Category Archives: Voices

Blurs and Erases

Posted on June 2020 by Johnny Page

We find ourselves at an interesting moment. Pivotal, in fact. As we collectively attempt to navigate uncharted waters, I am constantly thinking about how prepared I am. For a large portion of my life, lockdown was my reality. This in … Continue reading →

169 total views, 2 views today

Posted in African Americans, COVID-19, incarceration | Comments Off

A Student’s Perspective on COVID-19

Posted on June 2020 by Tristan Suellentrop

On January 21, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 within the US was confirmed. During the first few days of the University of Illinois spring break, it was announced that all courses would transition to online-only learning by March 23, … Continue reading →

154 total views, 2 views today

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

Is the Addition of a Larger Police Presence to Urbana Schools a Human Rights Violation?

Posted on June 2020 by Cara Munro

On February 4, 2019, I was in class at Urbana High School when a student came in and said there were students fighting in the hall and a teacher had been knocked out. My teacher quickly locked the door and … Continue reading →

576 total views, 3 views today

Posted in Education, Education, Police, Section, Students, Voices | Comments Off

University of Illinois “Old” Alums Return for a Conference on the 1960s Protest Movement

Posted on December 2019 by Robert Justin Goldstein

About 50 literally “old” University of Illinois alums returned to campus from around the country (and in one case, from Switzerland) to attend an October 4-5 conference about the 1960s UI student protest movements for free speech and against the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1968 Revolt, Education, Students, University of Illinois, Vietnam War | Comments Off

This is going to take more than windmills: Addressing Trauma at the UN Climate Summit

Posted on December 2019 by Kate Insolia

Climate activists from around the world converged on New York City during the United Nations Climate Summit in September, 2019, and I was lucky enough to be invited to contribute to this historic moment. There were scientists, lawyers, architects and … Continue reading →

Posted in Co Counseling, Environment, Indigenous | Comments Off

University and High School Students Collaborate to Host September 20th Climate Strike

Posted on December 2019 by Anya Kaplan-Hartnett

Between September 20 and 27, over 6000 protests took place in 185 countries as part of the Global Week for Future. Students walked out of classes, workers went on strike, and millions gathered to demand climate justice and take action … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Students, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

Attacks on the Campus Left Then and Now: Fighting Student Activists on Illinois’ Campus in the 1930s

Posted on May 2019 by Nick Goodell

In the 1930s, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was home to a thriving anti-war and anti-imperialist community of different radical, socialist, and communist groups. The National Student League (NSL), later called the American Student Union (ASU), the Communist Youth … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Alt-Right, military, Students, University of Illinois | Comments Off

For a World Without Borders

Posted on March 2019 by Tariq Khan

Speech by Tariq Khan at the UIUC Ayuda Rally at Anniversary Plaza, November 29, 2018. UIUC Ayuda was a student group/campaign to raise awareness about and material support for the Central American caravans made up of people seeking asylum. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Alt-Right, bigotry, Immigration, Indigenous, Land, Refugees, University of Illinois | Comments Off

Women Workers on the March: UNITE HERE Hotel Workers Strike

Posted on March 2019 by Stephanie Fortado

Currently women workers are leading the march of labor in this country. Although it is lost amid the headlines of the #MeToo movement, this movement’s call for an end to sexual harassment and assault is at its core a demand … Continue reading →

Posted in health care, labor, Women | Comments Off

Mayor Harold Washington: Champion of Race and Reform in Chicago

Posted on December 2018 by John Palen

If you’ve read Robert Caro’s biographies of Lyndon Johnson, you know what it’s like to be kidnapped by a historian who’s also a great story teller. The reading lamp burns late. I’ve just finished a new book on Illinois history … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Chicago, Politics | Comments Off

A Muslim on the Inside

Posted on November 2018 by Isra Rahman

“Praise the Gods, Martin Luther King is dead.” Monroe Haynes was an 18-year-old in Vietnam fighting a war he did not understand, with people he did not know, when he heard his commander proclaim this statement. Just barely an adult, … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Islam, Prisoners | Comments Off

1968 – Not Really So Long Ago or Far Away

Posted on November 2018 by Janice Jayes

“I want kids to see that it wasn’t just Martin Luther King making things happen in the 1960s, it was local folks here as well. Just as it is today.” Katie Snyder, Education Program Specialist, Museum of the Grand Prairie … Continue reading →

Posted in 1968, African Americans, African Americans, Environment, University of Illinois, Vietnam War, Youth | Comments Off

Trustee Trip

Posted on September 2018 by Jay Rosenstein

This past spring, two U of I Trustees set out on a secret mission to solve the seemingly endless Chief Illiniwek problem once and for all. And they did it. But I doubt they’re happy with the result. They hoped … Continue reading →

Posted in Indigenous, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

An Exciting Change in Children’s Literature Book Awards!

Posted on September 2018 by Debbie Reese

Back in February of 2018, I was astonished and excited when I learned that the American Library Association’s Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) was taking a look at the names of its book awards, asking if the award … Continue reading →

Posted in children, Indigenous, Literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

Trump Pardons Jack Johnson

Posted on June 2018 by Neil Parthun

On May 24, 2018, President Donald Trump officially signed a posthumous pardon for heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson. As a radical and a sports fan, it was a surreal moment on a number of levels. But to explain how, it is … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, bigotry, Sports, Trump | Comments Off

Police Gun Violence: An Epidemic in America

Posted on May 2018 by Public i

By Salma El-Naggar Salma El-Naggar is a sophomore at Uni High and a member of the student organization team for the local walkout and other social justice even In the light of the recent Florida school shooting, gun violence has … Continue reading →

Posted in Gun violence, Police, Students | Comments Off

Student Coalition Protests Gun Violence

Posted on May 2018 by Public i

By Annemily Hoganson, Anya Kaplan-Hartnett, Victoria Kindratenko and Emma Lowenstein. Left to right: Annemily Hoganson is a junior at Uni High and an organizer of the CU-March For Our Lives. Anya Kaplan-Hartnett is a sophomore at Uni. Victoria Kindratenko … Continue reading →

Posted in Gun violence, Students | Tagged Gun violence | Comments Off

History Matters: Remembering Two “Dangerous” Labor Union Women

Posted on March 2018 by Stephanie Fortado

By Stephanie Fortado Dr. Stephanie Seawell Fortado is a Lecturer at the University of Illinois Labor Education Program, providing workshops and extension programming for unions and the general public on the Champaign-Urbana campus and throughout Illinois. Before joining the University, … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Feminism, labor, Labor/Economics, Women, Women | Comments Off

The Alt-Right Comes to Town

Posted on March 2018 by David Prochaska

by David Prochaska TARIQ KHAN INCIDENT Last November 16, on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s election, Tariq Khan, a 39-year-old Ph.D. student in history, was just finishing speaking at a rally when hecklers, including Joel Valdez, called out, “No … Continue reading →

Posted in Alt-Right, bigotry, Free Speech, Indigenous, News-Gazette, University of Illinois | Comments Off

Abused: Working Women Face Widespread Harassment and Violence

Posted on March 2018 by Patricia Simpson

By Pat Simpson Pat Simpson, Emerita Professor, Loyola University, formerly taught in the Labor Education Program, UIUC. A longtime labor and social justice activist, she is currently a member of the Chambana Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and of the … Continue reading →

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Sexual abuse, Women, Women | Comments Off