College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET
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In the early 1960s, Malcolm X famously criticized the philosophical and political bases of the African American “civil rights” movement, calling instead for a turn to what he called “the level of human rights” and redress through the United Nations rather than the U.S. federal government. This lecture seeks to understand the political and philosophical contradictions of Malcolm’s internationalism by placing its surprising mix of revolutionary liberalism and anti-imperialist nationalism in productive tension with earlier African American internationalisms, especially efforts at “worldmaking” through the United Nations. Recovering the important philosophical differences within oft-collapsed accounts of “black internationalism,”  the lecture takes stock of the different philosophical justifications for engaging the politics of global governance by W.E.B. Du Bois and William Patterson. Taking seriously these distinctions as central to the careful study and reconstruction of black political thought, I consider the lessons that Malcolm’s trajectory portends for contemporary efforts to connect aims of global justice and peace to African American struggles for racial justice.
 

This event will be held in a hybrid format both in-person and online from 2:00-3:30pm ET on October 23, 2024.

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UMD's Ashley Newby and John Drabinski roll out "The Black Studies Podcast" with $100k in support from the Mellon Foundation.
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University of Maryland's Bahá'í Chair for World Peace, the Department of African American and Africana Studies, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and The Anti-Black Racism Initiative co-sponsor a discussion featuring presentations by Professor Olufemi Taiwo (Cornell University) and Professor Jean-Michel Mabeko-Tali (Howard University). Professor Taiwo will explore "Against Decolonization: Africa's Place in the Global Circuit of Ideas," while Professor Mabeko-Tali will discuss "British Magna Carta vs. Mali Empire's Manden Kouroukan Fouga Charter: Comparing Historical Visions of Human Rights." The conversation will be moderated by Professor John E. Drabinski of the University of Maryland, College Park, and will conclude with a panel discussion and audience Q&A. 

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Henry Willis, and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, awarded over $250K to create a free mobile application that helps Black teens cope with racism and common mental health problems.

UMD faculty share their picks for five African American artists everyone should know.

AGNR is pleased to announce the next installment of MomentUMD Live: AGNR Conversations Around Grand Challenges, featuring Eric Reson, Chief Programmes Officer with the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association.