UCLA Department of African American Studies

Homegoing: The Technology of Living Data and Black Public Mourning in the Age of COVID-19
2020-12-10 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
UCLA’s Digital Humanities program, Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (c2i2), and the Department of Information Studies’ Graduate Student Colloquium present:
Homegoing: The Technology of Living Data and Black Public Mourning in the Age of COVID-19
A lecture by Professor Kim Gallon (Purdue University)
Thursday, December 10, 2020 3:00pm (PST)

Kim Gallon is an Associate Professor of History. Her work investigates the cultural dimensions of the Black Press in the early twentieth century. She is the author of many articles and essays as well as the book, Pleasure in the News: African American Readership and Sexuality in the Black Press (University of Illinois Press, 2020). She currently serves as the inaugural editor for the Black Press in America book series at Johns Hopkins University Press. Gallon is also the author of the field defining article, “Making a Case for the Black Digital Humanities,” and the founder and director of two black digital humanities projects: The Black Press Research Collective and COVID Black: A Taskforce on Black Health and Data. She also serves on a number of digital advisory boards for digital humanities projects and grants. To learn more about her research and teaching follow her on Twitter, @BlackDigitalHum

Registration Required (click here)

Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration 2020 with Dr. Scot Brown (Keynote Speaker)
2020-12-10 19:00 - 21:00
The Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) and Syracuse University’s Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences invites you to virtually celebrate a Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration event!

Special guest performers include: the Adanfo Ensemble ( African Drumming and Dance), Dr. Joan Hillsman ( Joan Hillsman Network), Alice Queen (Vocalist) and Dr. Scot Brown (Keynote Speaker).
The concert will be live-streamed from CFAC, with virtual doors opening at 7 p.m EST/ 4 p.m. PST
Register Here

Career Day with the Lakers
2020-12-11 17:00 - 18:30
Join us this Friday, Dec 11th, 2020 for a panel discussion featuring staff from the LA Lakers and the broad range of career paths that exist within professional supports.
Hosted by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies in partnership with the Lakers Black Action Network.
Register Here

FESTIVALS IN THE CITY OF ANGELS: KWANZAA IN LEIMERT PARK VILLAGE
2020-12-17 17:00 - 18:00
FESTIVALS IN THE CITY OF ANGELS: KWANZAA IN LEIMERT PARK VILLAGE

Thursday, December 17, 2020 | 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday, created in 1966, following the Watts Rebellion, to bring the Black community together. Today, it is celebrated annually around the world, most notably on the West Coast in Leimert Park Village, the vibrant heart of Black culture in Los Angeles. The Fowler has partnered with We Love Leimert for a program honoring Kwanzaa and its seven principles and symbols rooted in the sacred teachings of Asante and Zulu harvest celebrations. We’ll hear from cultural bearers and figures from the Leimert Park Village community who are organizing for Black liberation and self-determination. The program will culminate with a dance class led by Kamilah Marsh and Keti Ciofassa, giving participants an opportunity to embody the principles of Kwanzaa.
This program is co-presented by UCLA’s Department of African American Studies, in partnership with We Love Leimert.
REGISTER HERE

Festivals in the City of Angels
This series connects museum programs with communities across the city in order to better understand manifestations of lived religions in Los Angeles and honor local expressions of global faiths. This series is generously supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

UCLA Black Alumni Association’s Social Justice Summit
2021-01-08 08:00 - 2021-01-10 11:00
UCLA Black Alumni Association’s Social Justice Summit
January 7th-10th, 2021
Register HERE
UCLA Black Alumni Association’s Social Justice Summit is going virtual. Following a tumultuous year which laid bare the country’s racial inequity, UBAA plans to bring thought leaders, activists, entertainers and Black Bruin professionals together to discuss the most pressing issues facing the Black community today. Watch the promo video here or below:

Schedule of Events:
Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.
A Love Song for LaTasha – Panel Discussion with Director Sophia Nahli Allison
Friday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Black LGBTQ+ Lives Matter – Panel Discussion
Saturday, Jan. 9 at 1 p.m.
Unmasking Disparities in Education in a COVID World
Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m.
The Anatomy of a Racist – Panel Discussion with Molefi Asante & Dr. Ray Winbush
Saturday, Jan. 9 at 9 p.m.
Athletes Beyond the Wind- Panel Discussion with 1968 Track Olympians
Sunday, Jan. 10 at 10 a.m.
Black at the Intersection of Racial Justice and a Pandemic

