Jonathon Parris, UC Davis
An encouraging introspection told through a visual tale of the history of housing segregation. The exhibition prompts individuals with questions regarding their perspectives on race and racism, in hopes that it will affect positive change.
The criminal justice in the United States preys upon people of color, minority groups and poor communities. This is the prison industrial complex run amok, and when the police are in our schools, bad behavior in class for BIPOC can lead to jail-time. It is absurd that this is our only (or at least, primary) way of doing justice. Peace Rooms seek to change that, and integrating them into schools, particularly in underserved areas (which are at a greater threat to police heavy-handedness) can allow for means of resolution outside of punitive systems. Currently, the studio, Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, is encouraging and enabling schools to renovate unused spaces into Peace Rooms for student-oriented resolutions. I would like to help–my plan is to design and make a prototype of non-hierarchical furniture for these rooms. Given my background as a fine furniture maker, it will probably be fancier than necessary. That said, the design/plans will be easy enough for school wood shops to reproduce them. This would allow more students to get involved in creating their space for justice and equity.