Prescott College to Host Spring 2025 Social Justice Residency

Prescott College’s Social Justice Residency is set for February 28th – March 2nd at the Crossroads Center on Prescott College’s Campus.

Hope, connection, regeneration: those ideas are at the center of our inaugural social justice residency to be held on-campus from Feb. 28 – March 2. All members of the Prescott College community – alumni, current student or prospective student; any program, any major – are invited to attend and participate.

The conference is hosted by our Social Justice Studies (formerly Cultural and Regional Studies) and Social Justice and Community Organizing programs. Our hope with this inaugural conference is to bring as many members of our community together to discuss what social justice means to our community and to envision what our responsibility to a socially just world is (alongside our shared responsibility to sustainability).

The Keynote will be presented by Ishmail Malik Holt-Shabazz, Director, University of Minnesota – Center for Urban & Regional Affairs’ (CURA) – Neighborhood Leadership and Organizing Program (*NLO).

Ishmail Malik Holt-Shabazz (also known as Ish) has over 30 years of experience in leadership and organizing for reparative racial justice, social justice, and economic justice. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts in Human Services, with a minor in Sociology.

During his time at college, Ish was involved in organizing an anti-racism campaign at the University of Minnesota – Morris, addressing a 1993 Halloween incident where members of the wrestling department reenacted a historical crime as a prank against two African American students. This event sparked his deep commitment to racial justice.

Following college, Ish worked as an AFL-CIO Union Organizer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and participated in the Illinois Red Cross Disaster Services. He later became the Emergency Services Director and multiple-county lead for the Rockford, Illinois Red Cross, where he supported marginalized communities across the state.

Ish’s career in education organizing began when he worked with the State of Minnesota’s Higher Education Services Department and its statewide AmeriCorps program. In the early 2000s, he moved to the Saint Paul South Como/North End area and joined the District 6 South Como/North End Neighborhood Association as a Director, where he engaged in environmental justice and land use planning

From 2005 to 2013, Ish worked as the Economic Development Organizer and Director for the Harrison Neighborhood Association in North Minneapolis. There, he organized a diverse community of 3,000 residents to demand enforceable community-driven benefits during a large-scale development campaign. The community faced significant displacement due to a $2 billion development project and light rail expansion in their neighborhood. Ish and the residents held elected officials accountable, organized numerous community meetings, facilitated workshops on undoing racism, and engaged in environmental justice actions.

Over the course of his career, Ish has held numerous leadership positions in community healing work, grant work, and the fight for reparative racial justice for BIPOC communities. He has trained hundreds of leaders and provided technical assistance to grassroots organizations, university departments, and statewide conferences.

Ish became involved with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Regional and Urban Affairs (CURA) in 2004, graduating from the Twin Cities Training Program for Neighborhood Organizers. He later served as a member of CURA’s Grant Advisory Committee. In 2015, Ish joined CURA’s staff, where he led initiatives focused on reparative racial justice, community organizing, leadership development, and economic equity. He co-developed CURA’s Neighborhood Leadership and Organizing Program (NLO) with Ned Moore, which offers three-month-long, free community training on issue-based organizing and systems change.

Today, Ish continues to work with CURA’s NLO program, which provides training and organizing assistance to help local leaders identify and address community issues, build strong, participatory communities, and promote racial equity and economic justice. The program has expanded statewide in Minnesota and has been implemented in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Illinois, and Kansas. To date, nearly 500 individuals have graduated from the program, with Ish mentoring and supporting dozens of alumni and community partners.

Ish lives in Saint Paul, where he is a dedicated parent, volunteer, and advocate for social change. He is passionate about community organizing and the belief that “Community Organizing moves at the Speed of Trust” (Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, 2017).”

We look forward to seeing you on campus for this wonderful event!