Join us for the UCLA Black Bruin Resource Center Focus Groups!
2021-01-20 18:00 - 2021-01-27 18:00
Hello Black Bruin Community,
It is with great excitement that we announce the opening and development of UCLA’s First Black Bruin Resource Center. This achievement could not be done without your advocacy, persistence, hard work, and dedication to the development of further resources for the Black community.
As key stakeholders and collaborators of this center, we invite you to share your input on how to shape the center to fit our students’ needs and essential resources.
For us to ensure we are providing the resources that the community truly needs and desires we will be hosting three Focus Groups within the month of January. These sessions will allow us to gather insight from the greater Black Bruin Community. Join Us!
To participate in a focus group, please use the registration links below. Please note that you are welcome to attend more than one session.
Session Dates and Registration Links:
January 13th at 6pm
January 20th at 6pm
January 27th at 6pm
We look forward to connecting with you all. Please forward this to any individual or group who may be interested in participating.

Gender, Race, and Age Behind Bars: Impacts of Long-term Sentencing
2021-02-03 12:15 - 13:30
UCLA CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN PRESENTS
GENDER, RACE, AND AGE BEHIND BARS: IMPACTS OF LONG-TERM SENTENCING

CO-HOSTED BY THE UCLA CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAM AND THE LA COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE
DATE: Wednesday, February 3, 2021
TIME: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
LOCATION: Zoom Webinar (RSVP)
This event is free and open to the public with registration.
Join us for a rare opportunity to hear from two formerly-incarcerated women activists on the compounded adverse impacts of long-term sentencing on the elderly, women, transgender people, and people of color in prison and beyond. Jane Dorotik was incarcerated for almost 20 years on a wrongful conviction. She was released in April 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, and her conviction was reversed in July 2020. Romarilyn Ralston was incarcerated for 23 years, and is now the Program Director of Project Rebound at the California State University-Fullerton. Both are organizers with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP). Dorotik and Ralston will be in dialogue with LA County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia, and moderator Alicia Virani, the Gilbert Foundation Director of the Criminal Justice Program at the UCLA School of Law. This event is hosted by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women, and co-hosted by the Criminal Justice Program at the UCLA School of Law and the LA County Public Defender’s Office.
Read CSW’s 2020 Policy Briefs, “Confronting the Carceral State, Reimagining Justice,” featuring briefs written by Jane Dorotik and Romarilyn Ralston.
Register Online
This activity is approved for 1 hour of general MCLE credit.
UCLA School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider.
Event Flyer

Black Excellence: Celebrate and Network with Successful Professionals
2021-02-05 08:00 - 17:00
You are invited to participate on Thursday, February 25th and celebrate with UCLA’s Black Bruin legacy & history in the making.
Featuring:
Celebration of the history & legacy of Black Bruins through the formal recognition of historical icons, contemporary alumni, staff, and faculty who have exhibited exceptional career success
Panel of distinguished UCLA alumni, staff and faculty focusing on Academic & Career Achievement and providing solutions to contemporary issues with focus on intersection with diversity and social justice
Networking with alumni, staff, faculty and select employers from a various industries including Business, Entertainment, Higher Education, Healthcare, Tech, Law, Policy, and much more
Spotlight of relevant university accomplishments and inroads such as AAP’s 50th Anniversary, the establishment of the Black Bruin Resource Center and the inaugural year of the Career Center’s DOORS program
Acknowledgement of “Rising Stars” among current students(undergrad/graduate), post docs and/or recent alumni
Event Details
Thursday, February 25th
Hosted via Zoom
6:00PM Welcome
6:05PM Program Begins
7:00PM Networking
7:30PM Program Concludes
Black Excellence is being held in collaboration with
AAP
Admissions
African American Studies
Alumni Association
ASP
Black Bruin Resource Center
CCCP
CPO
ORL
Ralph Bunche Center

BLACK MINDS MATTER: Exploring Traumas Dispelling Stigmas and Promoting Wellness
2021-02-09 17:00 - 18:30
BLACK MINDS MATTER: Exploring Traumas Dispelling Stigmas and Promoting Wellness

Please join us for an engaging and thought provoking panel discussion on mental health in the black community.

