Jimmy Carter, Austin, Texas (2014), credited to the LBJ Library. OUDC honors former president Jimmy Carter, who passed away on December 29, 2024, at age 100, after a lifetime of service and selfless dedication to helping humanity and fighting discrimination. As Governor of Georgia, Carter shined a light on the State’s segregationist past, boldly stating in

For our seventh OUDC meeting of the year, Class 29 discussed both individual and systemic reparations. OUDC Fellow Sade Haastrup-Akintunde gives a summary of the session below:Students listen to expert scholar Dr. Linda J. Mann discuss the importance of reparations internationally. Photo by Kayla Floyd. For the our December 15 meeting, we welcomed our guest

We were delighted to receive this tribute to OUDC from Social Justice Fellow Athena Goines, a member of Class 28, who provided it on her own initiative.  As you consider donating to OUDC as part of your year-end giving, please consider her heartfelt words. Picture of Athena Goines. Photo By Xochi Cartland. My name is

OUDC Social Justice Fellow Elena Mandell reflects on the most recent session of the program, where students learned about cultural connections between the Jewish and Black communities and talked about the interplay between religion, culture, and spirituality.  On December 8th, Class 29 met with Candace Bazemore and Gabby Spatt, co-authors of the children’s book Shabbat and

In the midst of Operation Understanding DC’s year-end activities – communicating updates, balancing our budget, etc. – we want to take a pause and celebrate honors recently bestowed upon two people who are central to the program, Dr. Charles Chavis and Dr. Linda Mann, of George Mason University.  Dr. Chavis is the founder and head

OUDC Social Justice Fellow Amir Nasser reported about the most recent session of the program, at which the Fellows delved deeply into the history of eugenics.On November 3rd, OUDC’s Social Justice Fellows learned about eugenics and how the doctrine was used to promote racism and antisemitism in the 20th century from Mr. Tom White, the

Students at the Wilmington Heritage ‘N Color Tour where they learned about the history of the African American community in Wilmington. Photo Credit: Freeman Long. On November 10, 1898, the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, witnessed one of the most egregious episodes of racial violence in American history. The Wilmington Massacre, as it came to

Operation Understanding DC’s mission is to oppose racism, antisemitism, and bigotry against any ethnic, racial or religious group.  Our mission leads us to condemn such bigotry when we see it, and to celebrate differences among ethnic communities.  For reasons obvious to anyone following the current campaigns for President, OUDC is celebrating the history of Haiti

An OUDC Social Justice Fellow never leaves our community.   On Sunday, OUDC invited Fellows from Class 28 to join us at George Mason University campus to receive advice and assistance in the next phase of their high school journey — the college application process.  About a dozen volunteers — including OUDC alumni, parents, staff

CopyrightedCreative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC 4.0) Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th to October 15 every year.  We are honoring Hispanic contributions through the legacy of Cesar Chavez, an important leader in the worker’s movement. Cesar Chavez was born in 1927 on a small farm outside of Yuma, Arizona. When he was