Organizational Histories

Stories behind the formation and evolution of social justice projects, organizations, and initiatives. Have you started a business, organization, project, or initiative? Tell us about that work and the catalysts that sparked it.

Organizational Histories

Recreating Home: Justice Over Everything with Byron Green-Calisch

Organizational Histories

Black In The Stacks: Sharing Stories of Black Librarians, Authors and Advocates with Marquita D. Gooch

2025

Organizational Histories

Kujo’s Kid Zone: Connecting Roots, Bridging Histories, and Empowering Futures with Randy Quansah

Randy Quansah, creator of Kujo’s Kid Zone, shares a memory of an early experience with racism at school that sparked his journey of self-discovery and awareness of African history and identity. What began as sharing the lessons he learned with his daughter expanded into considering other kids and their families, which then became the inspiration behind his educational show for children.

Randy talks about his dedication to educating children about African history, challenging Eurocentric narratives, the importance of cultural representation, and the necessary cycle of growth that comes from leaning and unlearning about ourselves and the world.

His message to creatives is that you are more than enough. Randy wants listeners to understand the power of making the first moves towards implementing their big ideas, and encourages you to just start instead of waiting for perfection, knowing that the act of following your path will create opportunities for you to get to where you’re going.

December 10, 2025
Organizational Histories

A More HUMAN Approach to Truth-Telling & Building Community: Becoming The Quiet Rebel with Tracie Jae

Tracie Jae, human culture strategist and educator, describes how her family both shielded her from and prepared her to engage with racial injustice, and shares about the breadcrumbs that helped her to learn that racism shouldn’t be normal.

She tells the story of the birth of her identity as The Quiet Rebel, and breaks down her more HUMAN (Honest, Urgent, Meaningful, Accountable, Nuanced)  approach to equity conversations and explains why real social change starts with addressing harm, embracing difference, and staying curious about the stories missing from the narratives we’re told about ourselves and the world around us.  

October 15, 2025
Community Voices / Organizational Histories

Exploring Identity and Mental Health Through Comics, Anime, and Culture with Quincy M. Simmons

Quincy M. Simmons, a rising senior at SUNY New Paltz in Journalism, Film, Video, and Black Studies, shares what motivated him to use his love for comic books, manga, and anime to address social justice issues through his podcast, “The Masks We Wear”. He talks about mental health, neurodiversity, and toxic masculinity, and how exploring comics as modern mythology can offer powerful reflections on today’s social and political climate. Quincy also talks about his journey with journalism, how he uses storytelling to inspire and educate, his guiding influences, and the impact he hopes to make with his work.

August 20, 2025
Organizational Histories

Fighting Anti-Blackness: Loving Ourselves with Daily Practices of Self-Reflection with Nadia Brigham

As an intellectual activist, Dr. Nadia Brigham has possessed the ability to recognize the patterns of injustice from an early age. She tells stories from her early life, highlighting pivotal moments that sparked her passion for social justice.

She reflects on her journey of completing her dissertation research exploring the ways power is wielded through language and narratives that dehumanize Black people, and how the emotionally difficult process of making meaning of the ways anti-Blackness is transmitted to individuals and throughout our social systems led to the surprising yet purposeful emergence of “Radiant & Rising”, a collection of interactive healing tools for Black people to engage in the daily practice of self-love while combating internalized anti-Blackness.

In explaining the five affirmation themes of Radiant & Rising that are designed to foster daily reflective practices for combating and unlearning anti-Blackness, whether you are Black or not, Dr. Brigham’s storytelling emphasizes the need to counter the lies embedded in anti-Black messages and reaffirms the worthiness that Black people have always had.

May 14, 2025
Organizational Histories

Build What You Dream: The Rockstar Woman Movement with Shannon Cohen

In sharing the Social Justice Origin Story of the global Rockstar Woman™ Movement, founder Shannon Cohen recalls how manifesting her dream of establishing truly inclusive professional networks and affinity spaces for women was born from a mix of inspiration, observation, and agitation, with a particular desire to create spaces that were markedly different from the exclusionary, predominantly white spaces she experienced as a Black Woman in her early days as a professional. Drawing on the legacy of resilience and entrepreneurship passed down from her grandparents, Shannon’s storytelling speaks to the power of betting on yourself, incubating your ideas instead of shelving them, the power of collective ambition and cooperative economics, and the importance of healthy hibernation for longevity in social justice work.

February 19, 2025
Organizational Histories

A Lighthouse and A Refuge: The Firehouse Community Arts Center with Phil Jackson

Pastor Phil Jackson shares the social justice origin story of the Firehouse Community Arts Center in Chicago, essential leadership lessons he has learned from his role as founder and CEO, and the ways the Firehouse lives out its mission to interrupt the cycle of violence among youth and young adults in North Lawndale through the power of the arts and faith. His storytelling affirms the transformative impact of the arts, establishing and maintaining authentic relationships with your community, and stories of how the Firehouse has become a refuge and source of inspiration and strength for many in North Lawndale.

February 5, 2025
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Organizational Histories

Using Power to Bring More Power to People: Education for Freedom and Justice with Mia Henry

Mia Henry connects common threads between her training as an educator, the 29 Civil Rights tours she organized and led over the past 10 years, and her current work developing educational curriculum on resistance and social justice as the founder and CEO of Freedom Lifted, which offers justice-centered leadership development through online learning, training, and facilitation. 

The social justice origin story of Freedom Lifted emphasizes the importance of understanding power as an abundant resource, the critical work of using our power to bring more power to oppressed people, and drawing wisdom from stories of resistance throughout history when people have strived to create a world where power is shared for guidance on how we can better share power within our organizations and movements for justice.

January 20, 2025

2024

Organizational Histories

Facilitating Change: Education Justice and Unharmonius Organizing with kyle lim

In this episode of Social Justice Origin Stories, Relando talks with kyle lim, a passionate racial justice advocate and community organizer. Originally from Singapore, kyle shares some of his experiences navigating complex racial identities and confronting systemic inequities in the U.S., particularly in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In his storytelling about the education justice work at the Urban Core Collective, kyle speaks to the necessity of building community power, addressing systemic flaws, and prioritizing material redistribution for genuine social transformation. His storytelling also honors the critical role of youth in driving meaningful change.

October 1, 2024