Black History Month Toolkit

BLACK HISTORY MONTH Toolkit BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MULTICULTURAL RESOURCE CENTER & ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY BLACK ALLIANCE

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RESOURCE TOOLKIT FOR THE UALBANY COMMUNITY To help you celebrate Black History Month (BHM), the Multicultural Resource Center in collaboration with the Albany State University Black Alliance (A.S.U.B.A.) has created a toolkit that provides a host of resources to help you plan, communicate, and engage your teams on this significant month.

This toolkit contains links to videos, photos, articles, and shared folder to be used at the University at Albany to explore the heritage, culture, and experience of Black people both historically and in American life today, while also sharing the various ways our Albany State University Black Alliance collaborates with the Office of Intercultural Student Engagement.

1. Getting Started a. Heritage Month Theme b. What is BHM? 2. Getting Involved a. Albany State University Black Alliance b. Black movies and documentaries 3. Taking Action a. Resources and further information b. Black Solidarity Day 11/6/2023 c. Black Lives Matter d. Shared Resource Folder, click here

Figure 1. The logo that will be used to unify our efforts in educating our UAlbany community about the historic and ongoing oppression that is faced by the Black community.

Figure 1 created by Arleny Alvarez-Peña, Associate Director of Intercultural Student Engagement

HERITAGE MONTH THEME African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores. These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified selfdetermined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction. The 1950s and 1970s in the United States was defined by actions such as sit-ins, boycotts, walk outs, strikes by Black people and white allies in the fight for justice against Figure 2 Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. Library of Congress discrimination in all sectors of society from employment to education to housing. Black people 2

have had to consistently push the United States to live up to its ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all. Systematic oppression has sought to negate much of the dreams of our griots, like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, and our freedom fighters, like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Septima Clark, and Fannie Lou Hamer fought to realize. Black people have sought ways to nurture and protect Black lives, and for autonomy of their physical and intellectual bodies through armed resistance, voluntary emigration, nonviolence, education, literature, sports, media, and legislation/politics. Black led institutions and affiliations have lobbied, litigated, legislated, protested, and achieved success.

To learn more, click here.

WHAT IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH? When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History week in 1926, he realized the importance of providing a theme to focus the attention of the public. The intention has never been to dictate or limit the exploration of the Black experience, but to bring to the public’s attention important developments that merit emphasis.

Figure 3 ASUBA's logo

Today, every February, people in the United States celebrate the achievements and history of African Americans as part of Black History Month.

ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY BLACK ALLIANCE

The Albany State University Black Alliance originated from the Educational Opportunities Program - Student Association (EOP-SA) in the early 1970s. With the help of others, these students banded together and demanded the establishment of Black and Puerto Rican studies programs. Forty years later, these programs still exist as the Africana Studies Department and the Latin Caribbean studies department. The students also formed Fuerza Latina and later formed the Pan-Caribbean, Haitian Student Association, Angelic Voices of Praise, African Student Association, and many more. Since its inception, ASUBA has grown and prospered through the hard work and efforts put forth by its members. For over forty years, ASUBA has remained committed to excellence in education, political action, cultural awareness, and community service on a national and local level. The alliance has perpetuated its commitment to service, cultural responsibility, and social development in the Albany area. The Albany State University Black Alliance has always been known for its political activism, educational commitment, and community service. Therefore, our motto is “In Unity, there is Strength.” Their goal is: To stand as the unifying force amongst all students of African descent.

To view all our African heritage student groups, visit our shared folder here.

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RESOURCES Take an Africana Studies Course at UAlbany!