Panelists names and information is displayed in the flyer!

Register Now!!

The Elephant in the Room: BIPOC Artistic and Intellectual Presence in Music Studies
2021-02-10 15:00 - 17:00
February 10, 2021 – Danielle Brown: “The Elephant in the Room: BIPOC Artistic and Intellectual Presence in Music Studies”
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and The UCLA Department of African American Studies are proud to welcome multi-disciplinary artist, scholar, and Founder of of My People Tell Stories, LLC, Danielle Brown.
In this presentation, Dr. Brown will discuss her efforts to address issues of equity, diversity and inclusion to create positive change through her work at My People Tell Stories and her social justice minded framework—Canon, People, and Pedagogies (CPP). Specifically focusing on the “People” portion of her framework, Dr. Brown will share how addressing the “elephant in the room”—the minimization, marginalization, and devaluation of BIPOC artists and intellectuals—requires more than diversifying the canon and increasing “diversity hires.” Rather, it requires a reckoning with the forces that ask BIPOC artists and intellectuals to be present, even while denying their presence.
About Danielle Brown
Danielle Brown, Ph.D. is a multi-disciplinary artist, scholar, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder and CEO of My People Tell Stories, LLC, a company based on the premise that people of color in particular, and marginalized people in general, need to tell and interpret their own stories. Brown earned a doctorate in Music from New York University with a concentration in ethnomusicology and specialization in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean.
She is a former Assistant Professor of Music History and Cultures at Syracuse University and is certified in the Kodály method. Brown is the author of the music-centered ethnographic memoir, East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home, and the East of Flatbush, North of Love: Teacher Guidebook. She is a 2018 NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Folk/Traditional Arts and was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Musicology at the University of Miami for the 2019—2020 school year. Brown will be a Visiting Lecturer at Stanford University during the 2021 Winter Quarter.
About the Still Waiting Speaker Series:
“Our ancestors fought for what they expected to be a very different outcome than the one we are currently experiencing. The racial gulf has widened, and we are fighting battles that are bewildering to those of us who know the struggles of others who came before us.”
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and its Inaugural Dean, Eileen L. Strempel are proud to launch Still Waiting, a new speaker series that invites the public to join UCLA students in conversation with prominent figures invited by the school’s Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC), to help us understand ourselves and our response to this deeply hurtful moment in our nation’s racial reckoning. Still Waiting invites us to demand better of our communities and better of our actions in response to the tangible effects of racist policing, academic and institutional indifference, and methodologies that may bridge the gap between feelings of alienation and feelings of sanctuary and refuge for us all.
About the ARAC:
ARAC, the Anti-Racism Action Committee of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, is a non-hierarchical group of students, staff, and faculty members committed to changing the atmosphere of our Bruin community by addressing issues of bias, marginalization and discrimination toward black, Indigenous and people of color and other intersectional communities.
Register here!

A Road Map to Black Homeownership & Black Entrepreneurship in Real Estate: How to Get Started
2021-02-16 19:00 - 2021-02-17 19:00
Are you interested in learning how to invest in real estate without a large down payment or getting your hands too dirty? Hear from our panelists, who found creative ways to build generational wealth through real estate.
Join us on February 16th and 17th for this two part panel series on black homeownership and entrepreneurship! You don’t want to miss this incredible opportunity to get advice from successful black entrepreneurs and real estate agents. This event was organized by the UCLA Anderson School of Business’ Black Business Student’s Association. This event is apart of their Beyond Barriers Series!

