Reproductive rights, prison reform and voting equality take center stage in ASU lecture series

The School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University will celebrate the 18th annual Seeking Justice in Arizona Fall Lecture Series with three guest speakers spanning the month of September. The series kicks off at 3 p.m. MST Wednesday, Sept. 7, via Zoom webinar.

Seeking Justice in Arizona aims to engage community experts in conversation about national issues through the perspectives of Arizonans. The three speakers slated to speak at this year’s virtual event will discuss topics including voting rights, abolition and criminal justice reform, and reproductive rights.

According to Madelaine Adelman, professor of justice and social inquiry at the School of Social Transformation, this lecture series was established to highlight the multiple pathways to justice and address pressing yet entrenched contemporary social problems.

"The series enables students to learn about what motivates a person to create social change and how to effectively engage in social change efforts," said Adelman.

The first lecture of the series on Sept. 7 will feature Alex Gulotta, Arizona state director of All Voting is Local, an organization that advocates for the right to vote through a unique combination of community power building, data-driven advocacy and strategic communications. Gulotta’s presentation, “Don’t Believe the Propaganda: Our Elections Are Secure,” will focus on the importance of voting despite nuanced, systematic discouragement.

Next up is Caroline Isaacs, who will deliver a lecture titled “Creating Safety Outside of the Punishment System” on Sept. 19. Issacs is the executive director of Just Communities Arizona, an abolitionist organization that focuses on advocacy and organizing to reduce the size and scope of the punishment system to foster new, community-based approaches to justice.

DeShawn Taylor, founder and CEO of Desert Star Institute for Family Planning, completes the series on Sept. 28 with a talk on “Health, Rights and Justice: Frameworks to Address Reproductive Oppression." Taylor's institute partners with organizations led by people of color whose work and programming centers on their lived experiences.