5 ways to honor Black History Month 1. Check your local library or bookstore 2. Watch movies and documentaries 3. Participate in a cultural celebration 4. Food is culture. Share a Caribbean, African, or traditional African American recipe 5. Explore the National Museum of African American History and Culture, click here Support Black Own Businesses • https://www.albany.org/blog/post/black-ownedrestaurants-bakeries-in-albany/

Participate in the following dates: • November 7 Black Solidarity Day • February 13-17 Week of Action • March 1st Black Women’s Day • March 21-27 Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination Authors to know • Ibram X. Kendi, former Africana Studies and History professor at UAlbany • Ta-Nehisi Coates • Yaa Gyasi • Tayari Jones TV Shows: • Pose 2018-present • Dear White People 2017-2021 • High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America 2021 • Black in Latin America 2011 – Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers Latin America’s African roots in this four-part series.

Leaders to Know: • Rosalind Brewer, Walgreens next CEO & only Black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 firm • Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, lead scientist on the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine team • Victor J. Glover, 1st Black astronaut to live & work at the International Space Station for an extended stay • Amanda Gorman, youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history • Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s 1st Black senator • Rashida Jones, 1st Black executive to run a major TV news network

BLACK FILMS The Woman King 2022 2h 15m A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Judas and the Black Messiah 2021 2h 6m Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O’Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.

BLACK DOCUMENTARIES “Documentaries can open windows to our past. They allow us to re-live iconic moments in history. Below is a list of powerful documentaries exploring Black history and culture in America.” PBS.org The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 2011 1h 40m Footage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.

Dark Girls 2011 1h 11m Documentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color particularly dark-skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture.

Freedom Riders 2010 1h 57m The story of the Civil Rights Movement interstate busing protest campaign.

Eyes on the Prize 1987-1990 6h A documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965

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Figure 4 the Juneteenth flag (Red, White, and Blue background) with date and information.

JUNETEENTH On June 19, 1865, nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln emancipated enslaved Africans in America, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, with news of freedom. More than 250,000 African Americans embraced freedom by executive decree in what became known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day. With the principles of selfdetermination, citizenship, and democracy magnifying their hopes and dreams, those Texans held fast to the promise of true liberty for all. To learn more, click here.

Additional resources: • Watch What is Juneteenth, and why is it important? 5 min 29 sec.

• Watch What does the Juneteenth flag mean?

• Honoring Juneteenth - https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-and-strategies/honoringjuneteenth?gclid=CjwKCAjwvdajBhBEEiwAeMh1U5GLhGBbDxNRPi2tMqBEgYVQB h6D5xj3PoDosguOBj7Eir8XPyBD6RoCco4QAvD_BwE • Juneteenth: Fact Sheet – visit our shared resource folder.

BLACK AUGUST Black August is honored every year to commemorate the fallen freedom fighters of the Black Liberation Movement, to call for the release of political prisoners in the United States, to condemn the oppressive conditions of U.S. prisons, and to emphasize the continued importance of the Black Liberation struggle.

Observers of Black August commit to higher levels of discipline throughout the month. This can include fasting from food and drink, frequent physical exercise and political study, and engagement in political struggle. In short, the principles of Black August are: “study, fast, train, fight.”

To learn more, click here.

BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM Often referred to as "The Black National Anthem," Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics. A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, 5

first performed the song in public in Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. To learn more about the NAACP visit their site here.

Lift Every Voice and Sing Lyrics Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, 'Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land

WHAT IS STEPPING? Stepping is a percussive, highly energetic art form first developed through the song and dance rituals performed by African American fraternities and sororities. In stepping, the body becomes an instrument, using footsteps, claps and spoken word to produce complex polyrhythms. Stepping has been described as “one of the most exciting dance forms created in the 21st century.”

To learn more about the origins of stepping, click here.

WHAT IS AAVE? African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is spoken by many African Americans in the United States. AAVE has a rich history and thanks to social media, it has spread across the globe. In the link below, we’ll answer “what is AAVE?” with a bit of history, linguistics, politics, and a few examples.

Watch the What is AAVE video here.

SPELLMAN ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS The Spellman Awards program was created 36 years ago to recognize and acknowledge the academic achievements of our students of African, Asian, Latino and

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Native American heritage.

