Jubilee Hall at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Congressman and racial justice activist John Lewis, who passed away on July 17, 2020, would have been 81 years old this week. In honor of his birthday and life-long fight for justice, Fisk University, a historically Black institution in Nashville, Tennessee, announced a new fellowship program at its John Lewis Center for Social Justice.
The Center, which is focused on fostering rigorous research, artistic production, and community engagement, is the newest iteration of justice on the Fisk University campus. Since its establishment in 1866, Fisk has been known for promoting equity and justice, boasting some of the most prominent civil rights leaders across time. Beginning in 1944, for example, Fisk professor and sociologist Charles S. Johnson hosted the famed Race Relations Institutes, which focused on bringing people of all backgrounds together to have racial dialogue. The John Lewis Center for Social Justice is a continuation of Fisk’s long and purposeful mission aimed toward justice.
Karida Brown, Director of Fisk University's John Lewis Center for Social Justice.
According to Karida Brown, the director of the John Lewis Center for Social Justice, “An ethos of moral responsibility and sense of urgency for justice is at the core of the institutional culture at Fisk. Our students are ever inspired by John Lewis and the many other illustrious Fisk alumni whose legacies embody the ideals of the University mission.”
Fisk University Jubilee Singers. Photograph ca. 1880.
The new fellowships are directed at three distinct areas of impact: policy & activism, arts & culture, and technology & data science. The policy & activism fellow will follow in the footsteps of Fisk graduates Diane Nash and the late Congressman John Lewis to “continue the fight against bigotry and confront ongoing attacks on civil rights like voting, healthcare, and education.” The arts & culture fellow is inspired by Fisk artists, poets, and musicians such as Nikki Giovanni, Arna Bontemps, Aaron Douglas and the Fisk Jubilee Singers —all of whom sought to promote social justice through their work.
W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits - Visualizing Black America.
The technology & data science fellow will advance the tradition of Fisk alumnus W.E.B Du Bois to “shape the evolving data, science, and technology fields toward ensuring full and equitable access to Black communities, both as consumers and as producers.”
Brown shared, “For us, the fellow’s work must integrate a moral conviction for justice, a theoretical basis for understanding, an embrace for radical humanity, and a practical aim to enact change.” She added,” We believe in the importance of providing holistic support and recognition of this kind of justice driven work.”
John Lewis while a student at Fisk University.
Fisk University, which is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top ten Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the nation, is a place that ensures that students know they are “walking on sacred ground.” Students know that John Lewis fought for justice while a student at the historic institution, taking an active role in the sit-in movement. According to Fisk University President Vann Newkirk, the university “has always been synonymous with a global concern for equality, inclusion, and prosperity. From W.E.B Du Bois to Ida B. Wells to John Lewis to Diane Nash, Fisk has helped shape a better world for more than one hundred and fifty years,”
The fellowships were made possible with the support of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. According to Jens Frederiksen, Executive Vice President at Fisk, these fellowships and the launch of the John Lewis Center for Social Justice are “part of Fisk’s immense growth in the past five years — a growth that has included a 32% increase in student enrollment, a stronger endowment, the addition of new buildings, and even stronger academics than we’ve had in the past.”
