Browse Cases

Showing 1-25 of 121 results

Black Students march for the release of the Brockwell Three in Brixton, England (1974)

Country
England
Time period
9 June, 1973 to 3 April, 1974
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Khan Shairani 16/05/2019

On 8 December 1965, the British government passed the Race Relations Act, the first legislation to address racism and xenophobia in the United Kingdom. The act addressed significant disparities in the UK, like the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, which demonstrated against income and work inequalities faced by West Indian and African communities. The act made it a civil offense to incite racial violence and for businesses to not serve people based on race.

San Francisco strippers win right to form a union, 1996-1997

Country
United States
Time period
October, 1996 to March, 1997
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yin Xiao, 30 March 2017

The Lusty Lady was a strip club in San Francisco. Opened since 1976, this North Beach club featured exotic dancers “Lusties” in a peep show on a stage and in individual booths. While being one of the most popular spots for nightlife in the city, the Lusty Lady was infamous among the dancers for its random firings and pay cuts, racist and ambiguous shift policies, and no-sick-day rules. According to Antonia Crane, a former stripper at the Club, “[the Lusty Lady] is playing the notoriously exploitative game in the adult entertainment world.”

Times Beach residents win fight for relocation from contaminated dioxin sites

Country
United States
Time period
29 January, 1983 to 11 December, 1995
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 02/05/2017

Between 1970 and 1976, Russell Bliss used a toxic mixture of motor oil and dioxin to spray the unpaved roads in Times Beach, MO. The community hired Bliss, a career waste disposer, to reduce its dust problem. Unbeknownst to residents of the small town, Independent Petrochemical Corporation (IPC) paid Bliss for the disposal of its hazardous dioxin waste. Under the auspices of Northeastern Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company (NEPACCO), IPC generated dioxin through its production of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

West Virginia retirees occupy Century Aluminum, win healthcare, 2011-2012

Country
United States
Time period
December 18, 2011 to February 29, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat, 10/05/2017

In 2009, the Century Aluminum factory in Ravenswood, West Virginia laid off 650 employees. However, the factory promised those laid off and those forced to retire that they would continue to receive their health care benefits. Retirees were shocked in June 2010 when the factory announced they were cutting the healthcare plan for retirees. Karen Gorrell, a leader of the ensuing movement to regain health care, stated, “[When the retirees are] actually beginning to suffer from the exposure [from hazardous chemical exposure], then the company comes in and just pulls out the rug.”

Black Pensacola residents win relocation from Escambia Wood Federal Superfund site 1992-1996

Country
United States
Time period
March, 1992 to 3 October, 1996
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 12/04/2017

From 1943 to 1982, Escambia Treating Company (ETC) operated in Pensacola, Florida. Located in an industrial/residential zone, the location of a wood treatment facility threatened the health of Escambia County residents, who were primarily Black. Until the mid-1950s, ETC dumped creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP) into an uncovered pit. In March 1992, community members founded Citizens Against Toxic Exposure (CATE) and launched a five-year campaign for relocation of the 358 households closest to the Escambia plant.

Black residents of Diamond win fight with Shell Chemical for relocation 1989-2002

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 29/03/2017

In the early 1950s, Royal Dutch/Shell purchased land in the community of Diamond, Louisiana and built a chemical plant. Margie Richard, a Black resident of Diamond, founded Concerned Citizens of Norco (CCN) in 1989 after two large-scale accidents at the Shell/Motiva Chemical plant. A pipeline explosion in 1973 killed two Diamond residents, while another event in 1988 killed seven workers.

Oromo People protest for against the expansion of the capital, 2015-2016

Country
Ethiopia
Time period
November, 2015 to December, 2016
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Human Rights
Democracy
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Madison Shoraka 22/03/2017

In Ethiopia, nine ethnic groups each inhabit their own land. The Oromo people are one of the largest groups and inhabit Oromia which is located on the border between South Sudan and Kenya and spreads into the center of Ethiopia. Populations of the Oromo people also live within the borders of South Sudan and Kenya, but the population is most concentrated within Ethiopia. The Oromo people of Ethiopia began conducting small scale street protests including marches and pickets in April, 2014 in response to their persecution and marginalization by the Ethiopian government.

Emelle residents protest Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste landfill 1978-1995

Country
United States
Time period
1978 to 1988
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 22/03/2017

In 1978, Chemical Waste Management Inc. (CWM), a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. (WMX), bought 300-acres of land near Emelle, Alabama for a hazardous waste landfill. Residents did not have the opportunity to protest the landfill prior to its construction because CWM was not legally obligated to disclose information about land use.

