Category Archives: Voices

Black Lives Matter C-U Summer Activities

Posted on 05/27/2016 by Public i

Social justice collective, Black Lives Matter, the Champaign-Urbana chapter, has been gaining further traction within their outreach. From demonstrations and panel meetings, to youth involvement and local radio shows, Black Lives Matter’s efforts continue to make striving progress throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Human Rights, Justice | Comments Off

Incarceration figures

Posted on 05/27/2016 by Public i

Some figures compiled in the Coalition for Prisoners’ Rights Newsletter (April 2016). Reprinted with Permission. I. Number Incarcerated in U.S., 2014 1.5 million people at an annual per person cost of $80 billion–approximately $51,250 each. (A “free world” minimum wage of $15/hr … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Justice, Latino/a, Prisoners, Women, Youth | Comments Off

City and IMC Announce $50,000 grant for creative placemaking from the NEA

Posted on 05/10/2016 by Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

Downtown Urbana is about to become a lot more creative – thanks to the vision of local youth, the City of Urbana, the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC), and the National Endowment of the Arts. The NEA has announced awards … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, UC-IMC, Voices of Color, Youth | Comments Off

The Beheading of a Saint: Junipero Serra and the California Monument Wars

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Richard Esbenshade

During his visit to Mexico in February, Pope Francis apologized for the “systematic and organized” exclusion of indigenous Americans over the centuries. This took place in San Cristobal de las Casas, the epicenter of the indigenous-identified Zapatista uprising in 1994, … Continue reading →

Posted in Indigenous, Latino/a, Politics | Comments Off

Nigerian Man Connects with African American and Caribbean Cousins Through AncestryDNA

Posted on 04/25/2016 by LaKisha David

“My maternal grandmother told me … that way back in time, we had family members who went to the stream to fetch water and never returned. This stuck in my psyche for all those years,” said Ade. As a young … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, DNA Testing, International | Comments Off

Youth Poetry

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Public i

MY CURLY HAIR by Amina Alamin My curly hair can do anything it can be in big braids and in little braids and curled in to ringlets and many more things. Some people don’t like my hair and some people … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts, Community Forum, Education, Policing, Youth | Comments Off

Radical Women-An Historical Perspective

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Julie Laut

“Women have to find a script, a narrative to live by, because all other scripts are likely to depict them in roles that fit the conventional stereotypes.” Mamphela Ramphele Last month in these pages I wrote about my personal journey as … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

#BlackLivesMatter Founder Opal Tometi Visits C-U

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Brian Dolinar

Posted in African Americans, Politics, Women | Comments Off

“Old” Urban Renewal in Champaign-Urbana, 1960-1969

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Natalie Prochaska

Forcing people to move from their homes is one of the most intrusive exercises of state power. It is difficult to overstate the combined financial and psychological impacts that the loss of a home has on an individual. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Homelessness, Politics | Comments Off

The Right to Pray Movement and Feminist Politics in India

Posted on 03/11/2016 by India Watcher

by India Watcher The women’s movement in India entered a new phase in late 2015 and early 2016 under the banner of the Right to Pray movement. During this time, large numbers of women protested that they were barred from … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, International, Women | Comments Off

Courtwatch Victory

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Courtwatchers

By Courtwatchers Courtwatchers is a group of citizens who volunteer to attend criminal proceedings by request of the defendant,a family member or a concerned party. We are there as witnesses to criminal justice in Champaign County, to figure out how … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Policing, Women | Comments Off

Rantoul Jr. High Hosts 1st NAAPID Event

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Neil Parthun

National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) is a national event that started in 1995 as the brainchild of long time Michigan principal Joseph Dulin. He was inspired to take action after attending the Million Man March and a speaker … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Education | Comments Off

Where is My Radical Gender Equality?

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Julie Laut

In my youth I had a sense that my generation was perfectly poised to make a leap toward gender equity. A child of the 1970s, I admired the strength of my grandmothers’ generation, which had negotiated the Depression and World … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Forum, Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Women | Comments Off

Supporting the Voices Inside: The Freedom Archives

Posted on 01/28/2016 by Nathaniel Moore

“When the prison doors are opened the real dragon will fly out.” -Ho Chi Minh The movements to end mass incarceration were re-invigorated in early September as a settlement in the class action lawsuit Ashker v. Governor of California was … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Policing, Prisoners, Uncategorized | Comments Off

New Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Offers Hope to Canada’s First Nations Populations

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Berenice Ruhl

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper was nearly universally viewed by First Nations (known in the US as “indigenous” or “native” people), Métis and Inuit peoples as, at the least, insensitive to their concerns and, at worst, actively hostile towards Canada’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Indigenous, International, Politics, Section | Comments Off

Children With Incarcerated Parents Played Key Role in Phone Justice Victory!

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Brian Dolinar

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted recently to cap the rates of phone calls from prisons and jails after years of profiteering by telecommunications companies that have made millions off of those incarcerated and their families. In her comments before … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Community Forum, Human Rights, IMC, National, News, Policing, Politics, Prisoners, UC-IMC, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Mother Nature EP by Klevah and T.R.U.T.H: The Elements Personified

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Ruth Nicole Brown

There is no greater time to be a hip hop head in Champaign-Urbana. While the towns have always boasted superb talent―there is deep hip hop history here―that two emcees joined forces to create something new is newsworthy. Shasta Knox a.k.a … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Hometown Dedication

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Coco Harmon

The below poem was read by Coco Harmon at the 15-year anniversary celebration for the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. You can watch it online here thanks to UPTV. — Have you been there? You know, that moment when your legs … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts, IMC, Voices of Color | Comments Off

The Criminalization of Poverty

Posted on 11/19/2015 by James Kilgore

When most people think of mass incarceration they think of massive prisons–Stateville, Sing Sing, Angola. But mass incarceration has a local face: jails. In our own county Build Programs, Not Jails has fought for three years to halt plans to … Continue reading →

Posted in Prisoners | Comments Off

Art Contest for People Incarcerated

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Public i

TMK Cleaning service is announcing an art contest for those incarcerated! We will accept submissions from January 1, 2016 through April 4, 2016. This is a contest to enter your best art through poetry, short writing, painting etc. Only published … Continue reading →

Posted in Prisoners, Uncategorized | Comments Off