Listen. Learn. Act.
October 2021
At the UO, as across the country, we have had to face a renewed reckoning around issues of race and inequality. We know the work of creating a more inclusive and antiracist community is a continuous journey. Each month, these pages will highlight some of the work being done and the resources available here on campus. We hope these efforts act not as a token, but as a turnkey to help open doors for those to come.
African American Workshop and Lecture Series begins its sixth year
Virtual and in-person events with African-American national leaders from a wide range of fields to speak to campus and community.
Lawyers, historians, authors and choreographers will be part of this year’s African American Workshop and Lecture Series, now in its sixth year.
The series, sponsored by the Office of the President and Division of Equity and Inclusion, was a result of the 2016 demands of the Black Student Task Force. It focuses on helping the university community understand and use best practices in equity and inclusion.
Each speaker engages with an array of university stakeholders and offers a variety of events, including public lectures, workshops, panels and meetings with small groups of advisers, deans, student leaders, faculty members, staff, vice presidents and supervisors.
“We have a responsibility to help address issues of diversity and inclusion within our own campus community and within our broader society and institutions,” UO President Michael H. Schill said. “This commitment is not only the right thing to do, it is essential to creating teaching and research excellence. This series provides opportunities for members of our entire campus and community to engage in conversation with experts on topics related to diversity and inclusion from around the nation. These kinds of opportunities are critical for our commitment to be an anti-racist university and to prepare our students for addressing these issues as they pursue their careers.”
The series kicks off the year by collaborating with the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics to host C. Nicole Mason, named one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune Magazine. Mason is president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
Her public lecture will be presented as the annual lecture for the Morse Center's Margaret Hallock Program for Women's Rights and is part of the center's 2021-23 theme, “Making Work Work.” Her lecture, “Building the Future: Policies for a Gender-Equitable Recovery,” will take place Oct. 19 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 156, Straub Hall.
Also in October will be a virtual visit by Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. Sykes will be speaking on “The Case for Free Speech and Racial Justice: Supporting Black Activism on Campus” on Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m. Reflecting on his experiences working with campus activists from across the US and throughout Africa, Sykes will make the case for reclaiming free speech as a progressive value and tool for social change.
Later in the fall will be a presentation by Julieanna Richardson, founder of The HistoryMakers, the largest national collection effort of African American video oral histories on record since the Depression-era Works Progress Administration’s “Slave Narratives.” Richardson will speak on “Preserving 20th Century African American Collections with 21st Century Solutions.” The virtual event is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
Currently slated for winter quarter will be an in-person visit from A’Lelia Bundles for this year’s Derrick Bell Lecture at the UO School of Law. Bundles is the author of “On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker,” a New York Times notable book about her great-great-grandmother and the inspiration for “Self Made,” the fictional four-part Netflix series. Bundles will be on campus on Feb. 9, 2022. Details will be forthcoming.
On slate for spring quarter is William Darity, Kirsten Mullen and Claudia Schreier. Darity and Mullen will address “Reconstruction, Redress and Redistributive Justice” in early March. They are the co-authors of “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century,” which presents a comprehensive case for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery.
William Darity, Jr. and Kirsten Mullen, “From Here to Equality” PBS interview
Choreographer Claudia Schreier will discuss the creative process for her 2019 ballet, 'Passage,' created for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia. The work is the subject of the Public Broadcasting Service’s Emmy Award-winning documentary “Dancing on the Shoulders of Giants.”
Yvette Alex-Assensoh, vice president for equity and inclusion, spoke of the critical importance of the series.
“We must continue to thank the Black Student Task Force for their demand to make this series a reality and the continued support of the president’s office and our collaborators such as the Wayne Morse Center and the UO School of Law,” she said. “We are also thankful to the many faculty and staff who are already actively participating, and we encourage faculty and staff across the disciplines to incorporate the speaker series into their curriculum and programming.”
The speakers will help elevate the university community as it continues to work towards achieving inclusive excellence and justice at the UO and beyond, Alex-Assensoh said.
“Particularly after our past year, it’s imperative that we address the many issues that this year’s speakers raise, issues of Black student activism, history, reparations, intersectionality and more,” she said.
For further information about the series, see the Division of Equity and Inclusion website. Videos of past presentations can also be found on the site.
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Resources
Visit these resources—a small sampling of the many on campus—for ways to listen, learn, and act in the fight for social justice