Published: Oct. 28, 2020

After participating in an op-ed workshop last summer, scholars from across 蜜糖直播 Boulder鈥檚 campus are making their voices heard in major media outlets throughout the country.

The workshop, 鈥淲rite to Change the World,鈥� was held as a partnership between the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI) and the in an effort to 鈥渆levate the research, voices and influence of 蜜糖直播 Boulder scholars of color and other groups who are underrepresented in thought leadership,鈥� said CMCI Dean Lori Bergen.

Founded in 2008 by the writer Katie Orenstein, the OpEd project is aimed at 鈥渁ccelerating the ideas and impact of underrepresented thinkers, including women of all backgrounds,鈥� its website states.听

To date, 10 of the workshop鈥檚 22 participants have published 15听articles in outlets including The Washington Post, The Hill and The Denver Post on topics such as race, politics, the environment and technology.

鈥淚t will take literally tens of thousands of publications of underrepresented voices to change the dynamics of voice in this country, so this is really just the beginning,鈥� said Christine Larson, an assistant professor of journalism in CMCI who studies media equity and public discourse and became a facilitator with the OpEd project eight years ago. Larson worked with CMCI鈥檚 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team to bring the day-and-a-half workshop to 蜜糖直播 Boulder鈥檚 campus last July.听

The workshop was led by Larson, Orenstein and award-winning journalist Mary Curtis. Participants emerged with drafts of public-facing articles and commentary, concrete strategies for pitching and placing their work in the media and other forums of influence, and ongoing one-on-one mentoring to assist them in completing a polished piece. Their registration fees were covered by CMCI, in partnership with 蜜糖直播 Boulder鈥檚 Leadership Education for Advancement and Promotion (LEAP); the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement (ODECE); the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA)'s Diversity & Inclusive Excellence Grant; and the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA).听

As of October, scholars from eight departments throughout the university have been published, including from CMCI, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Leeds School of Business, and the bylines continue to roll in.

鈥淚 could not be more delighted, Larson says. 鈥淚 think at this time, in this cultural moment of extreme racial conflict, to have underrepresented voices from 蜜糖直播 making public statements and putting their ideas out in the world is one of the most important things we could be seeing right now.鈥�

Read below for a list of articles published so far:听

  • Assistant Professor Jo毛lle Cruz, Communication
    The Denver Post: 听
    鈥淩eality is I had been caught gardening while Black in Denver,鈥� Cruz writes, recalling a run-in she had with a security guard while tending her plot in a community garden. The experience left her considering the issues that those who are Black face in gaining access to healing during the pandemic, and dampened her enthusiasm for the hobby. 鈥淭his is also how racism works; it robs us of safety and joy.鈥澨�

  • Assistant Professor Casey Fiesler, Information Science听
    Wired:
    Fiesler writes about 蜜糖直播鈥檚 transition to online learning amid the pandemic and 鈥渮oombombing鈥濃�攚here hackers and trolls evade privacy settings online to disrupt remote classroom learning. 鈥淏ecause many technology-based harms impact already marginalized people disproportionately, these are important voices to include in the design process as part of addressing ethical debt,鈥� she writes.

    Slate:
    The mid-鈥�80s was a notable time for women in computer science鈥攂ecause that was when they started disappearing,鈥� writes Fiesler, pointing to a possible correlation between that drop and a rise in personal computers, which were marketed as toys aimed mainly at boys.听

  • Professor Jennifer Ho, Ethnic Studies听
    The Conversation:
    鈥淎nyone confused about Kamala Harris鈥� multiraciality may recall that the U.S. is a nation that was not built by a single ethnic or racial group,鈥� writes Ho, responding to continued discussions around Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris鈥� ethnicity. She adds that what underlies questions of authenticity are questions of legitimacy. 鈥� those who question their whole selves and their choice to authentically identify with multiple races.鈥�

  • Scholar-in-Residence Marcia Kwaramba, Social Responsibility and Sustainability
    The Conversation:
    鈥淭he economic crisis in Zimbabwe spurred the rapid adoption and use of mobile money,鈥� writes Kwaramba, outlining how a surge in mobile money transfers was followed by significant regulatory restrictions. These restrictions left 50,000 mobile money agents without a source of income and will likely affect rural citizens who depend on these agents to access mobile money services, she writes. Kwaramba ends the piece with alternative approaches that could protect the financial system鈥檚 integrity while still benefiting customers and merchants.听

  • Assistant Professor Tiara Na鈥檖uti, Communication听
    Common Dreams:
    鈥淕u氓han鈥攖he Indigenous name for Guam鈥攊s the , and military transmission is clear,鈥� writes Na鈥橮uti, outlining the ways that the U.S. military has鈥撯�揳nd will continue to鈥撯�損ut the people of the island at risk. 鈥淭hough Gu氓han floats on the other side of the world, every sector of civil society is implicated in the military war machine, ,鈥� she writes.

