Breaking the Silence

This is an insight written by Meredith Friedland on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Symposium on Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence” co-sponsored by the Critical Race Initiative and the Department of African American Studies on  October 12, 2021.

Professor Geoff K. Ward in his lecture “Haunting Legacies of Racial Violence: Clarifying and Addressing the Presence of the Past” discussed how we must address the horrors of our country’s past in order to move forward to a more peaceful future.  Continue reading

Costly Violence

This is an insight written by Stella Hudson on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Symposium on Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence” co-sponsored by the Critical Race Initiative and the Department of African American Studies on  October 12, 2021.

What images does the word “violence” conjure? Perhaps it evokes ideas of war, weapons, fistfights, domestic violence, or even violent movies, or cartoon violence. For most people, it does not naturally lead to thoughts of economics. However, this is the connection that Professor Anke Heofler focused on in her October 12th talk, “What are the Global Costs of Violence?” as part of the Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence Symposium.  Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Environmental Racism and Slavery in 21st Century Jim Crow America: Stories of Resistance, Hope, and Change

Baha’i Chair for World Peace 

Professor Sacoby Wilson

Environmental Racism and Slavery in 21st Century Jim Crow America: Stories of Resistance, Hope, and Change

Thursday, October 24, 2019

12:30pm-2:00pm

Atrium, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland College Park Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Finding Justice in the Cambodian Genocide

The Department of Government and Politics, College Park Scholars, International Studies,

and The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace

Present a Lecture

Finding Justice in the Cambodian Genocide: Mistakes, Consequences, and Questionable Ethics

Youk Chhang, Executive Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), founder of Sleuk Rith Institute 

   2.00PM, May 9, 2017, Special Events Room, McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, College Park
Continue reading

Insights: Racism as a Barrier to Justice

This is a reflection written by Esther Kaufman on the lecture given by Dr. Rashawn Ray as part of the Bahá’ì Chair for World Peace series on Structural Racism. 

Racism as a Barrier to Justice 

Dr. Rashawn Ray’s emotional presentation on “Why Police Compliance Does Not Save Black Lives” left me feeling a deep sense of disappointment in our society’s failure to recognize and deal with racism.  He began his lecture with the juxtaposition of videos and statistics that emphasized the differences between races in police compliance and non-compliance. Continue reading

Interview: Dr. Rashawn Ray on Why Police Compliance Does Not Save Black Lives

Interview with Dr. Rashawn Ray, interview conducted by Brandie Reeder Williams.

Dr. Ray will be giving a lecture on the 25th of October in Hoff Theatre, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland. To find out more and to RSVP visit the website of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace.

Continue reading

Book Review: How to Rescue Those Who the System Fails

This is a book review of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. The review was written by Esther Kaufman. 

“Mercy is most empowering, liberating and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving,” writes author Bryan Stevenson in his book, Just Mercy. This is a concept that is difficult but perhaps essential to embrace as the media constantly divides people and societies into heroes and villains. I was born to immigrant parents who fled anti-Semitism and praise America as the land that gave their families mercy when no other state could. Yet, Bryan Stevenson’s portrayal of the American criminal justice system revealed injustices that disrupted all of my preconceived notions regarding America’s inherit goodness. Continue reading