Schedule
“El Milagro represents a hole in the fence. A type of liberatory thinking which puts a crack in systems of detention and exclusion. I originally made this print to comment on the absurd U.S. border fence with Mexico, but it has expanded its uses as our prisons and cages and walls expand.”
Wednesday, October 9
7:00 – 9:00 P.M. Film Screening: Breathin’: The Eddy Zheng Story
With filmmaker Ben Wang and Eddy Zheng
Location: John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center
Facilitator: Paul Dosh, Associate Professor & Chair, Political Science
Thursday, October 10
9:30 – 10:45 A.M. Withholding from Removal: The Defensive Asylum Process and its Lasting Impacts
Location: Davis Court, Markim Hall
Student Facilitators: Willow Fortunoff ‘21, Fatiya Kedir ‘21, Amanda Ortiz ‘21, Emma Verges ‘21
Presenters: John Keller, Deputy Minnesota Attorney General and former executive director, Immigrant Law Center; Michele Garnett McKenzie, Director of Advocacy, The Advocates for Human Rights; Edmundo Lijo, Immigration Attorney, City of St. Paul Attorney’s Office
Mentor: Professor James von Geldern
Abstract: Minnesota hosts the highest number of refugees per capita of any state, overwhelming its courts with asylum applications. Fifteen minutes from Macalester campus, the Bishop Henry Whipple Immigration Court processes thousands of asylum cases annually. Some applicants wait years before their cases are heard. The asylum process in the United States is complicated, lengthy and trying. In 2017, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) received 119,303 defensive asylum applications. Of those, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security granted 10,523 individuals asylum defensively (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Annual Flow Report: Refugees and Asylees: 2017”). Judges and asylum officers must consider dynamic factors such as asylum seekers’ credibility and well-founded fear of returning to their home country. Today, we challenge you to decide whether to grant or deny asylum in four cases. This session has an interactive workshop followed by a panel discussion.
9:30 – 10:45 A.M. Breaking Chains: Liberatory Practices for Dismantling Schools as Prisons
Location: Harmon Room, DeWitt Wallace Library
Student Facilitators: Madeline Karp ‘20, Deborah Pickford ‘20, Olivia Sailors ‘20
Presenters: James Badue-El, Prison Reform Chair, Minneapolis NAACP; Leslie Redmond, President, Minneapolis NAACP; Anthoni Morris, Community Member
Mentor: Professor Brian Lozenski
Abstract: Current literature has established the school to prison pipeline and the cradle to prison phenomena. Taking these phenomena a step further, our session aims to explore the idea of schools as prisons and to engage in liberatory practices to dismantle these systems for current and future educators, policy makers, and students alike. Given our location and the demographics of St. Paul public schools that Macalester community members interact with, it is important to engage with liberatory practices in school settings as a basis of dismantling educational, political, and judicial systems that inequitably lead to higher incarceration rates for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people. In this session, we will include members of our community from the Minneapolis NAACP and previously incarcerated people, to provide firsthand experience and additional expertise on the schools as prisons phenomenon. After establishing the existence of this phenomenon and including the panelists’ perspectives, we will bring the panelists and audience together to consider a world where schools are tools for liberation instead of incarceration.
11:30 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Model Minority Transgression: A Prisoner’s Odyssey to Liberation through Resistance
Eddy Zheng, co-founder of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee.
Location: Alexander Hill Ballroom, Kagin Commons
1:15 – 2:30 P.M. Restorative Practices to Decolonize and Decarcerate Education
Location: Davis Court, Markim Hall
Student Facilitators: Ayize James ‘22, Gianella Rojas ‘21
Presenters: Troi Bechet, Director of the Center for Restorative Approaches, New Orleans; Raj Sethuraju, Professor of Criminal Justice Education at Metro State University
Mentors: Ruth Janisch and Sedric McClure
Abstract: This session explores the widening field of restorative approaches as a tool to decriminalize and decolonize people of marginalized backgrounds, but specifically Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. Restorative approaches refers to a highly diverse set of practices used to repair harm and build/restore relationships generally to resolve instances of conflict or transgression. These practices are generally applied in facilitated circles that include all sides of a conflict with the goal of strengthening the community, rather than issuing a transaction. In our session, we hope to convene the wisdom of leaders within the field of applying restorative approaches in distinct and valuable areas (nonprofit trainings, schools, and the criminal justice system), as an opportunity to decolonize our own notions of justice and conflict resolution.
1:15 – 2:30 P.M. Displacement Beyond the Grave: Reconciling Macalester’s Problematic History
Location: Harmon Room, DeWitt Wallace Library
Student Facilitators: Michelle Armstrong-Spielberg ‘21, Pallavi Shoroff ‘22, Elika Somani ‘22
Presenters: Jamie Becker-Finn, State Representative (District 42B), Leech Lake Ojibwe Descendant; Jono Cowgill, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Commissioner
Mentor: Professor Erik Larson
Abstract: In 2013, Macalester renamed its Humanities Building to Neill Hall “in appreciation and recognition of Edward Duffield Neill’s [the college’s founder] visionary work.” Unknown to most, that “visionary” work included stealing sacred artifacts from Indian Mounds Park and expressing racist sentiments toward the Dakota and Ojibwe. Using Macalester’s history as an entry point, this discussion confronts the politics of names and why we might revisit the names that (certain people) have given to buildings, lakes, and counties. Featuring two speakers with experience advocating for the politics of names and how renaming can happen, we explore this broader topic and consider this debate in the context of Macalester’s own history. In doing so, we seek to collectively engage our history to reflect on how we should confront and react to names on campus and beyond.
