Social Justice in Community: "Dispossession by Design," with Bi'Anncha Andrews

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights and the University of Maryland

The Social Justice in Community series brings human rights scholars into conversation about how their work illuminates human rights struggles around us today and what we can do about those struggles.

How does human rights research impact our communities? How does scholarship on human rights violations or issues of social justice have any meaning in our day to day lives? And what is being discussed, studied, and thought about in universities today? Join the Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights, the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, and the University of Maryland for the new series "Social Justice in Community," as we bring human rights scholars into conversation about how their work illuminates human rights struggles around us today and what we can do about those struggles. Featuring different scholars from the University of Maryland across a variety of disciplines, from African American Studies to Sociology to Criminology and Criminal Justice to Economics to Government and Politics to Anthropology to Hearing and Speech Sciences and more, this series brings exciting new voices to the Prince George’s County community and offers us all fresh ways to engage.

On March 7, 2024, Bi'Anncha Andrews presents, "Dispossession by Design: An International Interrogation of the Politics of Power and the Consequences of Forced Displacement."

Bi’Anncha Andrews is currently a doctoral student in the Urban and Regional Planning and Design Program at the University of Maryland. Her research interests are focused on exploring the historic and present day impacts of displacement on vulnerable populations in gentrifying neighborhoods. More importantly, her work centers the critical roles that racism and sexism have played in shaping neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage with limited access to effective social services and social safety. Bi’Anncha works as a graduate research assistant for Dr. Willow Lung-Amam and the National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG).

In addition to her academic work, Bi’Anncha also works as a front line, licensed Social Worker with the Compass Program at the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington. As a Compass Partner, Bi’Anncha works with adults, families, and communities in environments in which people need support in managing and navigating challenging life situations. The purpose of her work has been to have positive effect on the social and physical environment in which people live their lives, bridge the divide between academia and local neighborhood-based planning, and influence policy and practices that bring equity, access and enhancement to the quality of life found in low-income, communities of color.