Danielle Allen
Professor of Public Policy, James Bryant Conant University Professor
Multiracial Democracy
Antiracism is a critical building block for a modern, healthy democracy
Multiracial, multiethnic democracy doesn’t just happen — we have work to do to get there.
Antiracist institutions and organizations address and challenge racial disparities by instituting policies and recommendations to foster greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We encourage you to explore the below events, research, and commentary to learn more about our work.
Meet the Experts
Gloria Yayra A. Ayee
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy
Cornell Brooks
Hauser Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations;
Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice
Archon Fung
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation;
Co-Director of the Program on Democracy and the Informed Public;
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government
Yanilda María González
Ford Foundation Assistant Professor of Public Policy
The Latest News and Research
Video
Equity Takes Time, Commitment, & Disruption (Truth and Transformation 2021)
This video starts with the final panel discussion from the 2021 Truth and Transformation conference, hosted by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. Then at 1:03:00, remarks from Boston Mayor Kim Janey begin and are followed by a closing discussion between IARA Senior Fellow Erica Licht and Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad at 1:15:50.
The panel discussion, titled, “Equity Takes Time, Commitment, & Disruption” featured:
- Carmen Rojas (Speaker) President & CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation
- John C. Yang (Speaker) President & Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
- Halima Begum (Speaker) Chief Executive, Runnymede Trust
- Eric Ward (Speaker) Executive Director, Western States Center
- Mary McNeil (Moderator) Ph.D. Candidate, American Studies Program, Harvard University
Learn more about the Truth and Transformation Conference and the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project online: https://ash.harvard.edu/iara
Video
Combatting Anti-Asian Racism and Misogyny: What is our Local Community Doing?
This public discussion highlighted key challenges of racism, misogyny and other discrimination faced by our Asian and Asian-American community, the responses of local organizations who have long sought to address such challenges, and what more needs to be done in our own communities. Speakers represented perspectives from the Harvard Kennedy School’s staff, faculty and student groups, as well as leading local non-profits.
Speakers included:
- Anisha Asundi, Research Fellow: Gender Specialist, Harvard Kennedy School Women and Public Policy Program
- Carolyn Chou, Executive Director, Asian American Resource Workshop
- Dr. Kathy Pham, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
- Nick Sung, Harvard Kennedy School MPP ’21
- Dr. Kaori Urayama, Senior Program Manager, Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center
William Huang, Harvard Kennedy School MPP ’22, gave the welcome.
Commentary
America’s Struggle to Overcome Racial Inequities
Featuring Pippa Norris
Video
#BlackLivesMatter Across the Americas: Black Youth Organizers and the Struggle for Racial Justice
The Ash Center hosted an event in the What Justice Looks Like series for a conversation with activists from Black youth-led movements from the US and Latin America, leading the struggle against racial injustice, from police violence to structural racism and disparate effects of the COVID pandemic on racialized and low-income communities.
Feature
Black Lives, Protest, and Democracy
The following remarks were excepted from A Discussion on Black Lives, Protest, and Democracy, a virtual conversation hosted by the Ash Center with leading scholars and practitioners about the protests, their place in the long fight for social justice, and what they tell us about the state of democracy in America today.
Video
Getting Out the BIPOC Vote: Digital Strategies to Build Power
The Ash Center hosted a timely discussion with leading practitioners who are effectively integrating digital strategies with authentic power-building while navigating a never-before-seen civic environment.
Video
Black Artists Respond to Pandemic, Demands for Racial Justice, and Threats to Democracy
The Ash Center and Hutchins Center for African and African American Research hosted a discussion on how artists, particularly artists of color, are responding to the current fight for racial justice during a global pandemic.
Video
The Movement for Black Lives: Where do we go from here?
The Ash Center hosted a roundtable discussion about the continuing fight for racial justice in the United States.
Video
Who Watches the Watchmen? Race and Policing Through the Lens of Popular Entertainment
The Ash Center hosted a conversation about how Watchmen and other popular entertainment can highlight and help us understand critical issues around race and policing.
Video
A Discussion on Black Lives, Protest, and Democracy
The Ash Center hosted a conversation with leading scholars and practitioners about the George Floyd protests, their place in the long fight for social justice, and what they tell us about the state of democracy in America today.
Video
Voting In the Time of COVID-19: Can We Make It Work?
Speakers included:
- Kristen Clarke, President, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Joshua Kleinfeld
- Professor of Law, Northwestern University
- Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment
- Charles Stewart, Professor at MIT and Director of the MIT Election Science Laboratory
- Miles Rapoport, Harvard Kennedy School (Moderator)
Video
Fighting for Social Justice in a Pandemic
The Ash Center hosted a dynamic discussion on how organizing and social movement tactics and methods are changing in the COVID-19 era of physical distancing.