Racial Justice Initiative

Who we are

The Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) is a privately funded initiative, founded under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman.

Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman's book launch for Second Class Daughters. Dr. Beatriz Padilla also pictured.Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman discussing her award-winning book Second-Class Daughters: Black Brazilian Women and Informal Adoption as Modern Slavery with 

The charge of RJI is to motivate and support action that will promote racial and social justice in the Tampa Bay community. The Racial Justice Initiative includes a Chair in Racial Justice to advance meaningful research, lead timely developments, further education, and offer community-engaged programming related to racial equity and social justice driven by innovative research and collaboration. The chair holder’s role is to focus on intellectual inquiry and collaboration and provide resources to encourage research focused on racial equity and social justice. The Chair holder maintains active participation in the community and oversees a major project (or series of projects) focused on racial equity and social justice for all people.

The Racial Justice Initiative endeavors to promote collaboration and conversations around solutions-based research aimed at racial equity and social justice. This model helps strengthen USF’s connections to community and provide opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue around lived experiences that have the power to transform communities. Together, we facilitate and support knowledge and understanding through research, scholarly exchange, and community engagement on a broad range of topics relevant to racial equity and social justice among faculty, staff, students, and the larger community.

The Racial Justice Initiative has supported several research projects and community events, including: