Abbey Speaker Series: Defining Racial Justice in the 21st Century - Competing Perspectives and Shared Goals
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In the wake of a summer of protests against police brutality, the midst of an ongoing pandemic, and the aftermath of a contentious election, this event brings together a panel of Black academic, journalistic, religious, and political leaders to discuss and debate their different definitions of what racial justice looks like - and how it might be achieved - in the twenty-first century.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies.
Senator Valerie P. Foushee is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the 23rd District in the North Carolina Senate, a position she has held since 2013. Before her current position, Senator Foushee served for 21 years with the Chapel Hill Police Department and spent varying amounts of time on the Board of Education for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the All State School Board, and the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Senator Foushee is a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate, having earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and African and Afro-American Studies.
Touré Reed, PhD is a Professor of History at Illinois State University whose research and writings focus on the impact of race and class ideologies on African American civil rights politics and US public policy from the Progressive Era through the Presidency of Barack Obama. Dr. Reed’s most recent book, Toward Freedom: The Case Against Race Reductionism (2020), challenges the idea that current racial disparities in wealth, employment, and incarceration are largely the result of liberal policymakers' failure to acknowledge and account for the impact of racism on Black Americans.
Jacqueline C. Rivers, PhD is executive director of the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies at Harvard University and was previously a doctoral fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Dr. Rivers founded and served as executive director of MathPower, a community-based nonprofit in Boston focused on reforming mathematics education in urban schools. She earned a doctorate in African-American Studies and Sociology at Harvard University.
Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times and a political analyst for CBS News covering campaigns, elections, national affairs, and culture. Before joining the Times, Bouie was chief political correspondent for Slate magazine. He has also served as a staff writer for The Daily Beast and held fellowships at The American Project and The Nation. Bouie attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a degree in Political and Social Thought and Government.