Blackboard Jungle 11 Symposium
The University: A sanctuary or an Arena? Fostering Inclusive and Difficult Conversations
March 22 and March 23, 2018

The Half-Life of Freedom: Race and Justice in America Today

Jelani Cobb writes about the enormous complexity of race in America. In 2015, he received the Sidney Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism for his New Yorker columns, in which he combined “the strengths of an on-the-scene reporter, a public intellectual, a teacher, a vivid writer, a subtle moralist, and an accomplished professional historian. Whether speaking on the topics of Black Lives Matter and activism, the battle zones of Ferguson or Baltimore, the legacy of a black presidency, or the implications of the Trump era—or, more generally, on the history of civil rights, violence, and inequality in employment, housing, or incarceration in the US—Jelani Cobb will inspire us to work, tirelessly, toward achieving an ongoing dream of equity—of genuine democracy. His words will show us that not only are the levers of justice in our hands, but we can move them in the direction we see fit. This keynote presentation will remind us that the only obstacle holding us back is the comforting illusion that we’ve already achieved our goals.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. William Jelani Cobb

Hosts: Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant and Dr. David V. Rosowsky