Register now for Tuesday

Register now for Wednesday

‘Blues for the 1980s’: Funk Bands in Dayton, Ohio
2021-02-17 13:00 - 15:00
We are proud to announce that one of our esteemed faculty members Dr. Scot Brown will be apart of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy Colloquium Series.
Dr. Scot Brown is an associate professor of African American Studies and History at UCLA. Brown is the author of the book Fighting For Us and has penned numerous articles on African American history, social/political movements, music, and popular culture. He is a contributing author and the editor of the book, Discourse on Africana Studies. Brown is in the process of completing a book project exploring the city of Dayton, Ohio as a 1970s musical hotbed of soul and funk bands. Brown has appeared as an expert commentator on African American music and popular culture for many programs on television, radio, and social media: KLRU, National Public Radio, Sirius/XM Radio, DATV, BET/Centric, TV One, and VH1. Additionally, Brown has appeared in several documentaries on the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, including the PBS documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.
On February 17th at 1:00-3:00pm join us on Zoom and watch the ‘Blues for the 1980s’: Funk Bands in Dayton, Ohio lecture.

TED X UCLA and UCLA African American Studies present Bryonn Bain an IG LIVE Q&A
2021-02-22 12:00 - 12:30
Join us!! On our IG Live this Monday. We are collaborating with TED X UCLA to deliver a very special black history month event!! Prison activist, actor, hip hop theatre pioneer, and @ucla_afam faculty member, Bryonn Bain will be participating in a Q and A on the meaning of black history month, prison reform, resilience and more. Don’t miss out! This Monday at 12pm PST!!
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. Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn’s own hip hop theater innovator, spoken word poetry champion, prison activist, actor, author and educator. His work has been featured at the Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater (NYC), National Black Theatre (Harlem), New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark), the Actor’s Gang (Culver City), the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC), Festival de Liege (Belgium), M1 Theater Festival (Singapore), Universidad de las Americas (Mexico) and Muteesa Royal University (Uganda), Rikers Island (New York), Marion Prison (Ohio), TEDX at Ironwood State Prison and Sing Sing Prison. After teaching the first hip hop and spoken word workshop in the Dramatic Arts at Harvard University, Bain began consulting Columbia University’s Center for Justice and School of Law as a Visiting Scholar, and founded the prison education program offering college degrees from NYU to men incarcerated in upstate New York. Bain co-supervises the UCLA International Human Rights Law Clinic, and serves as faculty advisor for the Justice Work Group currently developing a Center for Justice at UCLA. With pilot courses and programs at the California Institute for Women (CIW) and Barry J. Nidorf (BJN) Juvenile Hall, Bain is working with students, faculty and administrators across the university to develop UCLA’s Prison Education Program. Celebrated as “poet laureate of the hip hop generation” by NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Bryonn’s discussions aired weekly in over 20 million homes worldwide on BET’s award-winning talk show My Two Cents. His interviews have included figures such as Mike Wallace, Tavis Smiley, LL Cool J, Tricia Rose, Dolores Huerta, Tim Robbins, Malik Yoba, Snoop Dogg, Nelson George and Harry Belafonte. His work has won grants from the Open Society Foundation, the Ford Foundation.

Wrongfully imprisoned during his second year at Harvard Law School, Bryonn successfully sued the NYPD, interviewed with Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes,” and wrote the Village Voice cover story – “Walking While Black” – drawing the largest response in the history of the nation’s most widely-read progressive newspaper. Bain’s grassroots arts organization, Blackout Arts Collective, developed the Lyrics on Lockdown Tour reaching prisons in 25 states and spawning university courses using poetry to build critical literacy in prisons nationwide. His first book, The Prophet Returns, honors the legacy of Kahlil Gibran and the countless voices Bain has worked with behind bars nationwide for nearly three decades. His second book, The Ugly Side of Beautiful: Rethinking Race and Prison in America, is published by Third World Press with a foreword by Mumia Abu-Jamal and introduction by Lani Guinier. His latest book, Fish & Bread/Pescado y Pan, is a bilingual, hip hop education children’s book published by Brown Girl’s Books. Winning coveted titles as the 1999 Boston Grand Slam Champion and 2000 Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion, Bain ranked #1 in the nation and placed second in the world during the 2000 International Poetry Slam. As Artist-in-Residence for the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, Bryonn founded the Lyrical Minded project — which has employed over 50 artists nationwide and brought hip hop, theater, spoken word poetry and film to public schools and detention centers in New York, San Francisco and Boston. Bain has taught courses and professional development for teachers and artists at Brooklyn College, NYU, The New School, Long Island University, and Columbia University ranging from hip hop and spoken word poetry to critical perspectives on the prisons and policing. Bryonn has lectured and performed at over 100 colleges and correctional facilities in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
His one-man multimedia production, Lyrics From Lockdown – executive produced by Harry Belafonte – tells the story of Bain’s wrongful imprisonment through hip hop theater, spoken word poetry, calypso and classical music, as well as lyrics and letters exchanged with fellow poet and friend, Nanon Williams. Sentenced to Death Row at 17, and after more than 25 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, a federal judge finally ordered Nanon’s release in November 2010 — one year after the NYC premiere of Bain’s production at The Public Theater. Developed in prisons, public schools and universities nationwide, the show has received extraordinary reviews, sold out on three continents with standing ovations in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Check out the webpage: www.LyricsfromLockdown.com.

