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MUHAMMAD ALI RUN/WALK
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Registration February 6 through April 9. $20 registration fee, includes t-shirt. Register online at www.active.com (additional $3.25 convenience fee) Printable Mail-in Registration form at louisville.edu/aliinstitute. Late Registration April 10-13 in person at Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth Street. Fundraising Opportunity Contact us to find out how you can make the Ali Shuffle a fundraiser for your organization. Volunteer Opportunity Contact alishuffle.service@gmail.com Celebrating the Life of Louisville's Iconic Son, Muhammad Ali! For more information, call 502-852-6372. To register for Ali Shuffle Run/Walk, click here Power Shift, March 2-3, 2012
Desiring to make real change in your community? Struggling to truly be effective? Learn how to organize to WIN! This is a skills-based workshop that will be valuable to both novice and seasoned community organizers. The Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville invites you to join us for Power Shift: Real Skills for Social Change, a community organizing workshop led by Rev. Alvin Herring.
The event will take place March 2nd from 2-6pm and March 3rd from 9am-4pm at the Muhammad Ali Center at 144 N. 6th Street. Lunch will be provided on Saturday. Please plan to attend both sessions. $10 is the suggested donation, but no one will be turned away.
RSVP by February 24th to Mikal Forbush, Ali
Institute Program Coordinator, at 502-852-1493 or maforb01@louisville.edu.
M.O.S.E.S Movement, Feb. 25, 2012Making Ourselves Economically Successful
Join us at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St., Louisville, KY HOST: Canaan Christian Church, Rev. Dr. Walter Malone, Jr. Pastor Call: 216-691-6686, ext 330 to register. Register on-line or for more information: WWW.THEMOSESMOVEMENT.COM Would you like a booth? Call 216-691-6686, ext. 330
Click here to download the brochure
Introducing the new Ali Scholars, 2011-13
The Ali Scholars Program, offered to full-time undergraduate University of Louisville students, is a unique 2-year experience combining training, research and service in the areas of social justice, violence prevention and peace building in an urban context. A special emphasis is placed on understanding and addressing the social conditions that impact those issues.
Peace & Justice Week 2011
Click on the this link to view a poster of all the P & J events Tuesday, November 1
Brown Bag Lunch: Resilient Families Project at Wayside Christian Mission Ali Institute, Ekstrom Library, Rm. 280 12:30 p.m. Join Dr. Barbara Burns, Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Lora Haynes, Assoc. Professor of Psychology, for a discussion about the Resilient Families Project. The project provides educational experiences and a sense of community/caring for families living at Wayside Christian Mission's Hotel Louisville or at their Emergency Homeless Shelter ("The Pavilion"). Come to hear more about this unique collaboration between faculty, students, community agencies, and local families. Bring your lunch and we'll provide the desserts and drinks!
