Social Justice Archives

A black and white photograph of a bald man in a black turtleneck sitting behind a microphone. To his left is a piano holding splayed out sheet music.

Jazz Histories Reveal “Wisdom, Expertise, and Pure Genius”

As jazz reaches younger generations through the artists of this century, Cisco Bradley, associate professor of social science and cultural studies at Pratt, has been making sure the art form’s overlooked visionaries and their stories are receiving their due.

A spread from the book HERE: Where the Black Designers Are, featuring works of graphic design, including a book jacket for a novel titled “THE WILD WILD WEST” and record jackets for artists including Tyone Davis and Rune Gustafsson, among other illustrations.

Celebrating Black Graphic Designers in a Panoramic New Book

A question has confronted graphic designer Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller since the start of her career: “Where are the Black designers?” She explored it as a writer, first in the form of a trailblazing master’s thesis for Pratt Institute, then…

Front view of brick rowhouses with unique facade elements, window grates, and fences of different metals and designs

Spaces for Us to Live

“Housing is a right. Not a privilege.” “We’ve been trying to find ways to make communities more financially savvy and resilient . . . to be partners in the development process.” “I’d like to propose a step change, from housing…

Pratt President Frances Bronet and Dean Quilian Riano talking to one another in a naturally lit hallway in Pratt’s Higgins Hall

In Conversation with the President: Living Spaces

From my years teaching architecture, one studio in particular stays with me to this day. It focused on a concept for a multiunit living space that crossed generations and family makeups with the flexibility to accommodate inhabitants’ changing needs and…

Smiling young people and Pratt faculty and staff pose with Pratt President Frances Bronet in a brightly lit industrial loft space.

Letter from the President: Foundations for Creating the Future

Charles Pratt, just over a year after establishing Pratt Institute, delivered these words to some of our institution’s earliest students. In his address, he emphasized the progressive values that influenced him as he launched this grand project—satisfaction in work, the…

Group of students approaches white colonial house in tree-filled lot

Studio: Collaborative Futures at Lefferts Historic House

How can reimagining a historic space help communities to heal and to shape their future? Pratt Institute students in one advanced studio offered jointly by the master’s programs in Historic Preservation and Urban Placemaking and Management explored this last fall…

A black and white photograph of three young boys in a classroom, all wearing shirts with the text “PRATT YOUTH SKILLS DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT” printed on the left chest, displaying their model rockets and accompanying launchers to the picture's photographer on a table.

Illuminating a History of Action

At Pratt, a particular ethos of concern for social justice, the quality of civic life, and community care is palpable, woven through student projects, faculty research, the work undertaken by the Pratt Center for Community Development, and connecting back…

How Iranians in New York Are Helping the Protests Abroad.

Everything You Need to Know About the FABRIC Act, the First Federal Fashion Bill

Pratt Center

Pratt and Partners Awarded $1.9M in Federal Funds for Affordable Small Home Sustainability

The Pratt Center for Community Development and community partners Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, IMPACCT Brooklyn, and Kinetic Communities Consulting have been selected to receive $1,942,500 for an Affordable Small Home Sustainability (ASHS) Initiative as part of the federal government…