Press

1308 ROLFE HALL, LOS ANGELES, CA 90095
As a land grant institution, UCLA acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional la

Black Excellence: Celebrate and Network with Successful Professionals
2021-02-25 18:00 - 19:30
You are invited to participate on Thursday, February 25th and celebrate with UCLA’s Black Bruin legacy & history in the making.

Featuring:

Celebration of the history & legacy of Black Bruins through the formal recognition of historical icons, contemporary alumni, staff, and faculty who have exhibited exceptional career success.
Panel of distinguished UCLA alumni, staff and faculty focusing on Academic & Career Achievement and providing solutions to contemporary issues with focus on intersection with diversity and social justice.
Networking with alumni, staff, faculty and select employers from a various industries including Business, Entertainment, Higher Education, Healthcare, Tech, Law, Policy, and much more.
Spotlight of relevant university accomplishments and inroads such as AAP’s 50th Anniversary, the establishment of the Black Bruin Resource Center and the inaugural year of the Career Center’s DOORS program.
Acknowledgement of “Rising Stars” among current students(undergrad/graduate), post docs and/or recent alumni

Thursday, February 25th, 2021
Hosted via Zoom

Black Excellence is being held in collaboration with
AAP
Admissions
African American Studies
Alumni Association
ASP
Black Bruin Resource Center
CCCP
CPO
ORL
Ralph Bunche Center

RSVP here

Dean's Salon, "Ethnic Studies at UCLA: Scholarship for Social Justice"
2021-03-23 16:00 - 17:00
Join us on March 23rd at 4:00pm for the UCLA College of Social Sciences for the Dean’s Salon,”Ethnic Studies at UCLA: Scholarship for Social Justice”

This event is a conversation with

Leisy Abrego
Chair and Professor
UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies
Randall Akee
Chair and Associate Professor, UCLA Department of American Indian Studies
Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Public Policy
Cheryl Keyes
Chair and Professor, UCLA Department of African American Studies
Professor, Ethnomusicology and Global Jazz Studies
Natalie Masuoka
Chair and Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Asian American Studies
Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Political Science
moderated by
Darnell Hunt, Ph.D.
Dean, UCLA Division of Social Sciences
Professor of Sociology and African American Studies

Register at:
http://view.eamail3.ucla.edu/?qs=3affd1d42f01fde1276c89bfb4a87d9e0e0bfeb7dbbaaef442f0acc00d34e7e18f467e6db3a0bb39ac680188d44ca810281c284f3c118a3beeb6fbb37a3ee0c79d67dddf0cbb186a36114e0ca8be4804

Save the date: Join the UCLA Legacy 2021!
2021-04-06 17:30 - 19:30
With great excitement, we invite you to join us on the evening of Tuesday, April 6th, for Join the UCLA Legacy, a virtual event honoring our African American admits for the Fall class of 2021. Save the date to connect with faculty and staff to learn more about the many benefits of becoming a Bruin! Our success speaks for itself through these student responses.
–“I especially enjoyed being able to discuss with the department chairs and their willingness to make sure that we constantly understood the entire college-going process.”
–“I mostly enjoyed how the faculty and administration made me feel welcomed and that I deserved to attend the school. Even though I don’t identify with the majority of the school, it shouldn’t stop me from pursuing my dreams.”
–“The Legacy event was the icing on the cake that I needed to feel valued as an African American student in such a large university.”