The program’s purpose was later expanded to include recognition of outstanding student leadership and community service. In 1991, both the program and the awards presented were named in honor and memory of one of the University’s most highly regarded colleagues, the late Dr. Seth Spellman, Jr. The first African American dean was Dr. Seth Spellman, Jr. He served as the first and only dean of the James E. Allen Jr. Collegiate Center, 1972-76, a program that combined senior year of high school and freshman year of college, allowing a B.A. to be earned in three years.

The program closed in 1976. Spellman would later serve as Acting Dean, 1976-77, then Dean of the School of Social Welfare, 19771980. Spellman, a professor of Social Welfare, would once again chair the Department of African and Afro-American Studies in 1983-84. He was elevated to the rank of Distinguished Service Professor in 1984 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1985.

Figure 5 Dr. Seth Spelman, Jr.

To learn more about UAlbany’s Black History, click here.

Figure 6 ASUBA at the 2021 BSD march

BLACK SOLIDARITY DAY "Solidarity" is commonly defined as "Unity or agreement of feeling or action."

Consider the latter part of that definition: ACTION. Solidarity is not only a feeling; it is also a behavior. So, when we say we "stand in solidarity," we affirm that we are willing to act in support of others.

Black Solidarity Day is a Memorial Day, created in 1969 by Panamanian-born activist, historian, playwright, Carlos Enrique Russell, Ph.D. It occurs in early November on the Monday before elections take place. Originally, the event brought black people together to discuss their political status and the direction in which their future was going. The day also focused on the value and goals of education within the community. It was, and still is, a day of discussion and a time for everyone, no matter of what race or education, to discuss how we all affect each other’s lives.

We encourage you to plan how you will act and affirm the lives of Black Queer & Trans, disabled, undocumented, women, and all black lives along the gender spectrum.

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Work towards a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.

Figure 7 image created by A.A.Peña

DEFINING DIASPORA The trans-Atlantic slave trade was the capture, forcible transport, and sale of native Africans to Europeans for lifelong bondage in the Americas.

Lasting from the 16th to 19th centuries, it is responsible, more than any other project or phenomenon in the history of the modern world, for the creation of the African diaspora—the dispersal of Black people outside their places of origin on the continent of Africa.

To learn more, click here.

Definition: DI-AS-PO-RA / n. a dispersion of a people, language, or culture that was formerly concentrated in one place, to scatter, to displace, to live in separated communities.

Definition: AFRICAN & BLACK DIASPORA The African Diaspora is the voluntary and involuntary movement of Africans and their descendants to various parts of the world during the modern and pre-modern periods.

Society tells those of us who are more than one race and have more than one ethnicity and culture to pick one. That is the experience of so many Afro-Latine people. White supremacy has taught us that the lighter our complexion is, the more successful, and the softer, the more beautiful and feminine we are.

The erasure of the Afro-Latine community, particularly of Afro-Latinas, spans centuries, and the colorism in and out of the community is alive and real. Our community has endured attempts at erasure, but we are still standing. We must reflect on those who have paved the way for generations of Afro-Latine to feel empowered and reclaim our existence.

Expand your knowledge of activists, creatives, and educators representing the Afro-Latine community. And know that “there is no one way to be Black.” ~Anissa Durham Sites to visit: • Museum of the African Diaspora - https://www.moadsf.org/ •

How Native American Slaveholders Complicated the Trail of Tears Narrative https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-native-americanslaveholders-complicate-trail-tears-narrative-180968339/

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The Lumbee community represents the intersectionality of people from African and indigenous America. - https://www.lumbeetribe.com/history-and-culture

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Afro-Latinx Bibliography - https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-studies/afro-latinx-bibliography Everything you need to know about Cumbia - https://www.colombia.co/en/colombiaculture/everything-need-know-cumbia/ The Black Seminole, or Afro-Seminoles are Native American Africans associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. - https://daily.jstor.org/the-history-of-theblack-seminoles/

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Figure 8 The BLM disabled symbol was created by Jennifer White-Johnson. Image created by A.A.Peña

DISABILITY, RACE, AND POVERTY IN AMERICA Race and disability are not separate sources of disadvantage that parallel each other. Race and disability are overlapping identities that are both related to systemic inequality.

