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iBlack Studies Database: A Convening

Video Recordings of Convening

Abdul Alkalimat, Ronald W. Bailey and James Turner.

Recognizing the importance of capturing the spirit, intensity and culture of social relations anticipated when the convening scholars of diverse institutional, theoretical and methodological experiences would meet in March 2006, thomas-houston proposed to videotape the event. Not with just one stagnantly placed camera but a two camera shoot (one wide angle stationary and the other handheld for closeups and reactions).

In the spirit of transparency and ethnographic film production, the visuals have been edited for the purpose of tempo and visually capturing the interaction of the ethnographic moment. However, the audio has only been edited for balance and volume, therefore, it contains the conversation as it occured.

While the text in the special issue of the International Journal of Africana Studies: Sustaining Black Studies in the 21st Century it does not constitute the entirety of the conversations that took place. The exhibits in this database give researchers an opportunity to compare the original hardcopy publication with its digital version and the digital version with the raw materials in order to draw their own interpretations.

Manning Marable at the 2006 Ford Foundation convening.

The nine videos of the two-day event, "Conversations for Sustaining Black Studies in the 21st Century: A Convening," are created according to the questions they address. Click the links.

Question One

"How far have we come in institutionalizing Black Studies, and how far do we have to go? What efforts must be made to move the field from the periphery of academia to the core?"

Question Two

"What is/should be the relationship between Black Studies and Critical Race Studies, Diaspora Studies, African Studies, Afro-Latino/a Studies, and Africana Women's Studies?"

Question Three

"What direction should new scholarship in the field take? For example: Intersectionality, sexuality, class, internationalism, and environmental justice." 

Question Four

" What are the funding alternatives needed to assist in sustaining Black Studies?"

Question Five

"Do national Black Studies organizations have a role to play in the institutionalization of the field?"

Question Six

"How connected is Black Studies to communities? How central are participatory research, community involvement, and social activism to the field?"

Question Seven

"What represents 'Best Practices' in the field in terms of both program administration and pedagogy, and what is the best way to disseminate them? Include the role of technology in your response."

Question Eight

"What role can chief administrators play in sustaining Black Studies?"

Question Nine

"What will it take to establish intergeneration leadership succession in the field of Black Studies?"
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