Mark your calendar April 6th 2021 5:30-7:30pm

Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

Connecting ART & LAW FOR LIBERATION 2021: Call for Proposals
2021-04-16 - 2021-04-17
Connecting ART & LAW FOR LIBERATION
a CALL TO ACTION to end Mass Incarceration
On April 16-17, 2021 join artists, activists, attorneys, advocates and scholars for a Virtual Conference featuring innovative collaborations at the intersection of ART and the LAW!
Build community, re-energize and play, while developing visionary strategies to end mass incarceration — with participants from college campuses, communities and carceral spaces.
Proposal Due: January 11, 2021
Send proposals and questions to: CALLtoActionUCLA@gmail.com by January 11, 2021. Details on the 2019 CALL Festival are on our website at: www.calltoactionucla.com

A Collaboration between the UCLA Prison Education Program,
UCLA School of Law’s Criminal Justice Program and the Prison Law & Policy Program

Africa’s Readiness for Climate Change (ARCC) virtual forum
2021-04-19 09:00 - 2021-04-23 17:00
Join us for the upcoming Africa’s Readiness for Climate Change (ARCC) virtual forum, organized by the UCLA African Studies Center and Earth Rights Institute, and co-sponsored by the Department of African American Studies.
Register here https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b5cGk3_ASFO1WEkwK2NAtA.

The webinar event is scheduled for April 19-23 and registration to attend is free.
Register Here
Exact times to be announced, but starting time will be 9 am for most days as three of the presenters will be Zooming from the continent.

Confirmed Speakers are Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation; Ousmane Aly Pame, President Global Ecovillage Network Africa, Founder/President REDES(Network for Ecovillage Emergence and Development in the Sahel); HE Ambassador Sidique Abou-Bakarr Wai, Sierra Leone Ambassador to the US; and Elizabeth Wathuti, Founder, Green Generation Initiative and Head of Campaigns at Wangari Maathai Foundation, Kenya.
Additionally, there will be panels on Public Health, Indigenous Knowledge, Policy, and more.
For information, email africa@international.ucla.edu, visit the conference website at https://www.international.ucla.edu/asc/article/206676

"Resemblance, Representation, and Resonance in Black Film and Media"
2021-04-30 11:00 - 13:00
UCLA Department of African American Studies invites you to attend the lecture series
“Black Lives Matter—Past, Present, and Beyond” featuring
Racquel Gates
Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, College of Staten Island, CUNY
Author, “Double Negative: The Black Image and Popular Culture”
speaking on
Resemblance, Representation, and Resonance in Black Film and Media
Friday, April 30, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. PDT
Live streaming via Zoom
RSVP HERE
The basic idea of “representation” – that onscreen images construct meaning – takes on particular urgency when those being represented have been historically ignored, or worse, grossly misrepresented, throughout history. Such is the case with Black representation in film and media. As a result, critics and scholars alike continue to theorize solutions to the thorny issues of representation. Though these conversations are not new, their centrality speaks to ongoing problems related to the images of women and minorities in the media. Yet how often are we actually talking about “resemblance” rather than representation? And how might we begin to consider questions about quality, taste, and emotional resonance? This talk contemplates these aspects of cinematic representation and argues that such a shift offers new possibilities for Black cinematic engagement.

"After Sudan: Hajj Hamad and the Search for the Horn of Africa" with Prof. Alden Young
2021-05-14 14:00 - 15:00
“After Sudan: Hajj Hamad and the Search for the Horn of Africa”
A Lecture with Professor Alden Young
Friday, May 14th, 2021
2:00pm (PST)
RSVP HERE
About the lecture: My talk focuses on the work of the Sudanese intellectual Mohammad Abu Qasim Hajj Hamad. He was one of the Children of 1964, who came of age in the October Revolution, which promised a democratic transformation, but he watched in horror as the military returned to power in 1969 and within a few years began exiling intellectuals and political activists. It was in exile that intellectuals like Hajj Hamad began looking for alternatives to the Sudanese state. In this talk, I will discuss his ideas about the Horn of Africa as a region. I will also discuss the ways in which he sought to place Sudan within the Greater Middle East in the process trying to rewrite Sudanese history. Hajj Hamad’s historical project was an attempt to break Sudanese society out of the impasse within which it was trapped. According to Hajj Hamad, Sudan was a society stuck between binaries such as Arab and African, Communist and Islamist, as well as Center and Periphery. In his opinion, it was only by overcoming these binaries that Sudanese society could develop.
Alden Young is a political and economic historian of Africa and the Middle East. He is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and a faculty member in the International Development Studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles. His first book Transforming Sudan: Decolonization, Economic Development and State Formation was published by Cambridge University Press in December 2017. Along with Nathalie Puetz of NYU Abu Dhabi, Young has been awarded a research grant by the SSRC to work on climate change adaptation among the Red Sea littoral countries.