3:00 – 4:15 P.M. Imperialism, Displacement, and the Palestinian Fight for Freedom
Location: Davis Court, Markim Hall
Student Facilitators: International Roundtable Student Committee on Palestine
Presenters: Leilah Abdennabi, Palestinian-American Activist for Equity, Liberation, and Police Abolition; Joseph R. Farag, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota; Palestinian Student at Macalester College
Mentors: Professor Joan Ostrove and Professor Khaldoun Samman
Abstract: This session will explore themes of mass incarceration, immigrant detention, and land displacement in the case of Palestine. The session will include a foundational presentation, panelist lectures, and small group discussion. We will examine land displacement from 1948 to the present day and the current Israeli military occupation of Palestinian lands and communities. Through guest faculty and student panelists, we will examine historical and contemporary Palestinian grassroots resistance to state oppression. Finally, we will explore connections between Palestinian liberation struggles and U.S.-based struggles against state violence, incarceration, and colonization of Indigenous lands.
3:00 – 4:15 P.M. Narrating Resistance: Hidden Stories Behind the Criminal Legal System
Location: Harmon Room, DeWitt Wallace Library
Student Facilitators: Ashley Trube ‘22,
Presenters: Naomi Lopez, Carleton ’22, Intern at Children of Incarcerated Caregivers; Kania Johnson, Graduate Student, Humphrey School of Public Policy, Intern at Children of Incarcerated Caregivers; Linus Chan, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, University of Minnesota, Binger Center for New Americans
Mentor: Professor Paul Dosh
Abstract: Today’s mainstream media reflects neither the plight, nor the agency of families impacted by America’s criminal justice system. Instead, the news narrates the disparities of the American prison system compared to those of other developed nations. Indeed, those statistics hold their own weight. America has less than five percent of the world’s population, but nearly a quarter of the world’s prison population. Parental incarceration influences families in many ways. For example, the incarceration of one or both parents markedly increases rates of infant mortality, homelessness, poverty, and mental health issues that stem from the trauma. This student-led workshop, guided by a panel of speakers impacted in various ways by the carceral system, seeks to look at narration and education as ways of resisting the impacts of familial incarceration.
4:45 – 6:00 P.M.“We Welcome Their Hatred”: Coalitions and Conflicts in Abolitionist Politics
Dr. Joy James, Ebenezer Fitch Professor of the Humanities at Williams College.
Location: Alexander Hill Ballroom, Kagin Commons
Friday, October 11
9:00 – 10:00 A.M. Jim Crow of the North: Confinement, Displacement, and Housing Justice in the Twin Cities
Location: Davis Court, Markim Hall
Student Facilitators: Katie Herrick ‘22, Nick Salvato ‘22
Presenters: Jack Cann, Senior Staff Attorney, Housing Justice Center; Dr. Edward Goetz, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota.
Mentor: Professor Morgan Adamson
Abstract: Once known as the “Jim Crow of the North,” the Twin Cities remains one of the country’s most racially segregated urban centers. Restricting access to housing constitutes a potent technique of displacement and confinement, but efforts to curb housing injustice frequently encounter structural obstacles. Focusing on historic practices of redlining and current practices of eviction, we will explore systems of housing injustice, recognizing them as mechanisms of control. This session will guide a dialogue regarding confinement and displacement as they manifest in Twin Cities housing and spark conversation about solutions.
9:00 – 10:00 A.M. Confined to Silence: The Plight of Russia’s LGBT Community in a Political Climate of Forced Self-Surveillance
Location: Harmon Room, DeWitt Wallace Library
Student Facilitators: Mallie Kermiet ’20, Rachel Liebherr ‘21, Shyanne Redlin ‘20
Presenters: Anton Svynarenko, Associate Professor of Russian, St. Olaf College; Michael Nastich-Usov and Matthew Nastich-Usov
Mentor: Professor Julie Chadaga
Abstract: In Russia in 2013, the Putin administration passed a law commonly referred to in English as the “gay propaganda” law. This law made it illegal for Russians to distribute any form of information about homosexuality or non-heterosexual relationships to minors. This panel will explore the various political motivations behind the passage of this law, as well as its disastrous effects on the human rights of LGBTQ+ Russians. Attention will also be paid to LGBTQ+ voices in Russian literature and the ways in which the literary and political spheres interact. How can the historical trajectory of political freedoms in Russia shed light on the current political situation in regards to LGBTQ+ persecution? How are artists and activists in Russia responding to these oppressions, and what forms are these resistance movements taking? Lastly, what insights can we derive from this case study as we address various manifestations of social control and persecution occurring along lines of sexuality and gender in the U.S.?
