Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy

The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy offers events engaging with community and business leaders, policymakers, activists, philanthropists, and journalists across the nation and around the world.
Examining New Models and Frameworks to Advance Racial and Economic Justice in the U.S.
Recent experience suggests that established systems of American education, civic engagement, and employment mobility are disserving people and institutions across our nation. This is especially the case for historically excluded populations of color, women, and other groups that make up a growing majority of society and whose struggles for justice have been met with rejection by establishment forces. As conventional approaches have fallen short, new, more racially, culturally, and economically inclusive policy models and practice frameworks are required to advance a more responsible 21st-century system of learning, civic engagement, and workforce development in the United States.
Featuring leading practitioners, scholars, and public intellectuals, this five-part series, sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York, is designed to lift up big ideas and innovative thought and offer actionable insights to education professionals, advocates, policy leaders, philanthropy and social investment executives, journalists, and the general public.
Learn more and register.
Past Events & Programming
Explore past events and programming from the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.
- Exploring Baby Bonds as a Tool to Improve Economic Security
  
  On Tuesday, September 27, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with the Office of the State Treasurer for Connecticut and the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, will host an in-person event on baby bonds in relation to health, wealth, housing, and education.
  Baby bonds are an innovative policy tool that provides children with publicly funded investment accounts that can be accessed at age 18 for specific uses, including education, home ownership, small business, and retirement. The funds are intended as a long-term investment designed to narrow the wealth gap and address generational poverty. As of 2022, eight states and Washington, DC, have passed legislation to introduce baby bond programs and supportive strategies that improve economic security.
  The event will feature Connecticut state treasurer Shawn T. Wooden and Dr. Darrick Hamilton, founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, who will engage in conversation on the benefits and challenges of baby bond programs and effective strategies to link the bonds to other efforts addressing generational poverty.
  Join us on September 27, 2022, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. EDT. This in-person event is open to the public and the media. Learn more and register.
- Visions of a Post-Neoliberal Future
  
  Sponsored by the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy and the Economic Security Project, “Visions of a Post-Neoliberal Future” will bring leading thinkers, changemakers, policymakers, journalists, and activists to The New School to present their perspectives on building an inclusive political economy as part of the Milano School’s Henry Cohen Public Lecture series.
  The series is free and open to the public. Learn more.
- Baby Bonds: How States and Cities Should Invest in Our Kids
  
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  Moderated by Kimberly Adams, "A Brighter Future with Baby Bonds: How States and Cities Should Invest in Our Kids" features Professor Darrick Hamilton, PhD, founder of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy; Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden; DC Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie; David Grusky, Director of the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality; and Gary Cunningham, President and CEO of Prosperity Now.
  Listen in as we discuss how Connecticut and Washington, DC, are leading the way on implementing first-in-the-nation Baby Bonds programs and how other states and localities can create these programs as a step toward narrowing the racial wealth divide. We also talk about how Baby Bonds can complement other proposals to address financial insecurity and racial economic inequality, such as guaranteed income.
  One of the country’s boldest and most innovative policy proposals, Baby Bonds would provide people with significant nest eggs with which to start off adulthood and help to close the racial wealth divide. Join us virtually to learn more about how you can support this innovative policy.
  Thursday, February 17, 12:30-1:45 p.m. EST
- Juneteenth 2021: The Question of Freedom
  
  While Juneteenth acknowledges the declared end of the legal enslavement of African Americans, its existence challenges us to question what freedom for African Americans is. To grapple with the legacy of Juneteenth and the persistent questions regarding the status of African Americans in the United States, we invite you to join us for an in-depth transdisciplinary discussion between Darrick Hamilton, University Professor and founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy; Deva Woodly, associate professor in the Department of Politics; and Melanie Hart, senior vice president for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice and senior legal and policy advisor for the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.
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- The Color of Wealth: The Destruction of Greenwood and Tulsa's Legacy of Loss
  
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  The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School and the Justice for Greenwood Foundation, Inc., invite you to a live event sharing research on the racial wealth gap in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of one of the deadliest acts of domestic terrorism on U.S. soil, the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
  Featuring Darrick Hamilton, the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School; Damario Solomon Simmons, a Tulsa-based civil and human rights attorney; and Ofronama Biu, research assistant at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School.
  This event will feature findings from The Color of Wealth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a forthcoming report written by Ofronama Biu, Grieve Chelwa, Christopher Famighetti, Kate Richey, Damario Solomon-Simmons, and Darrick Hamilton.
  Download The Color of Wealth: The Destruction of Greenwood and Tulsa's Legacy of Loss, Advance Executive Summary.
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- New Research Briefing: A Guaranteed Income for the 21st Century
  
  Join The New School for a research briefing on the new white paper released by economists Naomi Zewde, Darrick Hamilton, and colleagues proposing a national guaranteed income. Building on a proposal endorsed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., their guaranteed income proposal is aimed at abolishing poverty in the United States and lifting the incomes of tens of millions of Americans. Featuring Darrick Hamilton, Naomi Zewde, and Chris Hughes.
  Download the paper A Guaranteed Income for the 21st Century.
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- Envisioning Beyond the Silence: Asian American Filmmakers Speak Their Truth
  
  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has increased dramatically in a system already notorious for its violence against communities of color. This short film series, followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, focuses on members of the AAPI community, connecting the dots between the silos of oppression and sequestered voices constructed by white supremacy. This program is intended to expand the narrative beyond silence.
  Presented by Creatively Speaking in collaboration with the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice and the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School.
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- The New Conversation with Dr. Dwight A. McBride and Darrick Hamilton
  
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  Darrick Hamilton is The New School's Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy. Hamilton is one of the nation’s foremost scholars, economists, and public intellectuals and has been involved in crafting a number of policy proposals, such as baby bonds and a federal job guarantee.
  In this series, Dr. Dwight A. McBride, president of The New School, speaks with scholars, artists, activists, and other notable individuals on their work, their experiences, and their views on a whole host of issues.
- The Role of Race, Labor Markets, and Education in Building an Equitable Recovery
  
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  Understanding how labor markets function for different racial and ethnic groups during recessions can reveal structural inequities in our economy and inform efforts to rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic. Though educational attainment has long been regarded as the primary engine of economic mobility, new insights show it may not act as a buffer against economic hardship during recessions equally across racial and ethnic groups.
  
  New research from Darrick Hamilton, the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, demonstrates disparities in labor market experiences for Black, Latinx, and white workers during recessions and illustrates the unique impact of the current recession in comparison with previous downturns.
  
  Join WorkRise and The New School for an exclusive research briefing with Hamilton, a member of WorkRise’s Leadership Board. The briefing will be followed by a discussion with civic, business, and philanthropic leaders on bold solutions for dismantling structural inequities in education and the labor market and building an equitable recovery.

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Examining New Models and Frameworks to Advance Racial and Economic Justice in the U.S.

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