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Historical Context
2021-06-01 17:00 - 19:00
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Historical Context
Tuesday, June 1st, 2021

5:00PM PDT
RSVP HERE

Professor Brenda E. Stevenson moderates an online conversation with Karlos K. Hill and Hannibal Johnson, both authors and experts on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, in which a white mob assaulted residents, looted, and destroyed their homes, churches, schools, and businesses in the predominantly Black neighborhood and business district of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The panel discusses the history of Black migration to Oklahoma, the Jim Crow realities of the early 20th century, the facts surrounding the Tulsa massacre, and the immediate aftermath in which hundreds of Black Americans were dead, homeless, or imprisoned, their families and financial lives devastated.
An Associate Professor and Chair of the Clara Luper Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Oklahoma, Hill is the founder and chair of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Commission. His most recent book is The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic History. An attorney, author, and highly regarded public historian, Johnson is the author of Black Wall Street 100: An American City Grapples with its Historical Racial Trauma.
Co-presented by the UCLA Department of African American Studies
RSVP HERE

Taking Stock: U.S. Counterterrorism Interventions in Africa Today
2021-07-15 12:00 - 13:00
Taking Stock: U.S. Counterterrorism Interventions in Africa Today

July 15th, 2021
12:00pm
Register Here
While Washington is winding down counterterror operations in Afghanistan and possibly Iraq, there is growing pressure from some quarters for an increase in U.S. military engagement in Africa. In mid-June, France announced an end to its counterterrorism operation in the Sahel, now in its seventh year. France is hoping the U.S. and countries contributing to a 15,000 strong peacekeeping force will step up to fill the void, but the ambush of four U.S. soldiers in neighboring Niger in 2017 raised serious questions about mission creep and oversight of US troops on the continent. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is reportedly considering returning troops recently pulled by the Trump administration back to Somalia.

Why are the French leaving Mali? What impact did Western-backed security assistance missions have in diminishing terrorism threats and supporting democracy in the region? Why is the U.S. military looking to wind down operations in West Africa but at the same time considering returning troops to Somalia, despite significant democratic backsliding by the U.S.-backed government there?

The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs will host a panel of discussion to shine a light on this undercovered region and provide recommendations for better oversight and accountability mechanisms to avert counterproductive mission creep and endless U.S. war in Africa.

Join us for a timely and important conversation with:
Alden Young, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at UCLA and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Stephanie Savell, Senior Researcher at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University and co-director of the Costs of War Project.
Amanda Sperber, Independent journalist, focusing on politics, youth, and armed conflict in Kenya, Somalia and Sudan.
Lizzy Shackelford (Moderator), Senior Fellow on U.S. Foreign Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, former QI Non-Resident Fellow, and author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.”

Black Convocation
2021-09-29 17:00 - 18:00
Black Convocation 2021

Sept. 29th
5-6pm
Zoom Registration Link

IdentiTEA Discussion
2021-10-05 07:00 - 20:00
The Mixed Student Union (MSU) is hosting their first discussion/meeting of the year this upcoming Tuesday, October 5, at 7pm-8pm in Kaplan Hall, in room 135!
They will be discussing what it’s like growing up mixed-race, and overall spilling the “tea” on what it’s like being mixed and how that affects identity.
*MSU is a cultural group for mixed-race and multiethnic individuals that aims to unite and foster UCLA’s mixed community. They meet weekly on Tuesdays at 7-8pm at Kaplan 135.*
Join their newsletter subscription here!

