Baldwin named Freedom Scholar

The Marguerite Casey Foundation named Davarian L. Baldwin, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies, a 2022 Freedom Scholar in recognition of his research and engagement in organizing that advances a racial and economic justice agenda. This award will enable Baldwin, a Trinity College faculty member since 2009, to increase his service to social justice, particularly through building out equitable urban communities, work rooted in the Smart Cities Lab, which he founded and directs at Trinity.

Now in its third year, the $250,000 award provides unrestricted support to leaders in academia whose research can provide critical insight to social justice leaders and whose ideas encourage all to imagine how to radically improve democracy, the economy, and society.

“This award will allow me to not only build out but also scale up that work by continuing the foundational research, growing advocacy networks between communities across the country, and developing both legislative policy and campaigns for reparative justice,” Baldwin noted.

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Political Science Sonia Cardenas praised the foundation’s selection. “Professor Baldwin is one of Trinity’s most distinguished scholars, challenging the academy to think critically and do better. His scholarship reveals the transformative power of the humanities in the public sphere,” said Cardenas. “That he is a trusted mentor to students and faculty, a leading voice in debates over the role of higher education in America’s cities, and a model for engaged urban citizenship makes him all the more deserving of this national honor.”

Baldwin authored In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering our Cities (Bold Type Books, 2021) and Chicago’s New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life (UNC, 2007) and served as co-editor, with Minkah Makalani, of the essay collection Escape from New York! The New Negro Renaissance beyond Harlem (Minnesota, 2013). He is finishing Land of Darkness: Chicago and the Making of Race in Modern America (Oxford University Press). Baldwin also is developing a digital, video-based Black Intellectual Oral History (BIOH) project for archival documentation of important stories and virtual mentorship to younger scholars.

At Trinity, Baldwin’s teaching brings together urban and cultural studies, 20th century U.S. history, and African American studies. His research, writing, and commentary have been featured in numerous outlets, including NBC News, CNN, PBS, NPR, TIME, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and USA Today.

To hear Baldwin in his own words, watch the video below.

Header photo by Visionmerge Productions