Nearly 100 sociologists attended the Sociologists for Justice meeting on August 20, 2016 in Seattle, WA. Many thanks to all who attended and shared their reflections on the movement for Black lives and suggestions on how we can move forward together as a collective committed to ending police violence against Black and Brown people.

Despite the 9:45 pm PST start time, we had a lively and inspiring meeting that ended with several actionable ideas for the group. From the discussion, five priority areas emerged that attendees would like to see Sociologists for Justice take action to support the Black Lives Matter movement and advance racial justice.

How Sociology Can Support Black Lives Matter
A summary of recommendations from attendees of our 2016 meeting is featured in this month’s Footnotes.

The section below summarizes the five priority areas including examples of actions that can be taken under each area. Please note this is not a comprehensive list of actions. We invite your suggestions and participation on a working group to help shape the agenda and actions for each priority area. Our goal is for each working group to identify and implement at least one key action by August 2017.

To sign-up to help implement the listed actions or to suggest other actions that you would like to help implement, please click on the link for the relevant priority area. If you are interested in more than one priority area, you will need to click on the link for each form to register your interest in joining the working group. So that planning can begin for each priority area, we ask that all who are interested to sign-up for a working group by Thursday, January 12, 2016.

We look forward to your continued engagement with Sociologists for Justice.

Judy Lubin, Eric Anthony Grollman, Rashawn Ray

Sign Up for Working Groups:

Working Group 1: Institutionalizing racial justice activism within the American Sociological Association
Sample Actions:

• Advocate for an ASA task force on police violence
• Develop a statement or resolution on how ASA can institutionalize racial justice activism and create an environment for scholar-activism (e.g., expand activities that are rewarded for tenure and promotion)

https://goo.gl/forms/veBezFme62PLTpCI3

Working Group 2: Facilitating racial justice conversations on campus
Sample Actions:

• Organize a national day of campus-based events (with Sociologists for Justice site serving as a hub of information on events)
• Provide suggestions for speakers, events, teaching materials, etc. that instructors may use on campus

https://goo.gl/forms/8K0xWtSeb6hEL12B3

Working Group 3: Facilitating racial justice conversations on campus
Sample Activities:

• Organize a national day of campus-based events (with Sociologists for Justice site serving as a hub of information on events)
• Provide suggestions for speakers, events, teaching materials, etc. that instructors may use on their own campus

https://goo.gl/forms/8K0xWtSeb6hEL12B3

Working Group 4: Promoting sociological data and policy solutions
Sample Activities:

• Develop 1-2 page fact sheets or issue briefs summarizing sociological research and/or policy solutions to address police violence
• Develop Sociologists for Justice policy agenda to address police violence
• Participate in advocacy efforts (e.g., calls/letters to policymakers)

https://goo.gl/forms/oXNqx0YhMdoVOLOX2

Working Group 5: Engaging in dialogue and building partnerships with activists
Sample Actions:

• Organize Sociologists for Justice dialogue (in-person or online event) with activists to identify ways that sociologists can be helpful to BLM

https://goo.gl/forms/ULbhAeB67plxcAj63

As always, we welcome submissions of articles and commentaries for the blog on the Sociologists for Justice website. Submissions can be submitted to Judy Lubin at drj[at]sociologistsforjustice.org