WASHINGTON – Howard University College of Arts and Science will host its first annual Social Justice Week, August 2-6, via Zoom. This week is one of the initiatives linked to the Mellon Foundation Grant received for the Just Futures Initiative in January. 

For one week, the community will have the opportunity to engage in community and academic panels, workshops, and guest speakers on criminal justice reform. Highlighted themes will connect the various instances of injustice in the judicial system, from the criminalization of Black bodies to police brutality. 

The goal for this week is to illuminate the obstacles, stereotypes and other acts of injustice that have tormented and plagued the Black community in recent years. There will be collective explorations to solutions that might mitigate or address pressing problems in our community and ways to sustain our spirits in this journey.  

Some key participants include attorney Jerry Blackwell, Tamika Mallory from Until Freedom, Yusef Salaam (one of the Central Park Five), the Mothers of the Movement, local activists Tony Lewis and Angel Gregorio and Howard alumnus and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka.    

Ras J. Baraka is the 40th mayor of the city of Newark. A native of Newark, Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has won him accolades from grassroots organizations to the White House under President Obama’s administration. With a forward-thinking agenda that reduced crime to its lowest levels in five decades, addressed affordability while maintaining steady growth, lowered unemployment, and returned local control of schools after more than two decades, Baraka has defied expectations since taking office in 2014. He’s currently fighting for a Civilian Complaint Review Board with subpoena power, while leading his city through the fight against COVID. 

Monday, August 2 will begin with an opening address by the Honorable Ras Baraka, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey at 10:00 a.m. EST. Followed by a panel entitled “Refund the People,” which will focus on the ways state and local funds could be redirected from policing and into community programs. The day will conclude with a panel, featuring Mothers of the Movement, including Sabrina Fulton (mother of Trayvon Martin) and Tamika Palmer (Mother of Breonna Taylor).  

Tuesday, August 3 focuses on mass incarceration and resilience and will feature the testimonies and insights from those who survived the system and are well-positioned to critique it.  

Wednesday, August 4 concentrates on law and justice. A panel of Howard University law school professors will discuss policing, trauma and a feminist critique of policing stops. Another panel will focus on the disfranchisement of formerly incarcerated people in Texas, featuring Carla Brailey, the vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party, and Rodney Ellis, commissioner of Harris County, Texas.  

Thursday, August 5 will feature local activists and advocates in addition to appearances from Tamika Mallory and Until Freedom, the Innocence Project, and two men of the Exonerated Five (Central Park Five).  

Friday August 6, the final day of Social Justice Week, Jerry Blackwell will be the keynote speaker at 6:30 p.m. EDT.  

To register for Social Justice Week, visit howard.zoom.us/socialjusticeweek. 

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About Howard University 

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Aaliyah Butler, aaliyah.butler@howard.edu