The weather is warming as we approach the end of another semester and the beginning (hopefully) of a return to normalcy, with the promise that all adults will have access to the COVID vaccine in a few short months. However, we will most assuredly continue to feel the effects of the pandemic on unemployment and economic progress, educational setbacks, and the challenges associated with the upcoming changes in our lives. In other ways, we are also continuing in a time of turmoil, including the dramatic increase in anti-Asian hate crimes, the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, and the recent killings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo. This duality is highlighted in the articles in this edition of The Forward.

Specifically, we highlight recent research from Social Issues and Policy Review, including “Identity Leadership in a Crisis: A 5R Framework for Learning from responses to COVID-19” and “Political Psychology in the Digital (mis)Information age: A Model of News Belief and Sharing.”

Additionally, we hear from the winners of a variety of SPSSI awards:

• The Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations prize winners summarize their article, "Same-sex marriage legalization associated with reduced implicit and explicit antigay bias."
• The awardees of SPSSI Grants-in-Aid program on their research projects, which examine the impact of COVID-19 on Immigrant Communities, and the experiences of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter among youth.
• The winners of the new Research in the Global South Grants Program, including projects on increasing vaccination rates in Serbia, the relationship between poverty and caste in India, and the effect of aging stereotypes and anxiety on mental and physical health of older Colombians
• Local- and State-Level Policy Work Grant recipients, which include research on early childhood expulsion during the pandemic and barriers to the implementation of community-oriented policing.

We also receive reports on the continuing efforts of SPSSI Directors and Committees, including:

• Policy: SPSSI’s Policy Director, Sarah Mancoll, provides an update on recent policy advances and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, with an emphasis on the ways that scholar-activists can enact LGBTQ+ rights advocacy on the state level using APA’s Resources for Grassroots and State-Level Advocacy on LGBTQ+ Issues.
• Graduate Student Committee: Allen Chukwuhdi, Stephanie Miodus, and Jason Cruz discuss the ongoing efforts of the GSC to increase its inclusivity and train graduate students in advocacy work. Of special note is their upcoming three-part webinar series, entitled, “Societal Psychosis: A Meta-analysis of Systems that Obstruct and Destroy Our Social Bonds.”