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Written by Allyson Hamzey 

Everything is interconnected, Meghna Chandra, Institute for Racial Justice (IRJ) postdoctoral fellow, passionately shared with me 鈥� and this is a guiding light for her work. When reflecting on her other sources of inspiration, she points to the peace movement, W.E.B. DuBois, and the ability to drive ideas through teaching and learning. 

Chandra, who specializes in economic justice at the IRJ, earned her PhD in social welfare from the University of Pennsylvania. She credits the African American community in Philadelphia and the Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation for kindling her intellectual framework centered in Black studies, commonality, and shared history. 

鈥淭he Saturday Free School inspired me to believe in ideas,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he power of sociology, philosophy, of knowledge.鈥� 

As her academic career builds, it鈥檚 clear that Chandra's dedication to illuminating our global interconnectedness remains unwavering. 

鈥淭he question of humanity is at the core of the question of racial justice. This is because the vast majority of people on this planet are of a race that's not White,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he question of racial justice is a question of: 鈥楧o you see yourself as part of humanity?鈥欌赌�  

What drew you to this role? 

For Chandra, having the opportunity to partner with credible organizations was one of the key selling points of the IRJ. 

鈥淔rom that job description, the coolest thing was seeing you will be working with the C. I was like, 鈥榃e will? That's so cool!鈥欌赌� she says. 鈥淏eing an academic in general, you're pretty transient, and I think it's so important to be partnered with really established organizations.鈥� 

The grandeur of Chicago itself and its rich interconnected history of Civil Rights and labor struggles was a major draw to her. Chandra remembers with a laugh that her mentor always says: 鈥淐hicago ain鈥檛 no joke.鈥� 

鈥淥f course, the pay was extremely competitive, which showed that there was just a basic value for people and the work that they do,鈥� she says. 

鈥淚 felt the Institute had this understanding and this vision, which was just so exciting. I also felt like it was a great fit because of this thing of policy: what can we change?鈥� she says. 鈥淎lso, [the IRJ] having a rigorous and developed theoretical understanding of what racism is. It seemed like a place that was so welcoming to that.鈥� 

How is the IRJ and Loyola different? 

鈥淭he people are so good,鈥� Chandra says. 鈥淚鈥檝e never worked with more warm, supportive, and caring people who are rooting for you in every way. We have concrete responsibilities and we're trying to make a contribution, but it feels like so much more. It feels like a learning opportunity and a chance to just spend time with really good people who deeply care.鈥� 

鈥淚 also think the way the organization is structured is really great,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have so many people from different backgrounds... and we all really come together to work towards our mission. The support is so fantastic.鈥� 

One enriching part of working at Loyola are the Jesuit values centered in creating a just world, Chandra shared. 

鈥淚t's definitely my first time being in a Jesuit institution, and I didn't really understand what that was, but I found there are a lot of things about it that I really like,鈥� Chandra says. 鈥淪ocial justice, the sense of moral commitment, those are all values that I share 鈥� even though I'm not a Catholic. 鈥� 

Reflecting on the people she鈥檚 encountered at Loyola, she asserted that the people embody all of those values.  

鈥淚 think the more we can walk the walk at Loyola and show even more people's work to show for our values, it just makes it that much more true,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t's always so nice to see people who directly correlate with those with those values.鈥� 

Tell me about the research and other projects you鈥檝e contributed to at the IRJ. 

: 鈥淚 hit the ground running with the Chicago Urban League report. It was an incredible opportunity to use data to tell a story,鈥� Chandra says. 鈥淪ome of the insights we got were pretty surprising and I think people should know, like where food deserts are in Chicago.鈥� 

鈥�80 percent of all Black Chicagoans would have to move from their census block for there to be an even distribution by race,鈥� she shared from the State of Black Chicago report, which she is second author to. 

Other key findings mentioned are racialized disparities in banking and police stops. 

鈥淓ven despite [people of color] doing everything 鈥榬ight,鈥� there still is so much discrimination in bank lending,鈥� she says.  

Data shows that 鈥減arents are engaged in every part of the city," despite whether freshmen are on track or not, Chandra shares with passion. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a sign that schools are failing the students.鈥� 

The pandemic鈥檚 impact on Black Chicago was especially difficult, the report shared.  Chandra underlined the disproportionate number of COVID-caused deaths in Chicago鈥檚 Black communities and the growing digital divide in the city. 

RESEARCH ON UNIVERSITY-DRIVEN GENTRIFICATION: Having the time to begin publishing her work in her postdoctoral fellowship has been impactful, she shares. Chandra has applied her  learnings into journal articles and continued her research focus of university-driven gentrification. 

This research focus has aimed on the political impact of what some scholars call studentification, 鈥�or the transformation of neighborhoods surrounding universities into 鈥� college towns,鈥� according to Chandra. 

鈥淎 lot of my research is showing that there's a very severe consequence of these changes. A lot of it goes to the erosion of affordable home ownership stock, but it also goes to the erosion of political communities, especially Black political communities that have really fought for a more democratic and just city.鈥