In celebration of Black History Month Payson Library will be hosting a lecture series that traces the history of black culture from slavery to freedom. The lectures will take place every Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. during the month of February.
Topics will move chronologically through black history beginning with the bleak foundations of racial prejudice and abuse and ending on a note of profound hope as lecturers reflect on how far we have come.
Don Lawrence director of the Intercultural Affairs office wrote in an e-mail that the lecture series will be “looking at Black History Month from a timeline perspective by highlighting two very dark periods of time and two very bright periods of time in the mosaic that is African-American experience. We want to show the journey that African-Americans have been on collectively as a people.”
The idea behind the series was to “convene a group of scholars to talk about important landmarks in African-American history Dean of Libraries Mark Roosa said.
The series will begin with Dr. Stewart Davenport’s lecture titled American Slavery in Global Perspective.” As a scholar of history Davenport will focus on the establishment of slavery as an institution in the United States beginning with the transatlantic slave trade and ending with established racial slavery in the New World. Davenport will according to Roosa “frame the American experience in a global perspective” by exploring the institution of slavery as it was in other parts of the world.
Dr. Darlene Rivas will deliver the second lecture titled “The Jane and Jim Crow Era focusing on the dark days of racism in America. Like that of the transatlantic slave trade, Roosa admitted that this is not a pleasant story but one that must also be told.”
In addition to discussing the historical facts pertaining to the Jim Crow era Rivas will focus on how the blacks from this time responded to oppression. “While black history is characterized by oppression black Americans have been creative in how they’ve responded Rivas said. They’ve resisted and have even worked within the system creatively.”?Rivas seeks to portray the inspiring “creativity and continued resistance” that characterizes the black experience as seen throughout history.
The third lecture delivered by Professor of Law Chris Goodman will focus on the Civil Rights Movement and the vital role played by Martin Luther King Jr. in this historical movement toward racial equality. Here the community will be able to see the evolution of American history by exploring a period of profound change for the nation— especially for its black citizens.
“The Civil Rights Movement represents a move in the right direction a bright spot for the African-American community Lawrence wrote. Though this time has dark sub-periods it gives hope of a better tomorrow.”
The series will conclude with a lecture entitled “Obama as the First Black President delivered by Dr. David Holmes, professor of English, and Blanche E. Seaver professor in Humanities. Holmes will discuss the significance of our current president from a social and cultural perspective.
Lecturers will address how far we’ve come as a culture and the journey to equality will be celebrated as we explore the contrast between where we started and having an African-American president Amy Adams, director for library advancement and public relations, said.
Why, one may ask, is it so incredibly vital that we begin our celebration reflecting on the abysmal days of racial prejudice and oppression? Why return to explore the history of slavery when those days are so far gone?
To this, Mark Roosa quoted Marcus Garvey: A people without the knowledge of their past history origin and culture is like a tree without roots. If you don’t know history you remain at a loss for perspective.”
Roosa insisted we all share the responsibility of understanding our past— the responsibility of knowing where we came from. Even if that history is painful “we must know and own it he said, because only then may we grow in compassion and become improved citizens, equipped with the ability to build a better future.Lawrence also encouraged the Pepperdine community to know and own the dark patches of human history. We must simply not be afraid to look at it for what it was and still is he wrote. We must not turn our heads from the suffering of a people that still continues to haunt them. When we do this we will find the inner strength to identify manifestations of racial inequality and do what we can to abolish it.”
“Progress has been incremental Adams said. We are where we are today because of all the time and passion and energy of those who came before us.” One can only hope that the time passion and energy of our contemporaries will continue to further the cause of racial equality.
We’re looking at the steps of that journey and the different checkpoints along the way.”