Confronting Racial Capitalism: The Black Radical Tradition & Cultures of Liberation

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PLEASE NOTE THE LATER START TIME FOR THE THURSDAY EVENING PLENARY

THIS CONFERENCE TAKES PLACE AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS:
11/20 1.30-3.30 The Graduate Center Skylight Room (capacity 70)
11/20 6.30-8.30 NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute (capacity 160) NOTE TIME CHANGE
11/21 10.00-12.00, 2.00-4.00 The Graduate Center Elebash Recital Hall (capacity 189)
11/21 6.30-8.30 NYU Global Center (New Venue) (capacity 256 seats and 30 standing)

Occasioned by the work of Cedric J. Robinson, this symposium brings together leading radical thinkers to consider the history and ongoing struggle against racial capitalism. From Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition to his more recent work, Forgeries of Memory and Meaning: Blacks and the Regimes of Race in American Theatre and Film Before World War II, Robinson’s scholarship has been unafraid to think big. Through two days of conversation, we aim to do the same. We will ask:

  • How has the Black Radical Tradition created tools for liberation?
  • How must we sharpen the analysis of racial capitalism?
  • How are ideological struggles essential to radical politics?
  • What is the contemporary range, strength, and vulnerability of spaces for radical thought?
  • How can we transform individual pleasure into collective joy?
  • How can we learn from past failures without accepting defeat?

Use hashtag #RacialCapitalism14 and join the conversation about this conference on Twitter and Instagram!

The events held at the Graduate Center will be livestreamed here: http://videostreaming.gc.cuny.edu/videos/ (Click the link under live videos after the event starts)

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

PANEL 1 (1.30-3.30PM)
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, SKYLIGHT ROOM
IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE & RADICAL POLITICAL IMAGINATIONS

Radical opponents of racial capitalism and imperialism have offered bold counters to the dominant ideology. Through poetry, literature, radio, and oral history, they have inspired new visions of solidarity among oppressed peoples beyond borders. This panel features journalists, historians, and activists whose work has illuminated histories and cultures of liberation. Shaped by the intersections of domestic antiracist and global anti-imperialist struggles, panelists THULANI DAVIS, ELIZABETH ROBINSON, and PAUL ORTIZ will discuss their ongoing work to document, enrich, and embolden radical political imaginations. Moderated by JORDAN T. CAMP.

EVENING PLENARY (6.30PM-8.30PM)
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
ARTHUR L. CARTER JOURNALISM INSTITUTE
20 COOPER SQUARE, 7TH FLOOR
CONFRONTING RACIAL REGIMES
Cedric J. Robinson’s influential works have explored the systems of knowledge and ignorance through which race is proposed as a justification for power relations. These racial regimes, as he calls them, have been intrinsic to U.S. capitalism since its inception. From the standpoint of the early 21st century, this plenary asks what is to be learned from critiques of racial regimes in the early 20th century? As structural unemployment, militarized policing, prisons, and war have become permanent features of the political economy, how do we confront racial regimes at present? RUTH WILSON GILMORE and ROBIN D. G. KELLEY discuss these and other issues with CEDRIC J. ROBINSON.

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

PANEL 2 (10am-12pm)
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, ELEBASH RECITAL HALL
ANTI-CAPITALIST AND ANTI-COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS

This panel explores the culture and politics of anti-capitalist traditions that emerged from anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. From anti-imperialist music in the Caribbean, to Pan-African currents in the Comintern, to the anti-colonial radicalism of Frantz Fanon, panelists HAKIM ADI, DANIEL WIDENER, and FRANÇOISE VERGÈS discuss these cross currents and unanticipated global solidarities. Moderated by ANI MUKHERJI.

PANEL 3 (2:00-4:00 pm)
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, ELEBASH RECITAL HALL
ANTIRACIST INTERNATIONALISM AND PERMANENT WAR

This session discusses the question of solidarity in the struggle against apartheid, racial capitalism, and permanent war from the early Cold War to the present. JACK O’DELL, BARBARA RANSBY, and NIKHIL PAL SINGH explore the challenges and opportunities of antiracist internationalism from struggles against apartheid South Africa to the liberation of Palestine to ongoing struggles against settler colonialism worldwide. Moderated by CHRISTINA HEATHERTON.

EVENING PLENARY (6:30-8.30PM)
NYU Global Center
238 Thompson Street, C95 Lecture Hall
NY, NY 10003
THE BLACK RADICAL TRADITION: ABOLITION FEMINISM

The closing session features ANGELA Y. DAVIS and GINA DENT in conversation about abolition feminism, policing, war, and the prison industrial complex. In consideration of urgent social movements confronting racial capitalism in the present, they discuss struggles for freedom not predicated on the unfreedom of others. Moderated by AVERY F. GORDON.

Bios

Hakim Adi, Professor of History of Africa and the African Diaspora, University of Chichester in England.

Jordan T. Camp, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for African American Studies, Princeton University.

Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, UC Santa Cruz.

Thulani Davis, Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies and Nelly Y. McKay Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Gina Dent, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, and Legal Studies, UC Santa Cruz.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Director, Center for Place, Culture, and Politics, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences & American Studies, CUNY Graduate Center.

Avery F. Gordon, Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara.

Christina Heatherton, Assistant Professor, American Studies, Trinity College.

Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor of History and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in United States History, UCLA.

S. Ani Muhkerji, Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies, Honors College, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Jack O’Dell, Civil rights, labor, and peace activist; former editor of Freedomways magazine; writer; and public intellectual.

Paul Ortiz, Director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project, and Associate Professor of History, University of Florida.

Barbara Ransby, Professor, African American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and History, and Director of the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Cedric J. Robinson, Professor Emeritus of Black Studies and Political Science, UC Santa Barbara.

Elizabeth Robinson, Radio journalist and co-host of television show “Third World News Review” as well as radio show “No Alibis,” KCSB 91.9 FM, UC Santa Barbara.

Nikhil Pal Singh, Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University.

Françoise Vergès, Consulting Professor at Center for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College, and president of the Comité pour la Mémoire et l’Histoire de l’Esclavage (France).

Daniel Widener, Associate Professor of History, UC San Diego.

 

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THERE IS NO REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT. SPACE IS LIMITED, SO PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO ASSURE YOUR ENTRY (room capacities are listed next to the locations at the top of this page)

 

This event is sponsored by The Center for Place, Culture and Politics, and its Neil Smith visitorship, Graduate Center, CUNY; Departments of History and of Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU; the Committee on Globalization and Social Change, Advanced Research Collaborative, and Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and Caribbean, Graduate Center, CUNY; UCLA

20 thoughts on “Confronting Racial Capitalism: The Black Radical Tradition & Cultures of Liberation

  1. Hi!
    So glad you’re holding this event. Not sure I can be there tomorrow, but will attend with a family member on Friday for sure. Also happy about the “no registration” policy. Was afraid we’d be closed out – but all we have to do is show up early enough to get a seat. Thank you, thank you!

    Sandra Carrington

  2. Will this be recorded? I have to attend another conference, but would love to get access to any videorecordings after. Please tell me you are recording this….

    • The sessions held at the Grad Center will be livestreamed, however we do not yet have the URL. We will post it as soon as it is available. All of the events will be filmed, however, and video will be posted on this site as soon as possible.

  3. Please send me the final program for the “Confronting Racial Capitalism” conference and will I need to pre-register? Is there a conference fee?

    • The conference is free and seating will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you have special accessibility needs, please email us and we can do our best to make accommodations for you.

    • Registration is not necessary. All events are free and open to the public, with seating on a first-come-first-serve basis. Thank you for your interest!

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