IHSI Diversity Committee Monthly Resources
Each month, the IHSI Diversity Committee shares recommended reading and resources with the rest of IHSI staff. Curating and sharing these resources gives our team an opportunity to educate ourselves on various topics related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
Over the past couple of years, we have found that our team appreciates the ability to learn more about a subject they knew very little about or even may not have been aware of.
As an institute devoted to promoting all forms of health, we want to share these resources more broadly with our campus and community stakeholders. We hope that you will find them as useful as we have.
September 2024
This month, Max Wallace, IHSI’s Program Coordinator who works with the Community Seminar Series, the Community-Academic Scholars program, and the Youth Tobacco Survey, shares resources on voting rights and voter suppression. With less than 90 days until Election Day (November 5), now is a great time to make sure your voting information is up to date. Visit https://www.vote.org/ to check your registration, get election reminders, and sign up for vote by mail. Champaign County voters can also visit https://champaigncountyclerk.com/elections for local election information and services.
Tips for Champaign County/Illinois Voters: In Champaign County, every polling location is now a universal location, meaning you don't have to vote in the "home" precinct that is listed on your voter ID, making it a lot more convenient to vote near your workplace. Also, in Illinois, you can sign up to always vote by mail. It's incredibly convenient because they automatically mail your ballot whenever there's an election.
It is important to acknowledge how incarceration, voter ID laws, excessively long lines to vote, gerrymandering, and other policies infringe upon many Americans’ right to vote. Recent years have seen more aggressive voter suppression efforts as well.
If you have just one minute: CBS News recently reported on how the Texas Attorney General is raiding the homes of Latinx voting rights activists. Even though voter fraud has been proven to be extremely rare, the Texas office claims to be investigating allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-raids-latino-democrats-lulac-homes/
If you have another minute: Read more about how Arizona interest groups are suing to have 500,000 citizens purged from Arizona’s voter rolls. https://azmirror.com/briefs/fontes-says-gop-lawsuit-to-purge-at-least-500000-az-voters-should-be-tossed-from-court/
If you have 5 minutes: Reuters has some helpful graphs showing which states have enacted laws changing voter ID and mail-in voting requirements. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-ELECTION/VOTING-RESTRICTIONS/znvnbdjbkvl/
If you have another 5 minutes: The ACLU has a great article discussing voting as a civil rights issue, giving a brief history of voting rights advancements and how these have been limited by redistricting to limit accessibility to voters of color. https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/why-access-to-voting-is-key-to-systemic-equality
If you have 10 minutes: The Brennan Center for Justice has several articles discussing how, despite some progress, many states remain susceptible to voter suppression tactics used in 2020, like longer voting lines in communities of color, intimidation from people wielding firearms at voting sites, and urges actions to protect the integrity of future elections.
If you have 30 minutes: This brief documentary tells the story of three formerly incarcerated individuals who successfully led a get-out-the-vote campaign in Baltimore, Maryland, ahead of the 2020 election. Despite facing voter suppression, disinformation, and the challenges of a global pandemic, they triumphed in empowering their community to exercise their restored voting rights. This resource offers valuable insights into the ongoing struggle for voting rights and the power of democratic participation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPHrxRR80i8