Professor Brenda Stevenson's Inaugural Lecture
2021-10-25 09:00
Professor Brenda Stevenson
Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair of Women’s History
Oxford University is running a program of public events this month to celebrate the start of Professor Stevenson’s tenure.

The Lecture: Creating History at the Intersection of Gender, Jim Crow and Remembrance will be broadcast live on Youtube.

Black Dress & Culture Series: Debating the Black Body in Fashion & Popular Culture
2021-11-06 11:00 - 14:30
Black Dress & Culture Series
Debating the Black Body in Fashion & Popular Culture
Location: Via Zoom & In-person for UCLA students only (see RSVP Link).
Description: The Black Dress & Culture Series annual colloquiums explore the critical topic of Black dress. The influences of Black bodies, Black style, and Black makers are undeniable forces in shaping culture through fashion, costume design, and styling. Black bodies have consistently acted as sites of cutting-edge aesthetics and emulation. Yet, they have endured ridicule, discrimination, fear, and violence. This series engages scholars and practitioners in conversations that reinsert Black people into cultural narratives. Their discussions will address and expand on the multiple viewpoints within ongoing and sometimes contentious histories and contemporary practices. The inaugural event, “Debating the Black Body in Fashion and On-Screen,” will focus on the work of Black costume designers, in conversation with scholars, to address the topic of Black women and body size, as well as respectability politics in dress on screen.
Colloquium Schedule:
11:00 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
11:15 a.m. Panel I: Black Women and Body Size in History and on Screen
12:15 p.m. Coffee Break
12:30 p.m. Panel II: The “Aesthetics of Excess” and Respectability Politics
1:30 p.m. James Bridges Theater in-person discussion followed by refreshments

UCLA Institute of American Cultures Fall Forum 2021
2021-11-09 15:00 - 16:00
Description:
You are invited to the UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC) annual Fall Forum, featuring the 2021–22 IAC visiting researchers and scholars, graduate and predoctoral fellows, and research grant awardees at UCLA’s four ethnic studies centers. Featured speakers will be interviewed by faculty experts, followed by a Q&A.
Find out more about who and what is featured in the Webinar through the Zoom Registration Link.

Kal Penn on Life and Diversity in Hollywood
2021-11-11 17:00 - 18:30
Darnell Hunt, Ph.D and Dean, UCLA Division of Social Sciences Professor of Sociology and African American Studies invites you to attend the Dean’s Salon: Kal Penn on Life and Diversity in Hollywood!
Kal Penn will be taking live questions from the viewers starting at 6:00 p.m.If you would like to submit your questions in advance of the webinar please email hnadworny@support.ucla.edu by Wednesday, November 10.
Thursday, November 11, 20215:00 – 6:30 p.m. PSTLive streaming via Zoom

Click here to register for the event

To purchase a hardcover edition of Kal Penn’s new memoirYou Can’t Be Serious please click here

Students & TV Writers Panel
2021-11-15 11:00 - 12:30
Description:
Are you a college student or recent grad who’s interested in sharing your experiences with TV writers? Do you have pressing questions about how a story unfolds in the Writers Room? If so, join a panel on zoom where you can converse with writers of a half-hour comedy hit! See the flyer for details and send us an email with your preferred date and time. There are three options to choose from!
*Email Delina.Brooks@abcs.tv for inquiries about the event and how to attend!*
The event will take place on three separate days:
Monday, November 15th (11:00 am PST)
Tuesday, November 16th (1:00 pm PST)
Wednesday, November 17th (2:30 pm PST)

Geneva Smitherman Book Talk!
2022-05-03 16:30 - 18:30
This event will feature a panel that discusses the recent publication of Dr. Geneva Smitherman’s memoir: Geneva Napoleon Smitherman, My Soul Look Back in Wonder, 1st edition (Routledge, 2022). Three speakers, Dr Bryce Henson, Dr. Austin Jackson, and our very own Professor Kyle T. Mays, will offer reactions to her book from their interdisciplinary perspectives and also comment on her contribution to Black Studies. Excited to see you all there!

The book talk will take place in The Black Forum (Haines Hall 153) at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, May 3rd!
If you are on campus, we would welcome your in-person attendance!
If you would rather watch online, click here for the zoom link!