Thursday, November 3 Brown Bag Lunch: Playing for Peace: Sports as a Tool for Conflict Transformation in Cyprus Ali Institute, Ekstrom Library, Rm. 280 12 p.m. Join Dr. Alexis Lyras, Assistant Professor of Sports Administration and member of the Ali Institute's Faculty Resource Group for an informal discussion about how sports has been used to help communities in Cyprus transcend and transform a long-standing conflict. Bring your lunch and we'll provide the desserts and drinks! Monday, November 7 What is Occupy Louisville? Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library 6 p.m. Join us for an exciting discussion with participants of Occupy Louisville. Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing demonstration and occupation opposing corrupt corporate influence in U.S. politics, the influence of money and corporations on democracy and a lack of legal and political repercussions for the global financial crisis. The movement has captured the discontent of not only the United States, but citizens from around the world facing economic meltdowns. The momentum has spread globally with Occupations occurring from Tokyto to Louisville. Tuesday, November 8 Brown Bag Lunch:Waving the White Flag: The Politics of Race & Identity in the Peace Movement Ali Institute, Ekstrom, Library, Rm. 280 12 p.m. Join Dr. Russ Vandenbroucke, Professor of Theatre and Director of the Peace, Justice & Conflict Transformation Program will lead us in an informal discussion about how issues of race and ethnicity have impacted the peace movement. Bring your lunch and we'll provide the desserts and drinks! Wednesday, November 9 KDC Presents: Expressions of the Dreamers Schumaker Research Building, Rm, 139 5 p.m. The Kentucky Dream Collation University of Louisville Chapter will be unveiling their collaborative quilt to the University and community. A week-long project, the quilt captures feeling of KDC, members of DuPont manual High School Art club, and student from the University of Louisville around the idea of the Dream Act. After unveiling, members of KDC and allies will tell stories and use their own special talent to further express themselves about the Dream Act. Thursday, November 10 Brown Bag Lunch: Standing as One Community (Ummah Wahida): Rwandan Muslims and Resistance to Genocide Ali Institute, Ekstrom Library, Rm. 280 12 p.m. Dr. Jennie Burnet, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and member of the Ali Institute's Faculty Resource Group, will present some preliminary results from her new research project examining the roles of Muslims during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Bring your lunch and we'll provide the desserts and drinks! Tuesday, November 15 Reclaiming Our Dream: Youth Presentation Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library 7 p.m. Reclaiming Our Dreams (ROD) is an intergenerational youth program that teaches local students about social justice and Human Rights using University of Louisville students and staff as guides on this transformative journey. The second in a two part series, the students from the ROD program will present their multimedia project that highlights some of the issues they encounter on a day to day basis. Wednesday, November 16 A New Conversation on Equality - Bridging the Generations Shumaker Research Building 6 p.m. Young people and elders often enter the conversation about equality from very different places leading to misunderstanding and disconnection. During this conversation we are seeking to foster dialog that honors the past, respects new perspectives, and moves us to effective change in the present. Co-sponsored by the Black Faculty and Staff Association
Muhammad Ali Newsletter Click here to view entire newsletter on-line
Ali Institute works to end injustice at its root cause
There's a connection between someone being shot on the street in Louisville and war on the other side of the world. The same connection exists between spousal abuse in Montreal and disregard for the environment in the rain forest. The Ali Scholars are at the core of the institute's work. They're all manifestations of violence; they all stem from injustices. That's what the University of Louisville's Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice believes, and that premise - that injustice is at the root of all violence - drives everything it does. The institute, an academic partner of the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, grooms students to be peace builders - and that means more than bringing people together to end conflict or forcing parties to maintain peace once it's won. It means righting the social injustices that caused the conflict and making sure that people have access to what they need to live a life of dignity, said institute Director Stacy Bailey-Ndiaye. Getting to root causes takes time, she said. It isn't sexy, but it's the only way to bring about a just world and to sustain peace. Ali Scholars
The Ali Scholars program is the core of the institute's work. A two-year program open to students of any major, it includes an intensive immersion in social justice issues, international travel and community work. Those are enough reasons to draw participants, but "What makes this even more meaningful is that we are using Muhammad Ali's life as guideline. He is known around the world not only for his incredible boxing career, but for his dedication to humanitarian causes and international peace-building," said Bristol Mann, a second-year Ali Scholar and a senior majoring in geography with a concentration in environmental analysis. Muhammad Ali and his wife, Lonnie, have monitored the program since its inception. They visited with Ali Scholars and toured the institute last fall. "The Ali Scholars program graduates purposeful young men and women to become Ali ambassadors who will go forth in life equipped with the skills and tools necessary to become vanguards of social justices in their respective communities," Lonnie Ali said recently. "Muhammad and I are very proud of the Ali Scholars program, its mission and the good will it spreads to communities across our nation and