Brown University library workers campaign to fill empty union positions 2014

Country
United States
Time period
24 October, 2014 to 11 December, 2014
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Juli Pham 18/03/2017

In 2014, Brown University, a private research university located in Providence, Rhode Island, enrolled nearly 9,000 students and employed over 1,500 workers, more than a hundred of whom worked in the school’s libraries. The United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island (USAW-RI) is the workers union that represented nearly half of these library workers in addition to the school’s dining employees, parking officers, service responders, and mailroom drivers.

Brown University students support library workers’ bid to win contract, Rhode Island, 2010

Country
United States
Time period
30 September, 2010 to 9 November, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yin Xiao and Juli Pham, 02/22/2017

Brown University, a private Ivy League research university located in Providence, Rhode Island, enrolls nearly 9,000 students and employs over 1,500 workers, over a hundred of which are employed in the school’s libraries. The 2007-2010 collective bargaining agreement between the university and the United Service and Allied Workers Rhode Island (USAW-RI) Library Unit was officially set to conclude on 30 September 2010.

University of Mary Washington students win fossil fuel divestment, 2015-2016

Country
United States
Time period
February, 2015 to February, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Seimi Park 15/02/2017

In October of 2014, two students at the University of Mary Washington (UMW), Benjamin Hermerding, president of the Young Democrats, and Nate Levin, member of DivestUMW, requested an informal meeting with UMW administration to discuss the school’s investment portfolio. The open question-and-answer session focused primarily on the 5-year plan released by UMW’s Strategic Planning Task Force, which prioritized fiscally competitive investments.

Rio de Janeiro residents protest man's disappearance 2013

Country
Brazil
Time period
14 July, 2013 to August, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Juli Pham 09/02/2017

Starting in 2008, the Brazilian government began commissioning nearly forty police pacification units (UPP) in over two-hundred of Rio de Janeiro’s shantytowns, known as favelas. This pacification project aimed to maintain security in territories after Rio’s special police unit (BOPE) cleared the communities of gang leaders and drug traffickers who, for decades, controlled the favelas and inspired their violent reputations.

Brown University students convince Brown Corporation to divest from HEI Hotels & Resorts, 2008-2011

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2008 to February, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmin Rodriguez-Schroeder, 08/02/2017

In 2008, students at Brown University’s Student Labor Alliance, a group of about 15-20 members, began a campaign to persuade their university to halt further investment in HEI Hotels Resorts. HEI, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is one of the largest hotel management companies in the US and manages hotels such as Hilton, Hyatt, and Westin.

Rio de Janeiro residents protest World Cup and Olympics 2011-2016

Country
Brazil
Time period
March, 2011 to August, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Peace
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 08/02/2017

The city of Rio de Janeiro is home to 6 million people with approximately 1.5 million residents living in favelas. These residential communities, named after the favela trees native to the region, are commonly misunderstood by outsiders. Although 32% of favela residents belong to the lower-class, a 2013 study found that 85% of people residing in favelas like where they live. Some favelas have high crime rates, but many are high-functioning, self-governing communities.

Harvard University Dining Services workers strike and win higher salary, 2016

Country
United States
Time period
5 October, 2016 to 26 October, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat 08/02/2017

In 2016, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts was one of the most elite universities in the United States. It had the largest endowment of any university in the country at $35.7 billion. However, despite the wealth of the university, its treatment of its employees, specifically dining services employees, came into question in 2016. Starting in early June 2016, the dining services workers of Harvard began a series of negotiations with the university in order to demand a higher yearly salary.

New Zealand declares nuclear free zone 1963-1985

Country
New Zealand
French Polynesia
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Madison Shoraka, 09/02/2017

In 1963, the CND began their campaign by organizing a petition they called “No Bombs South of the Line,” which  argued for the establishment of a nuclear free zone in southern New Zealand. The CND collected over 80,000 signatures which was the largest petition in New Zealand since the  petition calling for equal voting rights between women and men collected in 1893.

Paul Robeson High School Students in New York Campaign Against Closing, 2009-2011

Country
United States
Time period
15 December, 2009 to 1 May, 2011
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
1 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Celine Anderson 06/12/96

Paul Robeson High School opened in Brooklyn, New York, 1984, as a replacement for the closed Alexander Hamilton High School. The school board’s vision for the new Robeson High School focused primarily on decreasing the dropout rate. To ensure this, the board replaced most of the Hamilton teachers with new ones and created a new application process for students. At first, Robeson did see an increase in the graduation rate, earning it recognition in The New York Times. However, in 2004, the graduation rate began to slowly decrease.

