Anti-Police Foundation Donates $1.5 Million to U. Illinois-Chicago ‘Justice Center’ Think Tank
“We believe that bold investments in ideas about how to shift power in society must be matched with bold investments in organizing efforts that help bring them to life”
Why do college students need taxpayer money to cancel debt when this kind of capital is floating around in higher education?
The College Fix reports:
Anti-police foundation gives $1.5 million to Illinois college for further research
A foundation supportive of defunding the police granted the University of Illinois-Chicago $1.5 million for a think tank focused on “abolition, economic democracy and climate justice.”
The Marguerite Casey Foundation recently gave $1.5 million to the public university for its “Portal Project of the Social Justice Initiative,” first launched last summer.
The foundation supports police defunding and counts Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as a board member.
“Over the past year, the Portal Project has convened nearly 200 scholars, artists and activists to explore the meaning of justice in the 21st century, centering those communities most impacted by various forms of injustice,” Barbara Ransby, director of the Social Justice Initiative, stated in a university news release.
“Through workshops, symposia and public forums, we have engaged a brilliant and eclectic group of thinkers and doers in conversations that wrestle with some of the most complex justice questions of our time,” Ransby stated.
The idea of the “portal” is that pandemics, such as the outbreak of COVID, creates opportunities to restructure society.
“The Portal Project was inspired by the words of the acclaimed Indian writer Arundhati Roy, who reminds us that, historically, ‘pandemics are portals’ and opportunities to embrace new ways of thinking and being,” the university news release stated.
“What often inhibits us from identifying the most creative and transformative solutions is that we operate in many stifling siloes based on disciplines, differences and areas of work,” the university explained.
Ransby further stated that the grant “will allow us to deepen and expand our work in creative and meaningful ways.”
“We believe that bold investments in ideas about how to shift power in society must be matched with bold investments in organizing efforts that help bring them to life,” Casey Foundation President Carmen Rojas stated in the news release.
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