This week, we pay tribute to the life and work of Ilia Salita, a key partner and friend to the Institute of many years.

Liberation75 and USC Shoah Foundation partnered on a virtual student program, “Stories are Stronger than Hate: A Call to Action,” hosted by actor/director Mike Myers, with special guest Akim Aliu, Co-founder of Hockey Diversity Alliance, on Monday June 22.

Through the personal narrative of Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter and other stories, participants explored how stories create the possibility to learn about ourselves, about others and about how we can affect the change we want to see in our communities right now.

June 19, also known as Juneteenth, commemorates the day in 1865 when slavery ended in America - more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln. It is a day of commemoration and celebration of African American history and heritage, but also a day of reflection.

USC Shoah Foundation mourns the loss of Luke Holland who passed away this week, a transformative figure in the field of historical documentation and a dear friend of the Institute. “Luke guided us all to face our pasts—to face our fears—as pathway to living a more informed, peaceful life,” said Stephen Smith, Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation.

Two promising USC scholars – undergraduate student Lucy Sun and graduate student Rachel Zaretsky -- will share the Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2020.

The Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship provides support for USC students at any academic level and from any discipline to conduct a month of research in residence at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research focusing on testimonies of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive (VHA) and/or other related USC resources and collections.

We mourn the murder of George Floyd and join the outcry for justice in his name. He is now linked to countless others who have suffered systemic violence, injustice and hate perpetrated against African Americans throughout a 400-year history in this nation. This legacy and manifestation of hate is still present today.