10:15 – 11:30 A.M. American Streets, Foreign Territory: 120 Years of the Cross-Fertilization of U.S. Empire and Urban Policing
Dr. Stuart Schrader, Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.
Location: John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center
1:10 – 2:10 P.M. A Spectacle of Violence: Prisoners of Drug Wars in the U.S. and the Philippines
Location: Davis Court, Markim Hall
Student Facilitators: Paul Gabriel L. Cosme ‘22, William Enin ‘22, Jared Jageler ‘22
Mentor: Professor Karin Aguilar-San Juan
Abstract: What makes a person a criminal? This is a crucial question in the age of surveillance and security globally. This session tackles this question in the context of the drug war in Reagan’s USA and Duterte’s Philippines. We focus on the culture that perpetuates the images of the criminal, the criminalizer, and the drug war itself. Is the criminal always a vagrant? Is the criminalizer always an upholder of peace? Is the drug war a herald of public and community safety? By navigating the narratives and images produced during those drug wars, we show that deviance to elite norms (such as the image of whiteness in America and the image of the wealthy elite in the Philippines) propagates and reinforces the image of criminality not only in the context of legal crimes but in our everyday lives at school and even at home.
1:10 – 2:10 P.M.* “An Unprovoked, Aggressive, and Most Savage War”: The Seizure of Indigenous Lands
Location: Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel
Student Facilitator: Jennings Mergenthal ’21
Mentor: Professor Katrina Phillips
Abstract: Maps are essential in the creation of narratives of colonial dominion. Traditional cartographic conventions either erase the territorial holdings of Indigenous nations or superimpose the boundaries of modern American states over the historical maps, casting colonial domination as an inevitability. This complicates discussion around the illegal seizure of Indigenous lands and makes the timescale of Indigenous land loss hard to conceptualize. This gallery will use maps and primary source documents to contextualize the history of the land presently recognized as “Minnesota” and challenge colonial conventions of cartography.
*This gallery will be available for viewing in the Chapel all day Thursday, October 10th and Friday, October 11th. The student presenter will be available in the exhibit from 1:10-2:20 p.m. on Friday, October 11th.
2:20–4:00 P.M. Roundtable Discussion
Location: John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center
Discussants: Joy James, Stuart Schrader, Eddy Zheng
Facilitator: Donna Maeda, Dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship and Professor of American Studies
4:00 – 5:00 P.M. Reception
Location: Lobby of John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center
Additional International Roundtable Events
Saturday, October 12
9 – 11 A.M. Workshop: Reimaging Justice: Courts, Cops, and Corrections
Location: Weyerhaeuser Boardroom
Workshop Facilitator: Jason Sole, Community Scholar
This session will identify key aspects of the criminal injustice system that perpetuate harm against Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). The sole function of the current criminal injustice system is to protect wealth and whiteness; therefore, we must create innovative abolition strategies. Communities of color are terrorized by police (e.g., searched at higher rates, victims of excessive force); communities of color are terrorized by courts (e.g., higher bail amounts, inadequate counsel); communities of color are terrorized by corrections (e.g., sent to solitary confinement at higher rates, slave labor); and when they return to an impoverished community, they must deal with the new jim crow (e.g., can’t vote, can’t be seen with anyone who has a conviction). How can we reimagine a system that is based on justice and fairness? This interactive session will include lecture and small group discussions with the goal of creating viable solutions to end mass enslavement in America.
Jason Sole works with organizations and individuals who believe that there must be equity for there to be freedom and that there must be a radical redefining of criminality for there to be justice. Jason has been a criminal justice educator for a decade (served as an assistant professor at two academic institutions) and is currently an adjunct professor at Hamline University. He is a national keynote speaker and trainer. He’s a past president of the Minneapolis NAACP in which he launched several public safety initiatives (e.g., Warrant Forgiveness Day) that led to harm reduction in Hennepin County. Sole was a 2013 Bush Fellow who focused on juvenile delinquency and recidivism throughout the state of Minnesota. He helped launch Mayor Coleman’s Community Ambassadors Program, which led to a 63% reduction in juvenile crime in the first year. He recently served as the Community First Public Safety Initiatives Director for the City of Saint Paul. In addition, Jason is the co-founder of the Humanize My Hoodie Movement in which he’s challenging threat perceptions about Black men through clothing, art exhibitions, and workshops. In 2014, he published his memoir, From Prison to Ph.D.: A Memoir of Hope, Resilience, and Second Chances.
This interactive session will include lecture and small group discussions with the goal of creating viable solutions to end mass enslavement in America. This session is designed for those who are committed to engaging deeply with challenging issues around incarceration, including how we might contribute to changing unjust systems. Attendees should commit to be present for the entire two hours. Space is limited and registration is required. Register on this IRT 2019 Workshop Registration Google Form to reserve your place. Email contact: [email protected].