Category Archives: Voices

The Kingfisher is Flying to Illinois

Posted on 08/27/2023 by The Kingfisher Task Force

In 2007 the UIUC Board of Trustees acknowledged the opposition of faculty, student organizations, and NCAA guidelines prohibiting the use of race-based mascots in intercollegiate athletics, and voted to eliminate “Chief Illiniwek” as the campus mascot. Tired of waiting for … Continue reading →

1,003 total views

Posted in Section, Students, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Voices | Tagged campus activism, mascot, UIUC | Comments Off

Anti-Abortion Centers Mislead People at Their Most Vulnerable

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Julie Laut and Celia Barbieri

Reproductive justice: the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. This past January, on the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, SisterSong … Continue reading →

665 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, Healthcare, Reproductive Justice, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights, Youth | Tagged abortion rights, anti-abortion, feminism, reproductive justice, women's rights | Comments Off

Diesel Therapy

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Shamar Betts

The odyssey of Urbana resident Shamar Betts continues. Betts was arrested for authoring a Facebook post at age 19 in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and charged … Continue reading →

928 total views

Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color | Tagged African Americans, Black Lives Matter, incarceration, US Marshals | Comments Off

UIUC GEO Wins a Progressive Contract

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Essam A. B. Elkorghli

Graduate workers across the US have been hard-hit by the skyrocketing inflation induced by federal mismanagement of monetary policy that is being felt by all too many working-class people. The laughable wage increases that were “handed” to many low-paid workers … Continue reading →

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, Students, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Voices | Tagged bargaining, campus labor, Campus organizing, GEO, UIUC, union solidarity, unions | Comments Off

The Lavenders: Past and Present Queer Journalism in Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Public i

On February 23, UCIMC Executive Director Miriam Larson hosted a virtual conversation with representatives of two generations of activists in Champaign-Urbana. Mary Lee Sargent, former director of Parkland College’s Women’s Studies Program (now residing in New Hampshire), was one of … Continue reading →

728 total views

Posted in African Americans, Feminism, LGBTQ, Media, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged feminism, Illinois activism, local independent media, women's rights | Comments Off

Slaves—Our Ancestors

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Mrs. Marilynn Dean Cleveland

We give praise to those who came before us, fighting for the right to be free. Who were they? They are our ancestors, who suffered unendurable pain. Pain, from the snake-like whip that mutilated their flesh as it bit into … Continue reading →

638 total views, 1 views today

Posted in African American history, African American Women in Champaign-Urbana, African Americans, Arts, Local Arts, Section, Violence, Voices, Women | Tagged African American history, African American women, local African American voices, local arts, Slavery | Comments Off

Illinois Correctional System: What Is It Really?

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Kevin Stirnichuk

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing completed by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational … Continue reading →

1,107 total views, 1 views today

Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices | Tagged education, incarcerated people, incarceration | Comments Off

Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice Week: Educate, Elevate, Act!

Posted on 04/23/2023 by Julie Laut

SisterSong: The National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective defines reproductive justice as the “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Many … Continue reading →

623 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Reproductive Justice, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged abortion rights, community action, reproductive justice, women | Comments Off

Woman – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 2

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Public i

Part 1 of this interview was published in the December 2022 issue. The text has been substantially shortened and edited. Public i: I want to shift the discussion to the US now, and ask what can or should the US … Continue reading →

701 total views

Posted in Feminism, Foreign Policy, International, International, Section, Voices, Women | Tagged feminism, human rights, Iran, protest | Comments Off

Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Mathew Laird

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational programming … Continue reading →

613 total views

Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices | Tagged incarceration, prion arts, prison education | Comments Off

Women – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 1

Posted on 12/31/2022 by Public i

Public i: Just start with a basic overview of what’s happening now and what sparked it, an update on the latest, and also what do you think people should know that isn’t being covered in the mainstream US media. Faranak … Continue reading →

1,532 total views

Posted in Feminism, International, International, Section, Voices, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged feminism, hijab, human rights, Iran, protest | Comments Off

Why I Called Herschel Walker Coonish: The Right of Black People to Call Out their Traitors

Posted on 12/31/2022 by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

Editors’ Note: This article has been held until after the Georgia runoff election so there would be no suggestion of a political endorsement. Since Donald Trump’s incursion into US politics in 2015, deprecation and intimidation have become pervasive. Trump and … Continue reading →

1,214 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, bigotry, Politics, Racism, Voices, White Nationalism | Tagged fascism, media, politics, racism | Comments Off

How The Issue of Representation Impacts Central Illinois

Posted on 12/31/2022 by Marcus Pruitt

The issue of unequal representation of cultures has plagued the nation since its birth, often resulting in the perversion of people’s natural rights. In central Illinois, it extends that perversion through aggressive discrimination. Although minorities have seen more representation on … Continue reading →

911 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, bigotry, Media, Racism, Section, Violence, Voices | Tagged African American, discrimination, media stereotypes, racism, violence | Comments Off

Drag Shows in Champaign-Urbana: Interview with Amy Myers

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Karen Medina

“Drag is an art. It is a culture.” As a cis, straight woman, I did not fully understand the cultural importance of drag shows until 2019, when I was managing a community center that has a wonderful zine collection and … Continue reading →

736 total views, 1 views today

Posted in Arts, LGBTQ, Local Arts, Women | Tagged drag shows, LGBTQ+, local culture | Comments Off

Links

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Thomas Stromblad

534 total views

Posted in Arts, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners | Tagged incarceration, Prison arts | Comments Off

Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Shamar Betts

I, Shamar Betts, incited a riot through a Facebook post encouraging my people to join alongside the rest of the world in an attempt to express our feelings on the tragic death of George Floyd in May of 2020. Although … Continue reading →

875 total views, 2 views today

Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, Court System, incarceration, January 6 insurrection, Justice, Prisoners, Racism, Trump, Voices of Color, Youth | Tagged African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Trump | Comments Off

A Time of Monsters: The New Nadir and the Crisis of the Black Worker

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Gus Wood

We currently reside in what Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci called “A Time of Monsters.” Exacerbated by the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic, the Black working classes continue to struggle under what Black Studies scholar Sundiata Cha-Jua has dubbed “the New Nadir.” For … Continue reading →

592 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Economy, labor, Labor/Economics, Politics | Tagged Black workers, economic inequality, economic racism, new nadir, underemployment | Comments Off

Juneteenth Freedom Day

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Aaron Ammons

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with … Continue reading →

709 total views, 1 views today

Posted in African American history, African Americans, African Americans, Racism, Remembering, Voices of Color | Tagged African American traditions, holidays, Juneteenth, Memory, Slavery | Comments Off

Juneteenth 2022 at Randolph Street Garden

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Public i

Seitu Ken Jones, a multidisciplinary artist who believes in the power of public art to link the past and present, spent 2020–21 as a visiting artist at the UIUC Center for Advanced Study. He returned this past June to work … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, African American history, African Americans, Community, Local Arts, Voices of Color, Youth | Tagged African American history, Juneteenth, local community, youth | Comments Off

Reckless Law, Shameless Order: Behind the Scenes

Posted on 06/25/2022 by Nasrin Navab

One afternoon in April of 2021 Faranak Miraftab called me to ask if I was interested in holding an art workshop with formerly incarcerated artists in continuation of the “IDENSCITY,” a conceptual art space that I had been developing … Continue reading →

778 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Immigrants, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Voices, Voices of Color, Women | Tagged Immigrants, incarceration, local arts, Prison arts | Comments Off