NYU students attempt to remove Chick-Fil-A from campus, 2011

Country
United States
Time period
April, 2011 to March, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Andrew Steele 11/23/2015

In the summer of 2012, the American fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A became the focus of an anti same-sex marriage controversy when the restaurant’s owners made public comments in support of traditional marriage. Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Truett Cathy, a self-described evangelical Christian, admitted to the Baptist Press he was “guilty as charged” in his support of marriage exclusively between a man and a woman. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles,” Cathy said.

Garfield High School teachers in Seattle, Washington boycott Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test, 2012-2013

Country
United States
Time period
19 December, 2012 to 13 May, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Kelly 20/11/2015

Standardized testing in the United States dates back to the early 1900s, when the military issued standardized tests of intelligence to potential candidates for the armed services. In the 1970s, public school students began taking “high stakes” tests, in which their scores affected school district funding and the students’ ability to move on to the next grade. The original purpose of these tests was to hold school districts accountable by providing a standard measure of academic comparison across students and school districts.

University of Virginia Students and Faculty Campaign for Living Wage 1997-2000

Country
United States
Time period
April 15, 1998 to December 1, 1999
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Celine Anderson 06/12/96

From 1997 to 2000, students at the University of Virginia held a campaign to raise the living wage from the lowest pay of $6.10 to $8.19. In June 1996, a year before the campaign began, the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity Employment Programs commissioned an investigation, called “The Muddy Floor Report,” that published statistics on racial bias in hiring and pay at UVa’s employment office. The report revealed that housekeeping staff had some of the lowest wages, a third of them qualified for food stamps, and most of them were women and/or African-American.

University of Hawaii Students, Faculty and Staff Successfully Campaign for Fossil Fuel Divestment, (2013-2015)

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2013 to 21 May, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
9.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lewis Fitzgerald-Holland, 1/11/2015

In the fall of 2013, University of Hawaii graduate student and oceanography major Michelle Tigchelaar launched a fossil fuel divestment campaign after witnessing the devastation that climate change was bring to Hawaii’s famed coral reefs. Initially, the campaign was organized by members of the University’s Graduate Student Organization. The campaign launched in September 2013 with a movie screening 350.org’s movie Do the Math. The campaign lost traction in its first year after several members of the Graduate Student Organization graduated in the at the end of the fall semester.

Burmese migrant workers strike for equal pay and the right to hold their own documents, 2010

Country
Thailand
Time period
September, 2010 to September, 2010
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Caroline Dreyfuss, 10/26/2015

In December 2009, 948 Burmese migrant workers who had entered Thailand legally began work at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory in Khon Kaen. Their employer confiscated the workers’ passports and personal documents, and for nine months, they worked in poor conditions. Additionally, the employer forced the Burmese workers to work without pay for an hour and a half each day to cover the cost of a recruiter for Burmese laborers.

Students Win Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Flour Bluff, Texas, High School 2010-2011

Country
United States
Time period
January, 2011 to 8 March, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 11/05/2015

In November 2010, Bianca “Nikki” Peet attempted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in Flour Bluff, Texas, part of the greater Corpus Christi area. She initially went through the normal channels within the local high school, but the school’s principal, James Crenshaw, denied her request to form a GSA. Crenshaw asked her to change the club’s name and mission and come back for reconsideration. After this initial denial, Peet revised the club’s mission statement. She resubmitted it in January of 2011 and was again denied.

Sex workers strike for rights in El Alto, Bolivia

Country
Bolivia
Time period
17 October, 2007 to 27 October, 2007
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
3.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 28/04/2015

On 14 October 2007, citizens of El Alto, Bolivia demanded that all bars and brothels facilitating sex work be located at least 3,200 feet away from schools, because they believed that the establishments were facilitating crime in the area. They then began a three-day rampage of the bars and brothels in the impoverished red-lights district of El Alto. These El Alto citizens, primarily parents and students, burned or destroyed at least 50 brothels, burned sex workers’ belongings, and beat sex workers.

Black Students in Texas Desegregate Del Mar College 1951-1952

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 05/04/2015

From its founding in 1935 until the early 1950s, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas accepted only white students. In 1951, when NAACP chapter leader Henry Boyd Hall began work to desegregate the college, community college classes for African American students were held at the city’s Solomon M. Coles High School for Negroes. However, these classes were insufficient in several ways.