Category Archives: Voices

Ubuntu Project Statement on Automated License Plate Readers

Posted on November 2021 by Ubuntu Project

The Ubuntu Project Urbana-Champaign is disappointed to learn that the Champaign City Council is considering voting to purchase license plate readers. Considering the well-documented controversial reputation and questionable value of license plate readers, the Champaign people need more information on … Continue reading →

164 total views, 2 views today

Posted in African American, African Americans, civil rights, Crime, Gun violence, Justice, police accountability, Policing, Violence | Comments Off

Texas isn’t the Only Place where a Woman’s Right to a Safe and Legal Abortion is Under Attack

Posted on November 2021 by Ruth Wyman

Right here in in Illinois, women’s lives and safety are being sacrificed for the election-minded politicians of the Land of Lincoln. In Illinois, young women and girls’ safety is at risk under the Parental Notice Act. The Parental Notice … Continue reading →

134 total views, 2 views today

Posted in abortion rights, health care, IL, Women, wonen's rights | Comments Off

A Conversation with Urbana Poet Laureate Ashanti Files

Posted on November 2021 by Public i

The Public i recently talked to Urbana Poet Laureate Ashanti Files Please tell our readers a little about yourself. “I am a wife, mother, and registered nurse. I currently work in mental health and addiction services. I enjoy reading, writing … Continue reading →

260 total views, 3 views today

Posted in African Americans, Arts, Community, Local Arts, Poetry, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

How the Campus Becomes the Border

Posted on September 2021 by Daniel Gonzalez and Alex Sager

In August, 2020, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) opted for a hybrid in-person/online semester. The decision to partially reopen was made possible by the innovative SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell initiative. A crucial part of this program was … Continue reading →

487 total views, 3 views today

Posted in COVID-19, Immigrants, Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

The Nest Postpartum Support

Posted on September 2021 by Paige Raab

Five years ago, my world turned upside down after the birth of our first son. What should have been the happiest day of our lives turned into one crisis after another, a transfer to a hospital two hours away, and … Continue reading →

215 total views, 2 views today

Posted in Community, health care, Voices, Women, Women | Comments Off

Moving to End Anti-AAPI Hate

Posted on August 2021 by May Kao Xiong

Despite May having been the month to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage, the preceding year saw the increase of violence and hate towards Asians and Asian Americans that ranged from attacks on Asian and Asian American elders … Continue reading →

952 total views, 2 views today

Posted in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, bigotry, Racism, violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

Slightly Out of Focus: A Review of One Night in Miami and Judas and the Black Messiah

Posted on August 2021 by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

For more than 70 years and over a century, respectively, television and cinema have presented demeaning images of Black people. And for equally as long, African Americans have responded with boycotts, pickets and alternative visions that “depict[ed] our men and … Continue reading →

266 total views, 1 views today

Posted in 1968 Revolt, African American, African Americans, Arts, cinema, film, Politics, Racism, Voices, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Palestinians Aren’t Safe Anywhere, Not Even in their Classrooms

Posted on August 2021 by Sireen Amra

In the past month, Palestinians have witnessed yet another escalation of Zionist violence inflicted onto our homeland without reservation. Israeli warplanes murdered over 250 Palestinians and displaced nearly 100,000 people from their homes during a two-week-long bombardment of the Gaza … Continue reading →

345 total views, 3 views today

Posted in International, International, Israel/Palestine, Palestinians, Section, Students, Voices, Women | Comments Off

Supporting Women, Girls and Families: An Interview with Stephanie Cockrell

Posted on May 2021 by P. Stewart

Women are praised for being pillars of strength in their families and communities, but this same strength might lead them to be overlooked when designing services to meet the needs of a community. Women also need therapeutic activities that help … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, African American Women in Champaign-Urbana, African Americans, Community, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

Black Art Politicized: A Discussion with Leslie Smith

Posted on May 2021 by Drake Materre

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Leslie Smith, a board member of the Urbana–Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC) and the founder of Black Voices Theater Production. As someone who grew up in a household with a father who is … Continue reading →

