The Radical 'Possibilities' of Black Studies
- Starts: 5:00 pm on Friday, November 15, 2019
- Register
Black Studies emerged with the promise to transform not just the complexion of the university but the very nature of it. By trying to bring the ‘science of liberation’ to campus the aim was to make genuine links between those inside the academy and the struggles taking place in Black communities in wider society. Prior to the inclusion of Black Studies in universities Black intellectual thought was rooted in the struggles for social justice, with intellectuals such as Malcolm X, Ida B Wells, Claudia Jones and the Black Panther Party shaping how we understood the world and how to change it for the better. Black Studies has a long history outside the university, and fifty years ago when the first programmes began on campus it was these insurgent knowledges that scholars were attempting to bring into the university. However, the last five decades have seen the institutionalisation of Black Studies largely into the ways of the university, rather than transforming what the space means. In the UK we launched the first Black Studies programme in Europe in 2017, again trying to bring the long tradition of radical visions of Black Studies in the university. For all of the issues with incorporating Black Studies into institutional racist universities there remains the possibility to subvert the role of the academy by ‘colonising’ the university in order to support radical politics, which can only be sustained outside of the ivory tower.
- Location:
- African American Studies Building. 138 Mountfort Street, Brookline
- Contact Name:
- Deirdre James
- Contact Phone:
- (617) 353-2795