership lessons he has learned from his role as founder and CEO, and the ways the Firehouse lives out its mission to interrupt the cycle of violence among youth and young adults in North Lawndale through the power of the arts and faith. His storytelling affirms the transformat...

Mia Henry connects common threads between her training as an educator, the 29 Civil Rights tours she organized and led over the past 10 years, and her current work developing educational curriculum on resistance and social justice as the founder and CEO of Freedom Lifted, which offers justice-centered leadership development through online learning, training, and facilitation. The social justice or...

In sharing his story of redemption and transformation, Dr. Yusef Bunchy Shakur names his experiences navigating systemic oppression, his time in prison for a crime he didn't commit, and the people who invested in him in his life as pivotal moments that activated his commitment to social justice. His storytelling affirms the power of vulnerability, self-forgiveness, and the critical role of educati...

Chelsea Pratt, a scholar and practitioner in higher education focusing on inclusive and sustainable organizational cultures, workplace well-being, and addressing workplace trauma, discusses the profound impact of trauma and identity in the workplace. She speaks on the traumatic effects of ignoring harmful identity-based incidents both inside and outside our workplaces, especially for people who li...