CRCC in the NewsRev. Najuma Smith-Pollard on Chauvin TrialReligious leaders anticipated and responded to the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard, program manager for the USC Cecil Murray Center …Topics: Criminal Justice, Protests and Uprisings, Race and Culture
CommentaryIn Wake of Chauvin Trial, What Can Faith Leaders Learn From the Rodney King LA Civil Unrest?This article was originally published in Religion News Service and The Washington Post. As the U.S. reacts to the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, many are wary of violence …Topics: CMCCE, Criminal Justice, Protests and Uprisings, Race and Culture, Religious Leadership, Southern California- VideoFaith Leadership Engagement with the FBI
CommentaryShowing Up! Female Faith Leadership in the COVID-19 PandemicThis post was originally published on the Berkley Forum, as part of a series on Gender, Religion and COVID-19. As a female pastor and community faith leader, I found myself called to …Topics: Black Church, CMCCE, Criminal Justice, Gender, Political Attitudes and Values, Race and Culture
EventBlack Female Leadership within LAPD: Untold Stories!High-ranking African-American female leadership in the Los Angeles Police Department share untold stories of issues around racial equity, internal culture and politics of the LAPD, and being a Black woman in law …Topics: CMCCE, Criminal Justice, Event, Gender,
CommentaryFatal Intersections of Black Women and the Law: The Case of Breonna TaylorThis article was originally published by the Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion. I live in Los Angeles, California, near what seems to me to be one of the …Topics: CMCCE, Criminal Justice, Race and Culture, Violence
ArticleIndira Ranamagar: Nepalese Women in Prison Turn to AmaThis article was originally published in Indian Country Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Our aunties are the same all over the world. They are the “go to” women …Topics: Asia, Criminal Justice, Economic Inequality, Engaged Spirituality, Gender, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleAfrican American Muslims and the LAPD: Moving from Stories to SolutionsThis article originally appeared in BOOM California. “We don’t want to walk into a kumbaya situation,” said Umar Hakim. The sixteen men and women gathered around a conference table in Inglewood simultaneously …Topics: Community Organizing, Criminal Justice, Muslims and Islam, Southern California, Violence
CommentaryWhen a Pastor Shows Up at a Black Lives Matter ProtestI posted a question on Facebook at the beginning of 2018: “What ever happened to Black Lives Matter?” The question wasn’t prompted by animosity, despite the disagreements between clergy and BLM. To …Topics: Black Church, CMCCE, Criminal Justice, Protests and Uprisings, Race and Culture, Religious Leadership, Violence
CommentaryStudying Religion in the “Belly of the Beast” – A Prison in RioIt seemed like a good idea when I made the arrangements. But my heart was beating at double speed and I was filled with doubt, as a staff member handed me a …Topics: Christians and Christianity, Criminal Justice, Latin America, Pentecostals and Pentecostalism, Violence
BookIf I Give My Soul: Faith Behind Bars in Rio de JaneiroIf I Give My Soul: Faith Behind Bars in Rio de Janeiro By Andrew Johnson (Oxford University Press, 2017) The writing of this book was supported by the Pentecostal Charismatic Research Initiative. …Topics: Books, Christians and Christianity, Criminal Justice, Economic Inequality, Latin America, Pentecostals and Pentecostalism, Religious Beliefs and Rituals- VideoDignity and Power Now: The Spirituality of Black Lives Matter
CRCC Experts
To schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact CRCC:
crcc@usc.edu or 213-743-1611
Rev. Frank Jackson, Jr.Contributing FellowRev. Frank Jackson, Jr. couples his experience in business and investment with his passion for community development.
Andrew JohnsonPast FellowAndrew Johnson is a sociologist who studies religion on the margins of society, with specific interests in religious practice inside of prison, Latin American Pentecostalism and religion in the city.