It is often said that disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty, and poverty and disability reinforce each other, contributing to increased vulnerability and exclusion. Various factors and influences affect the relationship between race, poverty, and disability.

For example: • Poverty causes disability • People in poverty are less able to treat disabling conditions and to mitigate their impact • Disability causes poverty • Race is linked to poverty and disability in America To learn more, download the National Disability Institute Report on Financial Inequality: Disability, Race, and Poverty in America.

Figure 8 incorporates the Black Disabled Lives Matter symbol, which Jennifer WhiteJohnson created. The graphic includes the merge of the Black power fist – the historical symbol of solidarity and power with the neurodiversity infinity symbol to convey the message that Black Disabled Lives Matter. ~Jennifer White-Johnson.

To read more about how the symbol took on a life of its own, click here.

Additional resources:

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From the start, the disability rights movement has been inextricably interwoven with Black Americans’ fight for civil rights. o Recognizing Black Disability Rights Activists https://www.centerforlearnerequity.org/news/black-history-monthrecognizing-black-disability-rights-activists/

SETTING THE STAGE FOR BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION While Brown v. Board of Education is a widely known landmark Supreme Court case, few can trace its origins to the case of nine-year-old Sylvia Mendez in Mendez v. Westminster.

Figure 9 Sylvia Mendez holding a picture of her younger self. Image created by A.A.Peña

Sylvia’s case, which was decided in the federal courts in California, preceded Brown by about eight years. Thurgood Marshall represented Sylvia Mendez and Linda Brown. Marshall used some of the same arguments from Mendez to win Brown v.

Board of Education. To learn more, click here.

Figure 10 Black Liberation & Black Liberation Movement defined.

Image created by A.A.Peña

FROM #BLACKLIVESMATTER TO BLACK LIBERATION The Black Lives Matter movement has awakened a new generation of activists who hold the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation. A demand for redesigned systems (criminal justice, healthcare, educational, and political) with equity, diversity, and inclusion as core principles.

Black Liberation means dismantling racist, oppressive systems that were built to suppress Black people and keep them from thriving.

Black Liberation Movement refers to a generations-long effort to deconstruct the racist beliefs and systems that deprive Black people of their right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” as described in the Declaration of Independence.

To learn more, watch this video.

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Here are some topics to further investigate: • Black Theology • Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Black Nationalist organization largely comprised of former Black Panther Party members.

Consider reading From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Figure 11 purple and violent background with person holding LGBT flag.

THE BLACK & BROWN ACTIVISTS WHO STARTED PRIDE LGBTQ+ people of color have a long history of bravely fighting against police violence and fighting for liberation that is overlooked. We often forget that the movement was led by trans women of color and Black lesbians. These women are heroes. Their bravery and absolute refusal to accept anything less than liberation sparked a movement that needed to remember who led the charge.

All Black lives matter.

The following four women of color were key leaders in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights: • • • •

Marsha P. Johnson Sylvia Rivera Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Stormé DeLarverie

To learn more about the impact these women had, click here.

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Figure 12 cream background with person holding sign that states Black Women & the fight for the vote.

BLACK WOMEN & THE FIGHT FOR VOTING During the 19th and 20th centuries, Black women played an active role in the struggle for universal suffrage. They participated in political meetings and organized political societies. African American women attended political conventions at their local churches where they planned strategies to gain the right to vote. In the late 1800s, more Black women worked for churches, newspapers, secondary schools, and colleges, which gave them a larger platform to promote their ideas. To learn more, click here.

Figure 13 light grey image with a figure that shows the intersectionality of a person.

