Social justice rhetoric is prevalent in contemporary America, but are we as a nation ready to do the work to effect real change? Emily Allen Williams has gathered a group of essays that interrogate matters of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In doing so, the essays contribute to what Williams call “tilling the ground,” i.e. a process by which the nation is prepared for the changes that must follow the rhetoric through the work of diversity and inclusion in a variety of social arenas. With subject matters ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement and children’s literature to the contemporary workplace and university, the collected essays present and analyze progress that is already being made and outline ways for our society to continue to move this process forward until the rhetoric of social justice manifests in actual conditions of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access throughout the nation.

Contributions by: Emily Allen Williams, Nancy Wellington Bookhart, Sharon Albert Honore, Karl Ellis Johnson, Catherine L. Adams, Anthony Sean Neal, Eden-Reneé Hayes, Saisha Manan, Willette Neal, Gwendolyn VanSant, Peter A. Campbell, Mark Wagner, Katherine L. Cleary, Sandra Virginia Gonsalves-Domond, Samantha Calamari