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The School of Peace and Conflict Studies (SPCS) is pleased to announce a new initiative on Race and Democracy in Northeast Ohio (RDNO). This initiative involves a collaborative partnership between the Growing Democracy Project, the Center for Pan-African Culture (CPAC) and SPCS.

The RDNO initiative will include a 10-episode podcast series focused specifically on the intersections of race and democracy in northeast Ohio, community workshops on the topic of race and democracy, online curricular materials (activities, toolkit, concept pages), Blog posts, and a white paper.  Dr. Ashley Nickels, co-founder of the Growing Democracy Project and Associate Professor in SPCS, notes, “We are excited to build on our strong programming and deep commitment to social justice and take an explicitly race-conscious look at race and democracy in collaboration with SPCS and CPAC.” 

Professor Neil Cooper, Director of SPCS, explains: “This initiative reflects our commitment to not only implement ����ֱ�� State University’s broader policies on diversity, equality and inclusion but the commitment we made in our statement following George Floyd’s murder.   That commitment includes

“learning from people taking courageous actions for racial justice … striving to realize long-term systemic change that promotes the human rights and dignity of all citizens…to promote dialogue amongst activists and community groups on questions of race and identity in the region… to prevent, resolve and transform all forms of conflict, including those rooted in the legacies and contemporary forms of systemic and institutionalized racism”

Learn more about the Growing Democracy Project on their website: .

This initiative was made possible with funding provided to SPCS from Mark Lewine and the John Gray Paynther Program.