Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College

Please join us for the 2022 Social Justice Week at Philander Smith College. Our theme is Defining Social Justice to engage our students and community in exploring many areas of social justice. We hope to see you!

There's still time to register! You don't want to miss this!

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The Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College is pleased to announce that the Arkansas Community Foundation and the Arkansas Black Philanthropy Collaborative have awarded us $25,000 for our programming for the 2021 - 2022 academic school year!

“We are excited to be named a recipient of the Building Black Communities Fund and look forward to this new funding being used to support our programs and initiatives that play an important role in impacting the greater Little Rock community,” said Christopher L. Harvey, Interim Associate Director, Social Justice Institute Philander Smith College. 🔰

Philander Smith College is pleased to announce that the Arkansas Community Foundation and the Arkansas Black Philanthropy Collaborative have awarded $25,000 to the institution’s Social Justice Institute.

“We are excited to be named a recipient of the Building Black Communities Fund and look forward to this new funding being used to support our programs and initiatives that play an important role in impacting the greater Little Rock community,” said Christopher L. Harvey, Interim Associate Director, Social Justice Institute Philander Smith College.

According to Heather Larkin, President and CEO of Arkansas Community Foundation, Facebook, Inc. provided the funding which went to 40 Black-led and Black-serving nonprofit organizations in Central Arkansas.

In collaboration with Auburn Theological Seminary and Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the College reimagined and reinvigorated the SJI with a vision for global impact. Themed “Justice Reimagined,” the Institute seeks to embrace and catalyze work in social justice across multiple domains: education, health, environment, community, economics, politics, identity, civil, criminal, religious, racial, gender, age.

We are excited to announce the application for the 2021 - 2022 Social Justice Fellowship Program is officially live! If you have a strong interest in social justice, we encourage you to apply! THE LINK TO APPLY IS IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW⬇️. The application deadline is Friday, April 23rd at 5 PM. 🔰

Today, President Biden fulfills the requirement of releasing his version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 federal budget, and we are pleased to see that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and students from disadvantaged backgrounds are prioritized. The FY 2022 federal budget will include:

-Increase funding for HBCUs, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and Community Colleges to enroll, retain and graduate students.

-The discretionary request would increase institutional capacity and student support at HBCUs, TCCUs, MSIs and low-resourced institutions, including community colleges.

-The discretionary request provides an increase of more than $600 million over the 2021 enacted level for these programs.

-These funds would also support programs that provide additional help to disadvantaged students, including those at community colleges, to ensure they succeed in and graduate from college.

Biden Budget Prioritizes HBCUs and Students Most in Need | UNCF UNCF grateful for proposed investments to benefit one of the most important programs for HBCUs   Today, President Biden fulfills the requirement of releasing his version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 federal budget, and we are pleased to see that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) ...

Today’s ALICE policy focus is on child care. We know that child care affordability has long been an issue locally. Even in the best of times, working parents — most often moms — become skilled jugglers, balancing childcare with unforgiving work hours. The pandemic has only made matters worse. If half of Arkansans are unable to pay for child care, we have a systemic issue. That’s why it will be important to build an economy that works for Arkansas’s hardest workers and their children.

Today’s ALICE policy focus is on the “Arkansas Debtor Prison Cycle.” Debtors’ prisons consist of the arrest and jailing of low-income residents for failure to pay legal debts they can never hope to afford through criminal justice procedures that violate their most basic rights. And most troubling, debtors’ prisons create a racially-skewed, two-tiered system of justice in which those with low-income receive harsher, longer punishments for committing the same crimes as the wealthy, simply because they lack financial resources. What if the money Arkansans paid in criminal justice system fines and fees were used to make ends meet instead? Local economies would thrive and more families would prosper! 💰

Today’s ALICE policy focus is on housing and habitability. Current Arkansas laws largely protect landlords. Moreover, Arkansas is the only state in the U.S. without an implied warranty of habitability law. A recent bill that was introduced this legislative session will look to create a “tenant bill of rights.” H.B. 1563, introduced by lead sponsor Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, would require minimum rental standards and provide tenants with habitable housing standards. We are urging lawmakers to vote yes in favor of this bill! 🏠

As the 2021 Legislative Session continues, we understand that many ALICE related issues are still in play for discussion among our state lawmakers. That is why we’re excited to partner with the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation to participate in the Social Media Week! All week we will share important content centered on housing/habitability issues, criminal punishment reform, early childhood, state earned income tax credit, and SNAP. Stay tuned!

Thank you all for helping us make Social Justice Week a success last week! For a quick recap, we testified at the State Capitol before the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus about our strategic goals and accomplishments in Little Rock and throughout the state. During the second half of the week, we successfully facilitated virtual conversations on fair housing policy, COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the Black community, and effective organizing best practices during a pandemic!

Through our mission of educating and inspiring students, academics, administrators and community members to do the work of eradicating systems of inequity so that all people are able to live with dignity, we will continue to embrace and catalyze work in social justice across the multiple domains of: education, health, environment, community, economics, politics, identity, civil, criminal, religious, racial, gender, age. 🔰

Join us tomorrow evening on Facebook Live as Social Justice Week continues! The Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College and Legal Aid of Arkansas, Inc. have partnered together to host a virtual fair rights policy presentation on housing. Whether you are a homeowner or renter, it is important to know what resources are available to you. We hope this presentation will help to strengthen self-advocacy, address racial inequities, and protect the rights/lives of homeowners and renters. Attorney Jason Auer, Fair Housing Project Director at Legal Aid of Arkansas, will conduct the presentation. You can also also register from the eventbrite link in the comment section.

To officially kick-off Social Justice Week, our SJI staff and fellows testified before the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus this morning about the work we’ve accomplished in Little Rock and across the state of Arkansas. We look forward to serving as a valuable community partner to the Black Caucus! 🔰