As part of the University of Maryland Libraries' year-long programming accompanying the new major exhibition, Rising Up: 100 Years of Student Activism for Justice and Civil Rights at the University of Maryland, we are happy to announce Creating Liberating Spaces: Activists, Archivists, Librarians and Social Justice: A Talk with Mariame Kaba.

Location: Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Prince George's Room (1211)
Light refreshments will be provided.

Registration is required due to limited seating.

Register to attend

This event is hosted by UMD Libraries with generous support from AUC Robert Woodruff Library, Project STAND, and the Mellon Foundation, along with co-sponsorship from MICA (Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy).

Mariame Kaba is an educator, organizer, and librarian who is active in movements for racial, gender, and transformative justice. She is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots abolitionist organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. Mariame co-leads the initiative Interrupting Criminalization, a project she co-founded with Andrea Ritchie in 2018.  She has co-founded multiple organizations and projects over the years including We Charge Genocide, the Chicago Freedom School, the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, Chicago Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander (now Love & Protect), Just Practice Collaborative, Survived & Punished, and For the People Lefitist Library Project. 

Kaba’s writing has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, the Nation, the Guardian, the Washington Post, In These Times, Teen Vogue, Essence, the New Inquiry, and more. She is the author of the New York Times Bestseller  We Do This Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (Haymarket Press 2021), Missing Daddy (Haymarket 2019), Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators with Shira Hassan (Project NIA, 2019), See You Soon (Haymarket, March 2022),  No More Police: A Case for Abolition with Andrea Ritchie (The New Press, Aug 2022), Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care with Kelly Hayes (Haymarket, May 2023) and Lifting As They Climbed: Mapping A History of Trailblazing Black Women in Chicago with Essence McDowell (Haymarket, August 2023).

Post-event workshop for student organizations

The event will be followed by a workshop from 4:15pm - 5pm for student groups to discuss key themes from Kaba’s talk, the importance of saving the stories of student organizations, and how libraries can strengthen relationships with our student organizers. The workshop will be held in the Stamp Student Union Conference Room. Workshop participants will receive a gift card.

Accessibility: UMD Libraries welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you have questions about the access provided, please contact libadmin@umd.edu. If you would like to request specific accommodations, please contact libadmin@umd.edu at least two weeks in advance of your participation.