Since the May 2020 death of George Floyd, anti-racist social movements and  counter-movements have captured the attention of the public in the US and around the world. The “In the Wake of George Floyd” Project explores and documents the various forms these protests took in Rhode Island and the responses to them, especially by the state and the police. We are particularly interested in understanding how RI communities’ experiences of police violence and structural racism resonated with the broader national (and global) racial justice movement. The project also explores and records the responses of Brown University– departments, student organisations, senior administration, DIAP committees, inter alia, to these events. The project, a collaboration between The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the Center for Digital Scholarship (CDS), documents these movements for social justice through a timeline of events, analysis of data, and interviews with community members. These protests and the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx people,  reflecting deep racial, social, education and health disparities, underscore the importance of engaging more mindfully with the challenges that confront our communities

This project developed as a result of a grant initially received in July of 2020 from the Provost’s Office at Brown University as part of the Addressing Systemic Racism Fund: Advancing Knowledge through Research and Programming.

If you have questions about the project, please reach out to us at inthewake@brown.edu