Additional resources: • It’s a Struggle They Will Wage Alone. How Black Women Won the Right to Vote https://time.com/5876456/black-women-right-to-vote/ • The 1965 Voting Rights Act Made Voting a Reality for Black Women https://sas.rutgers.edu/news-a-events/news/newsroom/faculty/3355-the-1965voting-rights-act-made-voting-a-reality-for-black-women • Women of Color and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage https://women.ca.gov/women-of-color-and-the-fight-for-womens-suffrage/ • Black Women Who Define(d) The Voting Rights Movement https://www.lwv.org/blog/black-women-who-defined-voting-rights-movement

WHAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY & WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) is a term first coined in 1989 by American civil rights advocate and leading scholar of critical race theory, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. It is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination.

To learn more about intersectionality, you can watch this TEDx talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw

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Figure 14 Reddish brown background with BHM logo and the words PoweHERful Black Feminism

BLACK FEMNISM The black feminist tradition grows not out of other movements, but out of the condition of being both black and a woman. It is a long tradition which resists easy definition and is characterized by its multi-dimensional approach to liberation. To learn more, click here.

Additional resources: • The Black Feminist Movement: What is Black Feminism? - https://ischool-

fsu.libguides.com/blackfeminism/blackfeminism • The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis https://www.jstor.org/stable/2668091 • You May Have Borrowed These Terms from Black Feminism https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/you-may-have-borrowedthese-renegade-terms-from-black-feminism-180980592/ • Honoring Black Women’s Day: The Rise of Black Women Entrepreneurs and How to Pay It Forward For The Future - https://www.essence.com/news/moneycareer/entrepreneurship/honoring-black-womens-day-the-rise-of-black-womenentrepreneurs-and-how-to-pay-it-forward-for-the-future/

Figure 15 black, light purple, and red background with BHM logo and image of a black man from the future.

AFROFUTURISM EXPLAINED The term “Afrofuturism” was introduced by scholar Mark Dery in 1993 to define existing trends focused on Black literature and 1980s technoculture.

Though there are many definitions of Afrofuturism today, they all have themes of reclamation, black liberation, and revisioning of the past and predictions of the future through a black cultural lens in common.

It explores the intersection of the African diaspora and dares to imagine a world where African-descended peoples and their cultures play a central role in the creation of that world.

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“In order to work toward a better future, we need to believe that future is possible.” ~Angela Davis To learn more, watch this video and read this article.

Additional Resources: • Afrofuturism in the Stacks, Watson Library’s collection of Afrofuturist books: https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2022/6/library-afrofuturism • How Black Women Are Reshaping Afrofuturism: https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/04/24/how-black-women-arereshaping-afrofuturism

BLACK CODES (1865) The Black Codes were a series of laws passed throughout the South in the wake of emancipation.

Although often professing to respect the equality and civil rights of the newly emancipated, in reality most of the Black Codes were specifically designed to curtail the economic, political, and social freedom of African Americans and, through a combination of private and public efforts, restore much of the slave system that had existed prior to the war. Their passage inflamed Republicans in Congress and were cited as justification for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment. ~National Constitution Center

Figure 16 NY Historical Society Museum & Library

Additional resources: • Watch The Black Codes | Reconstruction 4 mins 5 sec.

• Slavery by Another Name - https://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-anothername/themes/black-codes-and-pig-laws/ • The History of Slave Patrols, Black Codes, and Vagrancy Laws https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/history-slave-patrols-black-codesvagrancy-laws • Read: The Black Codes, 1865-1867

BLACK CITIZENSHIP IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow explored the struggle for full citizenship and racial equality that unfolded in the 50 years after the Civil War. When slavery ended in 1865, a period of Reconstruction began, leading to such achievements as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. By 1868, all persons born in the United States were citizens and equal before the law. But efforts to create an interracial democracy were contested from the start. A harsh backlash ensued, ushering in a half-century of the “separate but equal” age of Jim Crow. The exhibition was organized by the New-York Historical Society. To learn more, click here.

