Tag: 2023

The African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS)’s Eighth Annual Conference*

Conference Theme: “We Can’t Breathe”: Crisis, Catastrophe and
Sustaining Community in (Un)livable Spaces

Hosted by University of North Carolina, Charlotte– March 9-11, 2023 

Black people can’t breathe. This is because these are crisis ridden times. Crisis and catastrophe wrought by mass incarceration, inadequate housing, climate change, environmental degradation, police brutality, war and the stress upon our everyday lives. Historically, Black communities globally have been made subject to horrific circumstances from involuntary migration, to enforced servitude, Jim Crow segregation, mass incarceration, police brutality and now coupled with a pandemic and climate change. This is as juxtaposed with a multiplicity of environmental conditions including inadequate access to healthy food, toxic waste, unclean water and pollution. Black communities have disproportionately experienced the impact of environmental waste, pollution, climate change and lack of access to healthy food resources and equitable healthcare services. This has also more recently meant involuntary migration illustrated with the rise of Black climate refugees worldwide. Statistics indicate that Black people in the U.S. are 75 percent more likely to live close to oil and gas refineries, have disproportionately high rates of asthma, due to environmental factors, and are more frequently made subject to pollution and toxic waste. Our conference this year specifically focuses on the theme of crisis, catastrophe and sustaining community. We are particularly interested here in the ways that the Black community has responded to these circumstances over time in thought and action.

This conference seeks to bring together scholars, activists, public intellectuals and community stakeholders interested in presenting on the theme of crisis, catastrophe and sustaining community in relation to the history and culture of African Diaspora communities. 

Papers related to (but not limited to) these topics might be ideal:

• Abolitionism (then and now)
• Enslavement and Everyday Resistance
• Mass Incarceration
• Education Pedagogies and Resistance
• Housing and Homelessness
• Rent Exploitation and the Housing Crisis
• Health disparities over time and space
• Healthy Food Cooperatives and Programs
• Food deserts and Black Mobilization
• Clean Water Actions
• Police Brutality and Black Resistance
• Black Women and the Global Green Movement
• Black Children and Environmentalism
• Black Women and Eco-feminist Praxis

For more information and submission guidelines, please click here !!

Deadline for submissions is August 1st, 2022

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Conference Committee:

Co-Chairs: LaShawn Harris, Michigan State University and Oscar de la Torre, UNC-Charlotte

Tyler Parry, University of Nevada, Los Vegas
Adam McNeil, Rutgers University
Grace D. Gipson, Virginia Commonwealth University
Crystal Eddins, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

For more information write to the committee at: conference@aaihs.org

Note: The goal is to have an in-person conference but this is subject to change given the current pandemic. Hybrid options may be available as we are an organization that does take seriously inclusivity of all interested in participating in this timely event. Masks will be required and proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test (24 hours before attending) must be provided to the organization before attending.

*Repost from AAIHS