Law Commons^™

Foreword, Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones

Freedom Center Journal

The articles in this issue of The Freedom Center Journal are timely challenges to the persistent efforts to undermine the American values enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution and the body of the Constitution itself with its three Civil War Amendments.

The student editors of this volume intended the selected contributions to offer readers a nuanced view of our nation’s current identity crisis. The collection is offered in the hope that it will encourage further thinking and discussion about what it means to be part of the American experiment with democratic self-governance in an age of resurgent white supremacy.

The American Dreamer, Ashton Hood (Esquir3)

Freedom Center Journal

This spoken-word piece by EsQuir3, a student at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, conducts a comprehensive interrogation of the concept “We the People” by tracing the manifestation of racialized exclusion from the founding era to the flood of social media that saturates the current moment.

A Candid Discussion About Social Justice: Iris Roley, The Black United Front, And The History Of Cincinnati’S Collaborative Agreement, Ashton Hood

Freedom Center Journal

In early April of 2001 I was growing up in the community of Glendale, a northern suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. I vividly remember the media coverage of the civil unrest occurring downtown in response to the killing of Timothy Thomas.1 The following interview with Iris Roley, member of the Cincinnati Black United Front, attempts to shed light on the origins of the rage felt in the city during that time period. Proactive steps have been taken since Cincinnati was placed in a national spotlight for its embarrassing race relations. Much work still needs to be done to ensure equity, but …

The System Is Working The Way It Is Supposed To: The Limits Of Criminal Justice Reform, Paul Butler

Freedom Center Journal

Ferguson has come to symbolize a widespread sense that there is a crisis in American criminal justice. This Article describes various articulations of what the problems are and poses the question of whether law is capable of fixing these problems. I consider the question theoretically by looking at claims that critical race theorists have made about law and race. Using Supreme Court cases as examples, I demonstrate how some of the “problems” described in the U.S. Justice Department’s Ferguson report, like police violence and widespread arrests of African-Americans for petty offenses, are not only legal, but integral features of policing …

Exploring Northern Identity Through Historical Analysis Of Cincinnati’S Antebellum Period, Avery Ozimek

Freedom Center Journal

This essay explores the author's attempt to find a truer Northern identity, different from the one taught in school. It looks at Cincinnati during America’s Antebellum period, a historical period generally seen as one marked by “a nation polarized by specific regional identities. The South held a pro-slavery identity . . . while the North largely held abolitionist sentiments and opposed the institution’s westward expansion.” During this period, Ohio’s constitution may have been anti-slavery, however, the state’s Black Codes, race riots, and anti-abolitionist sentiments told a different story than Ohio’s constitution. The darker history of Antebellum Cincinnati often goes untold, …

Linking Mission And Identity At The University Of Cincinnati, David Straddler

Freedom Center Journal

This essay traces the major shifts in UC’s mission and identity, keeping in mind the questions of who it serves, and what service it provides. These may seem rather straightforward concerns, especially for an institution that has had 200 years to hone its mission, but a quick review of UC’s history makes clear that the university community has rarely reached a consensus on these central questions. Just as important, in the recent past, conceptions of UC’s mission and identity have become especially muddled. What follows addresses some broad shifts in the role of higher education in the United States, but …

The Summer Of 2015, Sean Mangan

Freedom Center Journal

College of Law Professor Sean Mangan reflects on a series of dramatic events that occurred in Cincinnati during a few short weeks in the summer of 2015 and their implications for his own self-understanding as an individual, as a member of the local community, and as an American. Those events included weddings in Fountain Square that followed the Supreme Court’s vindication of the right to same-sex marriage as well as the tragic shooting deaths of Sonny Kim, Trepierre Hummons, and Samuel DuBose in acts involving police use of force.

Development In Over The Rhine: Can Otr Defeat The Pitfalls Of Gentrification And Create An Economically Diverse Community?, Madeline High

Freedom Center Journal

This paper focuses on the emergence of gentrification, the negative consequences it creates, and the ways in which these consequences can be alleviated. These topics are addressed both through a broad national lens and through a more narrow focus on Over-the-Rhine (OTR), a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. This paper specifically focuses on displacement in the realm of housing, culture, and economics as well as the potential creation of long-term segregation, and on how such displacement has led to a loss of autonomy of existing residents. The rise of gentrification and its impact is explored through an examination of literature, personal …

The Legacy Of Salmon P. Chase, Carter B. Westmoreland

Freedom Center Journal

Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase used his legal training and political career to being the ongoing process of truly freeing African Americans.

His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama: 2010 Recipient, Sherry Porter

Freedom Center Journal

On October 20, 2010, the Freedom Center honored His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, as recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award ("IFCA"). His Holiness was awarded the IFCA in recognition of his lifelong commitment to promote peace, non­ violence, basic human rights, human happiness, and inter-religious harmony.

