Working Together to Make Our World More Just & Equitable

The horrific killing of George Floyd by a police officer, the hunting down and shooting of jogger Ahmaud Arbery in broad daylight, the slaying of Breonna Taylor in her own apartment in a drug raid of the wrong home, and in general, the continuous murder of black folks by police without justice or consequence, or regard to human life is unacceptable. We at IRISE join the rest of DU and millions of others across the country in expressing our grief, anger, and outright exhaustion from the constant barrage of racial injustice.  We join those demanding accountability for the persistent devaluing of Black lives in neighborhoods, courthouses, hospitals, schools, and prisons.  We join all those demanding the elimination of the systemic racism embedded in many of America's policies and institutions.

At IRISE we are committed to researching and producing scholarship as well as creative works with and for our communities of color to help fight the systemic racism that is so embedded in our culture and institutions.  Now is not the time for silence.  As a predominantly white institution, we at DU need accomplices in doing our part to dismantle white supremacy and build empowered communities.  Join us in our Teach In 2 Teach Out’s.  Learn more about anti-racist work via our RAGE podcast and blog.  Watch and share the latest podcast featuring Community Scholar Hasira "Soul" Ashemu and Visiting Professor Cheryl Matias.  Engage in IRISE faculty affiliated courses that comprise part of the deep base of knowledge in DU’s Critical Race and Ethnic Studies curriculum.  Apply the insights of IRISE supported research projects identifying solutions to racial inequities in health, education, employment, poverty, and property.   Wherever and however you engage, do it in support of all those who risk their bodies and their lives to make our world a more equitable and just place.

Photo by: John Minchillo, AP & Washington Post