Posted in African American Women in CU, African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Local Arts, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

Stop Asian Hate: A Local Perspective

Posted on May 2021 by Sharon S. Lee

The March 16, 2021 shootings in Atlanta, resulting in the tragic deaths of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, have raised awareness of anti-Asian violence, misogyny, and hatred in this country. In this unprecedented time when global viruses … Continue reading →

Posted in Racism, Voices of Color, Women, Xenophobia | Comments Off

Bail Systems as Wealth-Based Incarceration, or “No Money, No Justice”

Posted on April 2021 by Carol Skalnik Leff

The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits “excessive” bail, a prohibition that dates back to English common law, and is largely honored in the breach. In Champaign County Jail, on any given day this past winter, there were … Continue reading →

Posted in Court System, IL, incarceration, Justice, National, Women | Comments Off

Shamar Betts: Caught in a Legal Drama that Started Before He was Born

Posted on April 2021 by Janice Jayes

No one wants to be the poster child for a Supreme Court challenge. However, finding his case before the Supreme Court could not only help Urbana resident Shamar Betts resolve his own situation, but it could redraw the legal lines … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, BLM, Champaign County, civil rights, Court System, Justice, News, Racism, Women | Comments Off

The Haters Among Them

Posted on April 2021 by Pat Simpson

The number is thirty so far, thirty police officers charged with the act of participating in the Capitol insurrection last January. Many, many Americans felt shock, and media analysts expressed particular outrage, to find men in blue—perhaps even waving blue-line, … Continue reading →

Posted in bigotry, National, Police, police accountability, Racism, White Nationalism, Women | Comments Off

Africa and COVID-19 Vaccines: The Politics Surrounding Equitable Access to Vaccines

Posted on April 2021 by Fatou Jobe

Global North countries, including France, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, leaving countries of the Global South behind in equitable access to vaccines. As COVID-19 vaccines become available, many Global North countries have already purchased half of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, COVID-19, International, International, Women | Comments Off

Thank the Suffragists: Celebrating the Women’s Rights History of Champaign County

Posted on February 2021 by Barb Oehlschlaeger-Garvey

Ever wondered why March is Women’s History Month? We at the Museum of the Grand Prairie invite you to answer that question with a visit to our latest exhibit celebrating the centennial of women’s voting rights, “How Long Must Women … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Voting Rights, Women, wonen's rights | Comments Off

Countering Disinformationhttp://publici.ucimc.org/wp-admin/edit.php to Build a Just Society

Posted on December 2020 by Kiana Kazemi

We have heard a lot about disinformation during this past year, but learning more about how information is manipulated, distorted and deployed to shape social debates can help you recognize when you are being targeted in a disinformation campaign. It … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, Media, Racism, Trump, Women, Youth | Comments Off

White Nationalism in our Own Front Yards

Posted on December 2020 by Janice Jayes

This past summer residents of West Champaign awoke to find their neighborhoods had been leafletted with an insulting anti-immigrant flyer bearing the imprint of the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), a group designated as a white nationalist hate group … Continue reading →

Posted in Alt-Right, Racism, White Nationalism, Women, Xenophobia | Comments Off

“It’s Scary Having a Fifteen-Year-Old Son”: Community Voices on Gun Violence in C-U

Posted on December 2020 by FirstFollowers

In the midst of the global pandemic, Champaign-Urbana has its own local epidemic: gun violence. As of July 20, police had received 95 reports in 2020 of shooting incidents in Champaign alone. This is more than double the total for … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Gun violence, incarceration, Poetry, Violence, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Separating Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism

Posted on December 2020 by Jenni Walkup

The morning after the 2016 presidential election, I woke up wondering if I was still white. I am Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish, and had always felt confident in the safety my light skin afforded me. That day, for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-Semitism, Israel/Palestine, Students, Women | Comments Off