by Jamila Michener & Neil Lewis, Jr.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
— Toni Morrison

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”
— George Washington Carver

The proverbial book that offers a comprehensive and compelling vision of an equitable and just society remains unwritten. To be sure, there are many books that provide vital perspectives, insights, and inspiration (some written by our colleagues at Cornell and all over the world). Nevertheless, constructing and reconstructing visions of equitable futures remains pressing, urgent, and ever unfinished work. Vision is a fundamental building block of hope, and it is more necessary now than ever. As we write this in January 2026, a dystopian present threatens to dim the brightness of our visions for the future. We are witnessing people around the world squeezed in an unrelenting grip of inequality and injustice. Many of our fellow denizens are struggling to maintain basic safety, to keep roofs over their heads, to feed their families, to access adequate healthcare, and to survive in the most basic ways. And even as ordinary people contend with such momentous perils, investments in new technologies minted 50 new billionaires in 2025.

These and so many other dynamics of contemporary social, economic and political life, make for unsettling times—where, to borrow from Dr. King, too many people “find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

As shocking as this reality is (and we insist on being shocked), we must remember that just because things are this way, it does not mean they must be this way. It is possible for us to collectively write a new book—to forge alternative paths, re-imagine how we live together, shift the balance of power, redefine how we govern, and renew the hopes that we hold fast to. That is why we are writing today: to introduce a forum that nourishes visions of a transformed future.

Since we launched the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures at Cornell University two years ago, we have spent considerable time convening and engaging people in ways that enrich their (and our) understandings on equity and justice. We brought together scholars to share their perspectives on democratic practice in the United States and around the world. We asked documentary filmmakers to convey their insights on the historic and current impacts of unjust policies. We hosted a Freedom Party to gather members of our local community and celebrate liberatory visions. We assembled faculty and community advisory groups to guide our efforts in advancing racial justice. We supported vitally humane campus initiatives like the Compassionate Release Project and Freedom on the Move. We worked alongside justice focused partner organizations to translate research into real change in communities. We started student and faculty fellows programs to draw on the tremendous energy and ideas of Cornell undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty.

What we have learned along the way is that building an equitable and just future will require more spaces (physical, virtual, intellectual, and communal) for people to collectively dream, imagine, co-create, and co-produce. Some of us will need spaces to study, write, and grow knowledge. Others will need spaces to create art. Others will need spaces to plan action. And some will need spaces to think and talk through ideas—whether in the form of podcasts, film, the written word, or a yet-to-be envisioned medium.

This forum is now one of those spaces. The Futures Forum will offer written reflections, visual art, podcasts, video content, and more. The leaders, postdocs, students, faculty, partners, and local community connected to the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures will co-cultivate a fresh, free-thinking, future forward forum to carry ideas and knowledge into the world in new and different ways. We invite you to join us on this journey!

If you are interested in contributing to this forum, please contact us at info@equitablefutures.cornell.edu.