    In These Times:听
    As voters across the country express increasing concerns about voter suppression and disenfranchisement, Na鈥檖uti writes, on the island of听Gu氓han (Guam), 鈥渢hese anx颅i颅eties might qual颅i颅fy as a lux颅u颅ry.鈥� She adds that, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because its res颅i颅dents have no vot颅ing rights when it comes to deter颅min颅ing the country鈥檚 next com颅man颅der-in-chief, even as they boast some of the high颅est enlist颅ment lev颅els in the .鈥澨�

    鈥�Latinx Spaces: 听
    Though residents of the U.S. territories are technically U.S. citizens, they are not allowed to vote in presidential elections. This fact is "particularly egregious given that this president will have control of the U.S. armed forces,"听write听Na'Puti and听co-author听Assistant Professor Kristie Soares, adding that,听"Militarization is a constant presence on islands such as Puerto Rico and Guam in the form of military bases, disaster militarism, and militarized policing." With this in mind, the authors urge voters to make the U.S. territories a central part of their deliberations, rather than an afterthought. "You are determining the future of nearly 5 million people living under militarized conditions on these islands."

  • Assistant Professor Jessica Ordaz, Ethnic Studies
    The Washington Post:
    A recent allegation that a doctor performed hysterectomies on immigrant women in a Georgia detention center 鈥�...is only the latest case of systemic medical neglect and mistreatment in immigration detention settings,鈥� writes Ordaz, who traces the ways medical abuse, racism and immigration have been linked throughout U.S. history. 鈥淧erceptions of immigrant women of color as dirty, diseased and hyper-fertile continued to be used to justify anti-migrant violence across the 20th century,鈥� she writes.

  • Doctoral Candidate Urooj Raja, Environmental Studies
    The Hill:
    When Tropical Storm Isaias smattered the East Coast with high winds, lightning, rain and, of course, power outages, it was yet another reminder that our national power grid isn鈥檛 up to the task of handling extreme weather, Raja writes. As climate change and extreme weather continue, she adds, power outages will be costly for those on the margins of society. 鈥淚f we are stubborn enough not to recognize climate change as the silent killer residing among us, we must at the very least work on improving grid resiliency,鈥� she writes.

    The Hill:
    Responding to fires ravaging California and much of the rest of the country, Raja writes that, 鈥淲ith climate change-induced听temperature rise and earlier snowmelt happening, it is very likely that we will be seeing more fierce and deadly fires.鈥� In addressing this issue, she argues, it is critical that local and national political figures 鈥渕ake sure that wildfire policy clearly accounts for climate change and give adequate attention to how wildfires may impact other issues 鈥� namely water security and public health.鈥�

  • Assistant Professor A. Marie Ranjbar,听Geography听
    Boulder Daily Camera:
    鈥淚nternational students at U.S. universities have faced unprecedented obstacles under President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration and, unless we put an end to it, we will only hurt our 蜜糖直播 communities,鈥� writes Ranjbar, adding that, as a faculty member, she鈥檚 seen a significant drop in applications and enrollment of international students. 鈥淭his is a tremendous loss for 蜜糖直播, and for our Boulder and Denver communities,鈥� she writes.听

  • Assistant Professor Kristie Soares, Women and Gender Studies听
    Latino Rebels:
    Soares writes that President Donald Trump鈥檚 remarks about vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris鈥� during a press briefing were a reminder of the threat that toxic masculinity poses鈥撯�揵oth to women and to people of color. She connects this systemic threat to the death of George Floyd and others, and to safety concerns related to the pandemic. 鈥淎s People of Color, and particularly trans and non-binary People of Color, we live in constant fear of death not just because of racism, but also because of its intersections with toxic masculinity,鈥� she writes.

    Latinx Spaces: 听
    Though residents of the U.S. territories are technically U.S. citizens, they are not allowed to vote in presidential elections. This fact is "particularly egregious given that this president will have control of the U.S. armed forces,"听write听Soares and听co-author听Assistant Professor Tiara Na'Puti, adding that,听"Militarization is a constant presence on islands such as Puerto Rico and Guam in the form of military bases, disaster militarism, and militarized policing." With this in mind, the authors urge voters to make the U.S. territories a central part of their deliberations, rather than an afterthought. "You are determining the future of nearly 5 million people living under militarized conditions on these islands."

  • Assistant Professor Stephanie Toliver, Literacy Studies:听
    Medium:
    In this piece published before a grand jury decided not to criminally charge officers with the killing of Breonna Taylor, Toliver writes about the state of Kentucky鈥檚 lack of action in prosecuting Taylor鈥檚 case. 鈥淭he state鈥檚 refusal to prosecute represents a long history of Black women鈥檚 dehumanization in the United States, but Taylor鈥檚 murder and the lack of justice for her death presents a quandary during a time when politicians, television producers, and everyone in between call for Black women to save the United States from the clutches of evil,鈥� she writes.

    Wear Your Voice:
    In making a character鈥檚 body 鈥渁 site of forced experimentation,鈥� Netflix鈥檚 new Project Power mirrors a legacy of forced and unethical experimentation on Black women鈥檚 bodies, Toliver writes. Yet when the character breaks free, the show, too, breaks with history, she adds. 鈥淭racy鈥檚 emancipation from the medical lab symbolizes a freedom that many Black women never had.鈥�

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