From Nora Krinitsky, PCAP Interim Director:

As we prepare for the start of a new academic year under the combined pressures of the pandemic and ongoing protests against police violence and mass incarceration, we are circulating The University of Michigan in the Era of Black Lives Matter and Mass Incarceration. This "primer" on racial injustice at U-M was written by a group of faculty who work with the Prison Creative Arts Project, the Semester in Detroit program, and the Carceral State Project Documenting Criminalization and Confinement research initiative. The documents attached include an overview of and our conclusions regarding many of the key issues that have been raised by members of the campus community over the past several years, from carceral practices in admissions and employment, to prison education, to the need to reassess our relationship with the Ann Arbor Police Department and campus police, as well as the status of the university's relationship to Detroit. We know that there are related campaigns and initiatives that are not included here, but we hope that these materials will prove to be a useful starting point for ongoing conversation, organizing, and action in pursuit of meaningful change.

We invite you to share The University of Michigan in the Era of Black Lives Matter and Mass Incarceration with your communities. The information is presented in two ways: 1) in a newsletter format, and 2) in a pdf study guide format with live links to other relevant documents. If you use these documents for education, for discussion, or for another purpose, we welcome you to share your experience, reactions, and feedback with us.

If you have questions about these materials or the information therein, please contact Nora Krinitsky (nkrinit@umich.edu) or Angela Dillard (adillard@umich.edu).