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You may be interested in the MSU Race in 21st Century Americas conference and speakers, including Niama Penniman of Soul Fire Farms and shane bernardo, of Food as Healing in Detroit, both leaders in reconnecting people with land, food traditions, and healing activism.

Julie Cotton, M.S.

Academic Specialist,

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems

Dept. Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

currently working from home:

[log in to unmask]

517-488-7841 m

safs.msu.edu

Please allow up to a business day for email responses - urgent issues can be sent via text.

You are cordially invited to attend the Race in 21^st Century Americas Conference at Michigan State University that will take place March 25 and 29-30.Registration is now available!

Speaker and presentation outline

“Our major guest speakers include a pre-recorded keynote by Naima Penniman of Soul Fire Farms. She will be live (virtually), and joined by Detroit’s shane bernardo on Tuesday evening for a planned Q&A. In addition, we will be joined Dr. Keisha-Khan Perry, and Dr. Vijay Prashad. We have a total of six panels, the others include a discussion with Dra. Denise Carrascosa, a Brazilian Professor and activist, on a Prison literacy project she has been part of for over a decade—a program that helps imprisoned women lower sentences through reading. (4 days for each book). We also are finalizing a panel with representatives from the MI Hispanic Commission, as well as some activist folk who engage in advocacy in migrant communities. As well as a panel on community policing that so far includes Dr. Jennifer Cobbina and MSUPD Chief Marlon Lynch.”

Conference Theme – “Race and Rights: Empowering our communities”

“True to the conference’s roots, this year’s theme will investigate systems of power that maintain racial stratification throughout the Americas. Since the last conference in 2019, many events have heightened public awareness and interest in state-sponsored brutality — from the murder of George Floyd and countless others to the aggravated health and economic disparities made evident during the COVID-19 pandemic to an increased awareness of voter suppression and other racial injustices.” [Read more here.]

History of the Race Conference

The Race Conference is a crucial part of Michigan State’s history. It historically brings together leading scholars and community activists from around the nation, with a diversity of racial, ethnic, and ideological approaches, to have important conversations about race.  The first conference was held in 1999 under the leadership of Professor Emeritus Curtis Stokes, and he continued organizing and participating in the conference up until his retirement in 2019. Under his leadership, scholars, policy makers and activists such as Ronald Takaki, Cornel West, Patricia Hill Collins, Juliane Malveaux, Ward Churchill, Michelle Alexander, Charles Mills, and Rashida Tlaib have visited campus to lend their expertise on important race-related issues.  In addition, although the conference has been hosted by James Madison College, it is a collaborative, university-wide event.  Past planning committees included people from the different ethnic studies programs, research centers and outreach programs here at MSU. The upcoming Race Conference is organized by a mostly volunteer committee, including myself, along with student worker coordinators, and several staff, and faculty members who are committed to the continuity of this important MSU legacy.

Please feel free to reach out to conference chair, Rashida L. Harrison ([log in to unmask]) or one of the committee members with any questions.

Rashida L. Harrison, Chair, Assistant Professor, JMC, GenCen

Brian G. Johnson, Assistant Dean of DEI, JMC

Leslie Gonzales, Associate Professor, College of Education

Anna Pegler-Gordon, Professor, JMC, Asian American Studies

Meaghan Kozar, Inclusive Campus Initiative, SLE

Andrea Salazar McMillan, Chicanx & Latinx Studies Librarian, MSU Library

Leonora S Paula Assistant Professor English, CLACS, GenCen

Erik Ponder, African and US Ethnic Studies Librarian

Linda Sayed, Assistant Professor, JMC, Muslim Studies

Rocky Beckett, Director of Development, JMC