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Additional resources: • Exhibit - Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/black-citizenship-age-jim-crow • Reconstructing Citizenship https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/reconstruction/citizenship • Read: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Abolition involves creating a society that exists without imprisonment. It aims to end the practice of using incarceration, community control, surveillance, and exile to respond to criminalized things. It seeks to dismantle oppressive systems and institutions like jails, prisons, psychiatric institutions, detention centers, etc. It is an effort to stop the overcriminalization of blackness, poverty, and behavioral health conditions and to explore instead alternatives that create space for transformation. ~Chainless Change

“Our system of policing and imprisonment is not broken; the system’s extreme racial disparities and daily dehumanization do not result from a glitch in the system but rather from the smooth functioning of a system designed to control and contain poor, Black, and brown people. As many scholars have shown, American policing developed out of slave patrols and worker suppression and has continued to serve the interests of private property and capital while enacting extreme violence.” ~ By Reina Sultan and Micah Herskind To learn more, watch Angela Davis argument for police and prison abolition.

Additional Resources: • https://ccifl.org/what-is-abolition/ • https://freedomcenter.org/learn/modern-day-abolition/ • https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-abolition-and-why-do-we-need-it • https://www.8toabolition.com/ • https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/abolitionist-movement

THE RACISM OF NEOLIBERALISM Race-conscious solutions must be at the center of our policy discussions. The time has come for us to demand a bold, transformative race and gender conscious economic bill of rights – one that would ensure universal access to quality jobs, health care, housing, schooling, financial services, and capital for all its citizens. ~Darrick Hamilton & Kyle Strickland

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Figure 17 red background with person holding a sign.

MODERN ABOLITION

To learn more, click here.

Additional resources: • Toxic Cities: Neoliberalism and Environmental Racism in Flint and Detroit Michigan - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0896920517708339 • Neoliberalism and Race - https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/53/neoliberalismand-race/ • Pros and Cons of Neoliberalism video

UNDERSTANDING THE CYCLE OF SOCIALIZATION & LIBERATION “The Cycle of Socialization helps us understand the way in which we are socialized to play certain roles, how we are affected by issues of oppression, and how we help maintain an oppressive system based upon power. The Cycle of Liberation teaches us how to play our roles in oppression, and how to revere the existing systems that shape our thinking.

Movements like Black Lives Matter create opportunities to focus on liberation, which starts within the self. By enacting change on a personal level, we can then reach out to other communities to achieve change on a larger scale.” - Alyssa Upchurch, Adler University To learn more, click here.

TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE “Transformative justice is a liberatory approach to violence…which seeks safety and accountability without relying on alienation, punishment, or State or systemic violence, including incarceration or policing.

Three core beliefs: Individual justice and collective liberation are equally important, mutually supportive, and fundamentally intertwined—the achievement of one is impossible without the achievement of the other.

The conditions that allow violence to occur must be transformed to achieve justice in individual instances of violence. Therefore, Transformative Justice is both a liberating politic and an approach for securing justice.

In this video, practitioners define the scope and potential of transformative justice.

For additional information and educational toolkits on healing, community accountability, and transformative justice, click here.

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Figure 18 BHM Calendar of Events

CALENDAR In 2022, the National Women’s History Museum has compiled a list of Black women visionaries, builders, creators, thinkers, and more. Expand what you know about the past, and what you believe is possible for the future. Click here to view a list of how Black Women transformed education, reimagined cultural landscapes, built businesses to support philanthropy and mutual aid, shaped emerging technologies, and social media.

Additional resources: • Black History Milestones: Timeline https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/blackhistory-milestones To download our calendar, visit our shared folder here.

Please note: Calendar will be completed closer to February 2024.

For more information about the Multicultural Resource Center or the Albany State University Black Alliance contact Arleny Alvarez-Peña, Associate Director for Multicultural, Interfaith, and Intersectional Affairs Email: aalvarez-pena@albany.edu Phone: 518-442-5565

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