[PAST EVENT] Bending the Arc: Moving Racial Justice Forward

January 24, 2015
10am - 3:30pm
Location
Sadler Center, Multiple rooms
200 Stadium Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
A one-day summit for William & Mary students hosted by the William & Mary Center for Student Diversity.

In plenary discussions and workshops, we will explore ways to move from this catalytic moment in the struggle for racial justice to a movement that can achieve lasting change. Through various lenses and questions, including candid conversation, differences in gender, allyship, facing denial and disinterest, we will seek pathways forward that can sustain us personally and empower us each to engage in this critical conversation and to make change.

Our event title references the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and an echoing call to individual action from President Barack Obama. Dr. King said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." President Obama urged us all to see our own role is this process, saying, "But here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice."

The summit will feature workshops led by William & Mary faculty and staff, exploring such questions as:

How do we navigate from moments of racial justice crisis to movements for lasting change?

How can we be "colorbrave" instead of "colorblind," as Mellody Hobson urged in her well-regarded TED Talk?

How can we use artistic and creative expression to help us bend the arc toward justice?

What is the role for allies in the struggle for racial justice?

Where and how do non-Black people of color and their experiences fit in the current struggle?

How can we engage in activism for sustained impact, while also sustaining ourselves?

How can we speak up for racial justice through the lens of our faiths?

How can we develop skills for speaking up in the moment when racism happens to us or around us?

How are the experiences of men of color and women of color the same or different in this struggle?

How do we shift the culture through person to person interaction?

How do we interact with the denial or disinterest of others?

How can we have the open and candid conversations on race needed to move racial justice forward?

How do we engage in the struggle through our academic research?

(Specific topics my change; check back to this page for updates)

Students should register at the link below by January 22 to reserve a seat and ensure receiving a lunch.
Contact

Margie Cook Associate Director Center for Student Diversity [[w|mmcook]]