Institute on Inequality and Democracy

In November 2016, in the wake of a presidential election in the United States that ratified various forms of exclusion, including white nationalism, the Institute expanded its mission to build power to challenge state-sponsored violence against targeted bodies and communities.  In particular we became concerned with the role of the university on the front-lines of resistance against Trumpism.

With this in mind, the Institute issued a call, Teach.Organize.Resist. on the occasion of the presidential inauguration.  January 18th, or #J18, became a day of education and protest at various universities and colleges in the United States and beyond. 

Through lectures, assemblies, musical performance, and artistic practice, #J18 was a collective insistence that places of teaching and learning not bear silent witnesses to oppression and hate. We share this curation of #J18 activities to commemorate the project of Teach.Organize.Resist. The collection includes homework assignments, academic essays, artwork, poems, freedom songs, video clips of talks and theater, posters, and more.  They allow us to analyze Trumpism, to articulate practices of resistance, to expand our curriculum, and to state our values.