BSOS Faculty, Alumna Seeking Justice for College Park’s Lakeland Community

Isabella Alcañiz, an associate professor in the Department of Government and Politics and director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center, was introduced as a commissioner of the City of College Park’s inaugural Restorative Justice Commission at an event hosted by the Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (MAPP) earlier this month. 

Alcañiz was one of the two dozen commissioners appointed by the City of College Park to the Commission. The Commission is charged with guiding the restorative justice process for the African American community of College Park, Md., with a particular focus being given to the historic African American community of Lakeland—its current and past residents as well as the descendants of current and past residents. This process will have active elements during the next five years as well as an ongoing legacy.

“The neighborhood of Lakeland was historically this beautiful, vibrant community of African Americans. But racist policies robbed the community of its rich cultural and commercial vibrancy,” said Alcañiz. “This has been recognized as a problem and a harm that continues to have a very direct effect on community members in Lakeland and in College Park, and I am honored and excited to be part of such a historic effort to impact in a positive way today’s Lakeland community members.”

Alcañiz will participate in monthly meetings with roughly 20 other commissioners from the Lakeland community itself, and from UMD—including Andrew Fellows, a faculty specialist in the College of Information Studies; and Criminology and Criminal Justice alumna Zabrina S. Anzyl, ’05, who currently acts as an assistant director of the Honors College’s Integrated Life Sciences program.

“I'd never heard of Lakeland when I was studying criminology in Tydings as a Terp, but I think my criminal justice education has taught me that systems of oppression and harm continue to operate unless they are intentionally disrupted,” said Anzyl. “The Lakelanders have suffered generations of harm, and I'm honored to work with those community members and center their voices in this commission's work.”

The commission’s formation came at the recommendation of the City of College Park’s Steering Committee for Restorative Justice, of which Joseph Richardson, BSOS’ Joel and Kim Feller Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, was asked to be a part because of his role as co-chair of the BSOS Anti-Black Racism Initiative’s (ABRI) Community Engagement and Policy Subcommittee.

“I am quite proud of the work Isabella and I have done on behalf of the ABRI and the university to uplift restorative justice for the harms suffered by the Lakeland community,” said Richardson. “Our initial goals as the [BSOS ABRI] Community Engagement and Policy subcommittee were to address restorative justice in Prince George's County … and when we learned of the restorative justice steering committee for College Park, it was pretty much perfect timing because our goals aligned with what they were proposing—particularly around the issues that impacted Lakeland.”

As she recently expressed to MAPP event attendees, Alcañiz believes that money flowing back into Lakelanders’ hands is a potential solution for the City of College Park to explore.

“Whatever policy is decided upon, there needs to be a monetary component that goes to Lakelanders,” said Alcañiz. “The commission can’t be symbolic only; that’s been done, and that’s not justice.”

Published on Thu, Sep 15, 2022 - 12:35PM