Catalyst Series for Social Justice
Sparking Action for Social Change
At the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW), we don’t just educate students. We also help to educate our community through programs such as the Catalyst Series for Social Justice. Founded in 2016, the Catalyst Series brings campus and community together for timely — and sometimes tough — discussions and workshops on a broad range of issues.
Whether the topic is white fragility, body positivity or art as activism, the goals are the same: to inform, prompt reflection, facilitate public dialogue and spark action.
8,000 people The Catalyst Series for Social Justice has engaged more than 8,000 people since 2016, either in person or online. Since all Catalyst Series events are streamed via Facebook Live, you don’t have to be in Denver to take part!
Refusing to Abandon Our Humanity and Each Other with Kelly Hayes
May 13 | 4:00-5:30 p.m. MST
Kelly Hayes, co-author of the best selling book Let This Radicalize You, will talk about the work of social justice in the context of catastrophe and collapse. What does it mean to refuse to abandon one another in a culture that increasingly normalizes human disposability? How can we build movements grounded in solidarity and reciprocal care? How can we build relationships that will help us survive and heal during the trying times ahead?
Cost: free
Location: Location is hybrid. Join us virtually or in person: Craig Hall Community Room 120 (2148 S High St
Denver, CO 80210). Masks will be required while indoors at this event.
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Kelly Hayes Biography
Kelly Hayes is a Menominee author, organizer, movement educator and photographer. She is also the host of Truthout‘s podcast Movement Memos. She is also the co-author of the best selling book Let This Radicalize You, with Mariame Kaba. Kelly is a co-founder of the direct action collective Lifted Voices and the Chicago Light Brigade. Kelly has led countless workshops over the years, and has trained thousands of people around the country in direct action tactics. She has also served as a grassroots strategist, offering advice and analysis to groups across Chicago and the United States.
Kelly’s written work can be found in Truthout, Teen Vogue, Bustle, The Huffington Post, Yes! Magazine, Pacific Standard, NBC Think, her blog Transformative Spaces, The Appeal and numerous anthologies. Her movement photography is featured in the “Freedom and Resistance” exhibit of the DuSable Museum of African American History.
Kelly has co-organized major protests and campaigns during some of the most heated political moments of our times, including struggles for Native sovereignty, the fight to save the Affordable Care Act, the Mental Health Movement, the campaign to stop school closures under former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the successful effort to win reparations for survivors of police torture in the city of Chicago. Kelly has also co-organized and led trainings prior to some of the most significant protests in Chicago in recent history and has helped resistors around the country, from Boston College to the Pacific Northwest, hone their skills in the run-up to direct actions.
Whether you’re looking for social justice discussions, science symposia or continuing education options, you’ll find it at the Graduate School of Social Work.
Images of past events
Art work by art-activist Favianna Rodriguez. Her art and collaborative projects deal with migration, global politics, economic injustice, patriarchy and interdependence.
Art and Activism audience members from 2017 Catalyst Series event.
Lydia Prado speaking at 2017 Catalyst Series event "Power of Place." Prado promotes the development of prevention and early intervention strategies, the establishment of community-based partnerships, staff development and training, and transformation of traditional delivery models for work with diverse populations.
Power of Place audience members from 2017 Catalyst Series event.
Raúl Pérez speaking at 2017 Catalyst Series event "Racist and Anti-Racist Humor." His research interests include race, racism and humor, and their connections to social inequality and social movements.
Lalo Alcaraz speaking at 2017 Catalyst Series event "Racist and Anti-Racist Humor." Alcaraz is a cartoonist, most known for being the author of the comic La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, politically-themed Latino daily comic strip.
Robin DiAngelo speaking at 2017 Catalyst Series event "White Fragility." DiAngelo's scholarship is in white racial identity and race relations.
White Fragility audience members from 2017 Catalyst Series event.
A performer and storyteller from the 2018 Catalyst Series event "Truth to Power: Personal Storytelling for Social Justice."
Kate Smith, another participant and storyteller at 2018 Catalyst Series event "Truth to Power: Personal Storytelling for Social Justice."
Virgie Tovar speaking at 2018 Catalyst Series event "Lose Hate, Not Weight." Tovar is an author, activist and leader on topics of fat discrimination and body image.
Virgie Tovar with audience members from "Lose Hate Not Weight."
Jess T. Dugan speaking at the Catalyst Series for Social Justice event: To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults. Dugan is photographer and artist whose work explores issues of identity through photographic portraiture.
An audience member viewing the art gallery exhibit from Catalyst Series for Social Justice event: To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults.
An audience member viewing the art gallery exhibit from Catalyst Series for Social Justice event: To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults.
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