BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will host the Morris Justice Project with a talk titled "Strategies and Findings from a Critical Participatory Action Research Project" at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28, in room DC-120A of the University Downtown Center, 67 Washington St., Binghamton. This event is free and open to the public.           

Panelists will share qualitative and quantitative findings from the Morris Justice Project, the first large-scale, community study of New York City policing policies from the perspective of those targeted by them. They will discuss their use of traditional, creative and grassroots methods to engage ongoing community analysis of their data and ignite public conversations about structural inequalities on street corners all over their neighborhood. They will discuss the development of their survey, its distribution block-by-block to 1,030 residents, their use of stats-in-action, community analysis sessions, "side-walk science," data-driven T-shirt and buttons, community safety photo walls and data illumination. In addition, they will discuss how they worked closely with organizers, lawyers and policy makers to move their locally produced findings beyond their neighborhood, to inform and support city-wide police reform.

The session will open up both the challenges and possibilities of critical PAR, a practice of solidarity research, in which communities traditionally researched and spoke for collaborate in academic research to ask their own questions, challenge inequalities and engage the struggle for a more just world.

For those interested in getting involved in Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR), a workshop will follow the presentation from 2-5 p.m. at the Tabernacle United Methodist Church, 83 Main St., Binghamton. In the spirit of CPAR, the issues and projects that are discussed will emerge from the needs identified by workshop participants. The workshop is free, but registration is required. To register, visit: http://tinyurl.com/PARworkshop.

The panel discussion and workshop are sponsored by Binghamton Neighborhood Project, Binghamton YWCA, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Decker School of Nursing, Department of Human Development, Binghamton Human Rights Commission, Citizen Action of New York, and Interpersonal Violence Prevention.

For more information, contact Sean Massey, associate professor of women, gender & sexuality studies, at 607-777-2460 or smassey@binghamton.edu.