globe. We are especially proud this program could be housed and nurtured under the auspices of the University of Louisville and the city of Louisville, our home town, where everything is possible." Ali Scholars start their work with an intensive retreat where they study the six manifestations of violence - domestic, community, economic, environmental, political and hate - represented in the institute's SeeRedNow campaign. "It was meant to be more like the Truth Campaign. It's sort of 'in-your-face' to appeal to young people. We developed it just as a conversation starter...an intellectual framework to think about these issues differently, "Bailey-Ndiaye said. The scholars use what they learn at the retreat and throughout the year to develop campus programs. They also take those lessons and apply them to building international connections. Ali Scholars last summer traveled to England to establish partnerships with students and institutes. They went from there to Ghana. "We spent a week with students working on development projects in rural villages" in the more underdeveloped Upper West region of the country, Mann said. Back in Louisville, the scholars are applying their increasing knowledge and skills base to helping people get access to fresh foods. They've brought together Wesley House, a nonprofit organization that helps families, individuals and communities become self-sufficient, and New Roots, an organization focused on sustainable food and getting food into neighborhoods that don't have access. The project, said Bailey-Ndiaye, is not just about healthy eating and getting access to healthy food. It's also about community empowerment. The Ali Scholars program changes the people in it, too. It "has lit a fire within me to continue being an advocate for the youth and to be a part of programs that focus on the well-being and success of young people in difficult situations," said second-year Ali Scholar Amanda Simmons. The senior psychology major said the program "has had a tremendous affect on who I am now and my perspective. The trip to Ghana was the most significant because it totally shaped my worldview. I am more humble, more hardworking. I live simpler. I am not as afraid. I see so much beauty around me - and I truly believe that love and care can change the world...My purpose is to help others, plain and simple." Simmons said. The program has affected Mann's outlook, as well. "I think that my participation in this program will affect how I choose a career in the future," she said. "After gaining a unique perspective about issues surrounding human rights and social justice here in Louisville and around the world. I see myself choosing a meaningful career that fights inequalities and injustices... I am definitely more inclined to not just volunteer for service hours, but to really commit to finding answers to systemic inequalities." Beyond Ali ScholarsStudents aren't the only members of the U of L community involved with the Ali Institute. A relatively new program called the Faculty Resource Group pulls together faculty from a variety of disciplines to conduct research and write about their findings. "We have faculty members from a variety of disciplines across the campus," Bailey-Ndiaye said of the group. "Our faculty in residence is Dr. Kevin Chapman, in psychology, and we have members from public health, education, theater, sport administration, and other departments. On the surface this is really and eclectic group of people, but the idea is because we have this broad view of peace building, they can connect in some way either to what we are doing here at the institute or at the Ali Center." Already the institute has been approached to do research on the effectiveness of lay counseling for Rwandans with PTSD type symptoms resulting from the genocide there in 1994. The institute also may work with a member of the Faculty Resource Group on an international sport for peace project. Faculty group members have also contributed to Creating Our Future, the Ali Center's character education curriculum based on Muhammad Ali's six core values. This project has Bailey-Ndiaye working at the Ali Center two days a week as project director. Eventually, she said, the institute hopes to set up Ali Scholars programs at other universities around the world. "The idea, the dream, is that every-other year we would bring the Ali Scholars from around the world together for a major international conference here in Louisville - which would be phenomenal. We're in the process of building those relationships now. "The institute is about connecting theory to practice. This is an education institution, but if what we're doing isn't relevant for real people's lives, then we're missing something," she siad. by Janene Zaccone, Communications & Marketing
Ali Scholars...the work must continue
Terra Madre 2010
I was fortunate enough to be accepted as a delegate for the Terra Madre 2010 Slow Food International conference in Turin, Italy in October. I was part of a Food Justice Delegation representing the state of Kentucky, for my work with Louisville non-profit organization, New Roots. Terra Madre is an international conference that brings over 5,000 delegates from all over the world that work as farmers, food producers, food activists, educators, and chefs. There were also in attendance an incredible Youth Food Movement comprised of hundreds of young people from all over the world promoting equal rights to clean and fair food. I am so grateful to the Muhammad Ali Institute and for Slow Food Bluegrass for supporting my trip. I have to say it was one of the most overwhelming and enlightening experiences of my life! I was able to speak with delegates that are doing the most amazing work in their home countries on issues surrounding hunger, food justice, and sustainable development. I also spoke on a food justice panel for the U.S. delegation and was able to speak about how New Roots is addressing food justice issues in Louisville, KY. After the panel discussion, many delegates approached me with questions, advice and encouragement for New Roots, including Slow Foods USA President Josh Viertel.
