DEMOCRATIZING RACIAL JUSTICE PROJECT
Democratizing Racial Justice seeks to put higher education in service of communities of color. We seek to transform the role of higher education, through increasing access to Ethnic Studies and Humanities in service of racial justice. The DRJ is combating the erasure of people of color and their histories by centering people of color in creating collective voices for racial justice. With $5 million in support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we are able to create a new vision for higher education in our community and beyond.
Partnerships
The DRJ offers resources via community-based endeavors to envision and realize racial justice. Through site-based collaborations and partnerships, Democratizing Racial Justice elevates co-created community knowledge for just societies, transforms access to the academy for people of color and first-gen students, and propagates transformative pedagogies in Ethnic Studies and the humanities.
Community Projects
DRJ Fellowships
Our first-gen graduate fellowships will prepare and hold public talks with community fellows, contribute to special projects and events, and will distribute accessible summaries online and through our newsletter. They are providers of our open space to the public as well as to our team members.
The People’s Academy
The project mobilizes year-long People’s Academies, in which multidisciplinary teams, facilitated by an anchoring community organization, support community-based groups in imagining racial justices for themselves and implementing projects in which Ethnic Studies and humanities experts help create the world those communities imagine.
The Educators’ Academy
The Ethnic Studies Educators’ Academy will engage community members in analyzing race and shaping racially just visions, supported by decolonial methodologies in humanities, education, social sciences, and arts. The knowledge emerging from these collaborations will be shared through academic research publications.
Who We Serve
Connecting Educators & Students
with the San Antonio Community
Our students, faculty, and community members will work in multiple endeavors and pathways; from internships, fellowships, teaching academies, and more to fight against racist ideologies. Our educators and students will learn to build and develop meaningful relationships with their local community from diverse backgrounds and origins by taking part in our fight for a just future.
