One Year Later: Michael Brown's Death Sparked a National Movement Focused on Police Brutality in America

Haas Institute Director john a. powell was interviewed for this video, produced by AJ+, entitled Black Lives Matter, One Year After Ferguson. powell noted, "Through our practices, through our culture, and certainly through our policing, we send the message every day that black lives don't matter." powell offered insight into how we can start changing practices in this country, starting with the recognition that these issues are profoundly structural and cultural and will require us to go deeper than only looking at individual intentions or actions. Watch the video. 

Read more of Haas Institute's commentary and media coverage on BlackLivesMatter. 

Mourning the Loss of Actor and Playwright Lynn Manning

The Haas Institute was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Lynn Manning, who passed away on August 3 at age 60. Lynn was an award-winning poet, playwright, and actor. We were deeply honored that Lynn agreed to be a keynote performer at our Othering & Belonging conference in April, where he performed his award-winning play WEIGHTS, a dramatic account of his experience as a person of color with disabilities. In our interview with Lynn before the conference, he noted, "After losing my sight, I found myself confronted by a whole new batch of bigoted thinking. I was flabbergasted to learn that people hold the blind or otherwise disabled in such terribly low esteem. I had difficulty determining if I was being discriminated against because of my race or my disability...My greatest challenge was convincing family, friends, bureaucrats, and authorities to get out of my way and let me try to create the life I wanted." The staff and board of directors of the Watts Village Theater Company—which Lynn co-founded and served as the artistic director—said, "we would like to focus on celebrating the lasting impact and legacy Lynn leaves behind.”

Read the interview we conducted with Lynn in March. 
Read the LA Times tribute to Lynn Manning.

The Impact of Rising Housing Costs Nationwide