Human Trafficking Street Outreach
The CHRSJ partnered with the Life of Freedom Center and Ark of Freedom to join forces in protecting children from sex trafficking by spreading awareness to local businesses on how to identify and report suspected sex trafficking. This half-day street outreach gave students tools to identify and report suspected sex trafficking in their communities. The Human Trafficking Street Outreach programs are opportunities for students to engage with street youth and young adults at risk of human trafficking, exploitation and violence. Participants had the opportunity to learn how to identify and report suspected sex trafficking in your community. They also gained first-hand experience and a glimpse of the challenges faced by marginalized youth while walking through youth-populated areas of Miami Dade and Broward Counties.
Miami Pride Parade
The CHRSJ supports the Barry University student PRIDE group and members of several allied student organizations as they march in the annual Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade. The PRIDE group has been determined to be actively involved in fostering a supportive and inclusive community for sexual and gender-diverse students; being visibly represented in the Pride Parade is a primary goal for the group.
Human Trafficking Summit
The CHRSJ provided 12 fellowships to Social Work students dedicated to combating human trafficking through education, advocacy, or practice. The fellowships funded student participation in the annual Florida Human Trafficking Summit. Through this initiative, students have the opportunity to enhance knowledge about prevention, intervention, policy, and advocacy associated with human trafficking, as well as learn about concrete ways to become a part of Florida’s efforts to eradicate human trafficking and modern day slavery. Fellowship recipients give back to the university and community by leading a human rights activity, focused on addressing human trafficking.
Disrupting the Cradle to Prison Pipeline - Hosted Dr. Angela Davis’ America’s Most (UN) Wanted Fight Back: Ending Criminalization and the Prison Industrial Complex
This event brought together three organizations at the forefront of movements for racial justice and prison industrial complex abolition - Critical Resistance, Dream Defenders and Power U Center for Social Change.
Dr. Angela Y. Davis, one of the leading political voices of our time spoke on the potential and promise of current liberation movements, legacies of Black liberation, international solidarity and strategies for comprehensive movements for social change. The event included a conversation with Miami organizers fighting against the violence of criminalization, policing and imprisonment.
Stand for Hope Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Concert
Devoted to mobilizing the community to stand against human trafficking, this concert included a line-up of musicians, poets, and community activists collectively educating students and community members about the prevalence and risks for human trafficking and identifying opportunities to engage in social action to eradicate this challenge to human rights.
Women’s March
Representatives from Barry University’s School of Social Work and the CHRSJ attended the Women’s March in Washington, DC, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on January 21, 2017. Students were engaged in visible advocacy efforts in support of critical human rights issues, such as women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights, and key social justice issues including affordable health care, freedom from sexual violence, and accountability and justice for police brutality.
Annual College Brides Walk
The CHRSJ helps sponsor the annual College Brides Walk, hosted each February on the Barry University campus and coordinated by Dr. Laura Finley, associate professor of sociology. Hundreds of faculty, staff, and community partners march 3 miles from Barry University in Miami Shores to Johnson & Wales University in North Miami to bring awareness to domestic and dating violence. The event also includes a range of educational workshops, on topics such as sex trafficking and dating violence, to foster open dialogue and empowerment.
Pride Week at Barry University
Each year the CHRSJ sponsors and supports the Barry PRIDE Group in Pride Week. This week-long programming includes an LGBTQ films screening and discussion, daily advocacy efforts to raise awareness of and support for LGBTQ issues on campus, as well as to offer LGBTQ specific knowledge and information and an LGBTQ PRIDE event to celebrate and honor sexual and gender diversity on campus, among other events.
Pulse: Honoring the Victims and Standing with LGBTQ+ Youth Spread Love, Not Hate Youth Initiative Campaign
June marks the anniversary of Orlando’s Pulse tragedy, when 49 individuals were killed and 53 others were injured in a senseless act of hate and violence. To honor all those who have suffered as a result of homophobic and transphobic violence, oppression and marginalization, the CHRSJ led several initiatives to mark this tragic event. The CHRSJ launched a month-long Spread Love, Not Hate campaign in May 2017. This campaign sought to raise awareness and support for homeless and unstably-housed LGBTQ+ youth in South Florida, as these youth continue to face anti-LGBTQ+ rejection, discrimination, and violence on daily basis. The Spread Love, Not Hate campaign consisted of: Professional development workshops led by local leaders, engaging students and faculty in writing notes of affirmation and support for LGBTQ+ homeless youth and a community drive to collect food for street sacks for LGBTQ+ youth who are homeless or unstably-housed. The campaign culminated in a non-denominational, interactive remembrance at Barry University, presented by the CHRSJ in partnership with Campus Ministry, Pridelines, and the Alliance for GLBTQ Youth.
Combat Hippies performance
Led by world renowned theater artist and director Teo Castellanos and backed by one of Miami’s most well-known DJ’s, Brimstone 127, The Combat Hippies are a group of military veteran performing artists. The performance was aimed to raise awareness for Post-Traumatic Stress and Suicide and to promote Post-Traumatic Growth and veteran self-empowerment by bridging the gap of understanding between veterans and non-veterans in the community to foster healing.
"It’s On You, Its on Me, It’s on US" Sexual Assault Awareness Initiatives at Barry University Campaign
Sexual Assault Awareness Month Activities
Each April, the CHRSJ aims to raise awareness on campus about sexual violence. The programming includes various community education events including films, panel discussions deliberative dialogue and advocacy-related initiatives focused on raising awareness about sexual assault, current challenges to the system, and the power of advocacy, agency, and visibility.