From Freedom Narrative To Freedom Leadership Narrative, Michael E. Battle

Freedom Center Journal

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center enters its second decade excited about the opportunities and challenges of balancing the focus on the historical realities of the antebellum freedom narratives and the modem day freedom narratives unfolding in the stories of millions of people worldwide who seek to be free. In terms of the rewards of freedom, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center focuses on the development of freedom leadership which seeks to empower emerging freedom heroes to fully understand the meaning and application of freedom. Entering its second decade of presence and purpose, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center sees …

President Lech Walesa And President Nelson Mandela: 2014 Recipients, Ariel Guggisberg

Freedom Center Journal

The activist and former Polish President Lech Walesa and civil rights activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela were chosen by the Freedom Center to receive the 2014 International Freedom Conductors Award. These two revolutionaries undoubtedly meet the criteria of "reflect[ing] the spirit and courageous actions of conductors on the historic Underground Railroad." Both recipients of the award have spear headed efforts to effect positive social change and dedicated much of their lives to the fight for freedom, and "exemplify the values of freedom and human rights worldwide.'

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: 2000 Recipient, Miranda Anandappat

Freedom Center Journal

Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the 2000 International Freedom Conductor Award for his invaluable contributions to the collapse of the apartheid system in South Africa. His fight for the freedom and equality of all South Africans and continuing efforts to advocate for world peace, global human rights, and democratic transition through reconciliatory and restorative justice have made the Archbishop a renowned world leader.

Rosa Parks: 1998 Recipient, Jillian Rich

Freedom Center Journal

Rosa Parks embodies all that the International Conductor Freedom Award stands for. Stating once, that "[she] would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people," 1 it is only fitting that she became the first recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award in 1998.

International Freedom Conductor Award: Introduction, Zack Eckles

Freedom Center Journal

The International Freedom Conductor Award ("IFCA") was created to recognize and honor contemporary individuals who exemplify the courageousness and personal strength of the historic Underground Railroad conductors.

Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth And Nicholas Kristof: 2013 Recipients, Priya Walia

Freedom Center Journal

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center proudly presented the 2013 recipients the International Freedom Conductor Award to Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and Nicholas Kristof. Rev. Shuttlesworth was known as the courageous, charismatic, blunt preacher who vowed to "kill segregation or be killed by it." After his successes with racial desegregation, Shuttlesworth spent the rest of his life fighting for equality for impoverished people. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Nicholas Kristof changed the course of social justice philanthropy through his work. Through individual personal narratives, Kristof compels the audience to delve further into seemingly remote global issues and inspires the American public …

Garner Courage, Carl B. Westmoreland

Freedom Center Journal

Robert Garner was born into a slave family on the James Marshall plantation located in Richwood, Kentucky. At 25 years old, Robert executed a plan to free all eight members of his family. They were captured in Cincinnati. His wife, Margaret, determined not to return to slavery, sought to kill her children and then herself. She was able to kill her youngest daughter by slitting her throat. The group members that remained alive were turned over to the U.S. Marshal of Cincinnati for violating the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Knowledge of the Gamers' story and their gruesome capture outraged the …

Dedication To Freedom, Emily M.S. Houh

Freedom Center Journal

The articles in this issue of The Freedom Center Journal are timely challenges to the persistent efforts to undermine the American values enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution and the body of the Constitution itself with its three Civil War Amendments.

The student editors of this volume intended the selected contributions to offer readers a nuanced view of our nation’s current identity crisis. The collection is offered in the hope that it will encourage further thinking and discussion about what it means to be part of the American experiment with democratic self-governance in an age of resurgent white supremacy.

The John W. Anderson Slave Pen, Carl B. Westmoreland

Freedom Center Journal

At the end of 18th century America, a series ofevents occurred that forever changed the economic and political status of white Americans. These changes were heavily influenced by the transportation of blacks to this country, the circumstances surrounding their enslavement, and the increasing demand for cotton. America's founders prohibited the importation of enslaved Africans into the United States at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. This prohibition, however, occurred at a time when America was expanding and additional labor was necessary. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 increased the amount of market ready cotton. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size …

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center And Human Trafficking, Brooke Hathaway

Freedom Center Journal

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a hybrid: one part history musemn and one part non-governmental organization (NGO). An early internal report by the Freedom Center clarified that the focus of contemporary efforts should be on "Unfreedom." The report defined Unfreedom as the conditions subjecting an individual to constraints on her/his personal wellbeing, free action, and/or thought, imposed by an outside power, and enforced by the threat of physical harm (tacit or explicit). There are six root causes of Unfreedom: poverty, poor healthcare, lack of education, prejudice, oppression, and conflict. These root causes are the basis for four major …