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Antiracist Research & Policy Center

Research in action for social change.

The Antiracist Research and Policy Center is an interdisciplinary hub for the research and practice of racial justice and intersectional liberation. We convene scholars, educators, community-based changemakers, cultural workers, and policy advocates in sustainable and equitable collaborations.

"Unlearn Racism 4" photo (detail view): Joe Brusky.


ARPC Bulletins

Register Now for Race and The Elections: Join us on October 23, 1:00–2:00 p.m. either in person (AU community only) or on Instagram and Youtube (for general public) for a panel discussing the intersections of race and the elections. Faculty panelists will discuss key issues for racial justice, how they are reflected in the current election, how they play out in local elections and communities, and how to mobilize beyond the elections.

Photo: Vlad Tchompalov via Unsplash

Congratulations to our 2024-2025 ARPC Faculty Fellows: This year we are proud to announce Dr. Omi Davis-Smith as our Transformative Scholarship Fellow and Dr. Sarah Iverson as the recipient of our Racial Justice Research Seed Grant. Dr. Davis-Smith's book examines the development of the Acogny dance technique to reveal intersections between African dance, geopolitics in post-independence Senegal, and modernism within a Francophone African Context. Dr. Iverson's research investigates the impact of the 2023 Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action on racial inequalities in higher education.


What We Do

Together, we generate critical knowledge around race, power, and difference and forge shared tools and resources for social change. Our work takes four trajectories: research, community collaboration, education, and public engagement. Read more about what we believe.

This year we are also prioritizing four thematic areas of intervention:

  1. Race and Carcerality
  2. Reproductive Justice
  3. Educational Access and Equity
  4. Climate, Land, and Environmental Justice

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Fire Right Now: Farm Bill Summer 2024

Following up on our 2023 Pointing the Farm Bill Toward Racial Justice Summit, ARPC spent June–September 2024 having a Farm Bill Summer! With support from the Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation, we partnered with grassroots organizations including Black Food + Justice Alliance, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Freedmen Heirs, and National Young Farmers Coalition - plus Alcorn State University - to host a series of conversations on the stalled legislation. If you think the Farm Bill is just for policy wonks, watch now to learn about the intersections of agrarian policy with climate justice, racial justice, reproductive justice, and more.

Abolition Everywhere Working Group

This interdisciplinary research cluster brings AU scholars of policing and the carceral state together with AU scholars deploying abolitionist frameworks to stage critical interventions on a range of racial justice issues, including education, climate justice, urban gentrification, and reproductive justice. More about Abolition Everywhere

Reproductive Justice

ARPC is part of an ongoing initiative to explore reproductive freedom in a post-Dobbs world. Check out the resource guide from our Spring 2024 event, or watch this conversation exploring the intersections of reproductive and abolitionist thinking to learn ways to dig deeper and take action.

Vintage photo of man on tractor, Photo courtesy of the FSC/LAF Black farmer archives

AU & Federation of Southern Cooperatives Create Racial Justice Toolkit

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Jacket cover of Tip of the Spear

‘An Epochal Act of Abolitionist Worldmaking’

New book recounts Attica uprising

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Support ARPC

Thank you for supporting the work of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center! Your donation will support our mission to seek the enactment of antiracist policies at the local, state, and national levels.

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