Food justice means many things to me now, and my understanding continues to grow. I see the connection between economic disparities; severe health disparities, environmental discrimination, and the industrial food system are all a part of the fight for social justice. Among the most inspiring speakers were Raj Patel, Manfred Max-Neef, Alice Waters, Vandana Shiva, and Josh Viertel, as well as many, many others. Some of the titles of discussions I attended include: Food Policies: Social Systems and Transformations, Women's Rights and the Right to Land and Sustainable Innovations in Fighting Hunger and Poverty. I have definitely been inspired by my experiences at Terra Madre and look forward to using my inspiration in continuing my work with New Roots and with our new partnerships with the Muhammad Ali Institute and Wesley House. For more information on Terra Madre: http://www.terramadre.info/pagine/welcome.lasso?n=en http://slowfoodusa.org -----Bristol Mann
In the second year of their Muhammad Ali Scholars program, our students are required to incorporate what they have learned at home and abroad to create a project serving the Louisville community. The Ali Scholars will team up with New Roots, a local non-profit organization dedicated to creating a just and thriving local food system, and Wesley House, a local social service agency, to establish an exciting new healthy food program in the community.
Beginning in October, the Ali Scholars will bring their talents, interests, and social justice perspective to helping Wesley House and New Roots address health disparities in low income communities by establishing a system for providing healthy affordable produce for the Lynnview, Newburg, and Okolona neighborhoods. Wesley House Community Services provides early childhood education, youth services, job readiness, financial literacy, and home ownership, GED, and English as a Second Language classes. More than 40% of the agency's clients are immigrants.
The project is still in the design phase and will include health education, youth and intergenerational programs, and hands on experiences such as food preparation, shopping for affordable healthy food, communal cooking and recipe swaps. Through New Roots, participants in Wesley House programs and area residents will not only gain access to affordable locally grown fresh food, they will also explore ways to work cooperatively to buy products at a lower cost. The Ali Scholars will play a leadership role in the community assessment,project design marketing, and implementation. Our goal is to give the Ali Scholars the opportunity to connect the theory and practice as they work with Louisville residents to create lasting social change in their own neighborhoods. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!
Peace and Justice Week 2010
 2011 Peace and Justice Information will be announced toward the beginning of the summer. Please check back for future details.
Just ACT! DayJoin the Muhammad Ali Institute and U of L students, staff, and faculty for a day of service and action in the community; April 2nd from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wesley House, 5114 Preston Highway. Come out on Saturday and help clear away brush, paint a fence, plant shrubs and flowers and paint iron railings. To sign up or for more information, contact Erika R. Stith at 852-6372 or via email at erika.stith@louisville.edu. SOCIAL ISSUE +SOCIAL ACTION = SOCIAL JUSTICE
See Red Now
The Muhammad Ali Institute announces SeeRedNow, its new social justice/violence prevention campaign. Learn more about the See Red Now campaign... ... and check out the awesome new SeeRedNow website! www.seerednow.org
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10 K Run/Walk "Connecting Communities One Step at a Time"! We will begin at West End School , 3628 Virginia Avenue; where Muhammad Ali went to grade school, follow along the steps that Ali took in his life by passing his childhood home and other famous landmarks of his life. Ending the route downtown at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. 
Click on the "Ali Scholars Program" link to the left to find out more information about each individual scholar.
