Curated by abolitionist organizer Mariame Kaba, this list of commitments is intended for folks who want to be part of supporting and working alongside incarcerated people this year and need some concrete ideas/steps. It is an incomplete list but a good start. Access the 9 solidarity commitments here!
An end of the year ‘newsletter’ for ER&M majors and other Yale students spotlighting specific community-based organizing efforts amidst the pandemic that foreground the collaborative roles that academic scholars, students, and researchers are playing to address the long-standing inequalities that are fueling this crisis. As the history of Ethnic Studies foregrounds community-based collaborations and collective praxis, these stories can help give majors and others interested in the field some sense of the ways that groups are organizing in the face of the pandemic. Read more about the featured organizations (SEIU 1199NE, Stop Solitary CT, Yale Prison Education Initiative, Havenly Treats, Connecticut Bail Fund, and La Resistencia) here!
In response to the abrupt dislocations and uncertainties that the pandemic has created, ER&M students continue to hold space and express their love and care for each other and for their communities in New Haven and beyond. Read “From New Haven, CT,” a weekly newsletter compiled by Ananya Kumar-Banerjee ER&M ’21 and friends to witness how our students find new ways to accompany each other through this challenging time. Ananya writes, “I hope that this newsletter will remind you of the vibrancy of this community. I also hope this will be a way to answer some of the questions posed by Prof. Camacho in her newsletter, namely: In our constellated locations, how can we relate to one another? How can we find one another with all these empty spaces between us? What does community and affection look like, when it is strung together by telephone wires and zoom calls? We hope this newsletter can do some of that work, coalescing our energy around local efforts, art, and readings.” Read the newsletters here!
On April 8, 2020, ER&M Professor Daniel Martinez HoSang participated in Part 3 of the webinar series “Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Failures that COVID Lays Bare.” The series, hosted by the African American Policy Forum and moderated by Kimberlé Crenshaw, features scholars, organizers, artists, and writers who share their thoughts on the intersectional dimensions of structural disparities in the context of COVID-19. Part 3 of the series discussed COVID’s impact in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, in Navajo country and other indigenous communities, and New Orleans, among other places with insights from Rosa Clemente, Daniel Martinez HoSang, Rinku Sen, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Mari Matsuda, and Dallas Goldtooth. Professor HoSang spoke about anti-Asian racism amidst the pandemic and its connection to widespread and long-standing forms of white supremacy. The series will continue on April 15th at 8:00 p.m. EST (5:00 p.m. PST). To register and view archived recordings of the series, click here.
Solidarity takes on many forms. In this “Grocery Shopping with Solidarity” Instagram post, Annie Cheng ER&M ’20 promotes solidarity in grocery shopping during COVID-19. Check out Annie’s tips for ways to practice solidarity in your local communities while nourishing yourself during quarantine.
