Oct 26, 2009
African Diaspora for Change has teamed up with Howard University and Ghanaian documentary filmmaker Kobina Aidoo to present “The Neo African Americans.” Students, faculty, staff and the public is invited to screen Aidoo’s documentary film by the same name, which examines how rapid voluntary immigration from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America to the United States is transforming the “African American” narrative.
“The Neo African Americans” is an attempt to start a public conversation about this very important untold story and offer a more balanced view of the people behind the story — the diverse people of the black diaspora.
A panel discussion, moderated by Howard University associate professor of history Dr. Jeanne Maddox Toungara will follow the film screening. Panelists include:
Dr. Jules P. Harrell, Howard University Professor of Psychology
Dr. Quito J. Swan, Howard University assistant professor of history
Dedrick Muhammad, senior organizer and research associate for the Inequality and the Common Good project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Mandinema Kumbula-Fraser, former executive chair of the board of directors for Constituency for Africa.
“After people see this film, I hope they think, talk and transform,” Aidoo declared. “Think about their own experiences, talk about them openly and honestly to gain perspective from outside their own biased lenses and begin to transform our interracial and intra-racial relationships for the better.”
The dialogue is free and open to the public. The public is encouraged to RSVP by visiting the ADC website, www.ad4change.org.
Sep 4, 2009
Slap the Donkey, by filmmaker Edward J. Harris, Jr. is narrated by Danny Glover and features such notable luminaries and public intellectuals as Percy Sutton, Dr. Ron Daniels, and Dr. Cornel West. Slap the Donkey was recently featured in Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications Film Festival in New York, NY at the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by journalist and CNN correspondent Jamal Simmons with guests XM Satellite Radio host Joe Madison, IPS scholar Dedrick Muhammad, and actor/producer Doug E. Doug.
Slap the Donkey takes a critical look at black politics at the start of the 21st century, while tracking Al Sharpton’s 2004 bid for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America. The documentary features commentary and interviews from members of the Democratic Party, such as George McGovern and Joseph Lieberman. The film also features well-known figures in the African American community such as Jesse Jackson Jr. and Herb Boyd.
Admission is $10.00 tickets can be purchased at E Street Cinemas. For more information about Harris’ film or to interview Harris, please call 646-217-9995 or email slapthedonkey [at] gmail [dot] com.
Apr 18, 2009
After Barack Obama’s historic election victory, will the new administration deliver change we can believe in or business as usual?
How do we organize and fight for the change we want with a democrat in the White House?
The panel includes:
Dedrick Muhammad
John Nichols
Laila Al-Arian
Dave Zirin
This event is a part of White Privilege Week.
Oct 30, 2008
As we get closer and closer to what will be a historic election for many reasons — one reason especially stands out: race. Many questions have arisen about just how far racial-politics have come in the United States — but even more questions have come up about the future of race and politics in this country. If Obama wins, does that mean we have closed a chapter in U.S. history? If McCain wins, does that mean we are reading from the same old book? Join IPS in exploring these questions about the past and how far (or not far) we have come, but more importantly — about the next steps, no matter who wins.
Panelists:
Dedrick Muhammad, Senior Organizer and Research Associate, Inequality and the Common Good project, IPS
Joy Zarembka, Director, Break the Chain Campaign, IPS and author, The Pigment of Your Imagination
Professor Clarence Lusane, author/activist and professor, American University (by video)
Moderator: Saif Rahman, Movements Coordinator, the Institute for Policy Studies.
Please RSVP to Adwoa Masozi at adwoa@ips-dc.org.
This event is part of the Institute for Policy Studies series of provocative brown-bag luncheon discussions of the various issues in the platforms of the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Independent presidential candidates. IPS and Chester Hartman have a new book coming out at the culmination of this brown-bag series, Mandate for Change, which will put forth what we feel are the best and most creative policy solutions for these and other pressing local, national and international issues.
About the Panelists:
Joy M. Zarembka has been a staff member of the Institute for Policy Studies for eight years and has been the Director of the Break the Chain Campaign, an advocacy/direct service organization working to help end modern-day slavery and human trafficking and to provide better protections for abused, enslaved and exploited workers in the Washington, DC area. Joy is currently serving as the Acting Director of Operations at IPS. She has been quoted extensively in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, US News and World Report, and The Washington Post for her trafficking expertise. In 1997, she was awarded the Fox International Fellowship to study at Cambridge University in England. Joy was given the Women’s Information Network’s Young Women of Achievement Award. She has recently published a chapter in Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy and her book, The Pigment of Your Imagination: Mixed Race in a Global Society, was released last year. Joy also currently serves as an expert witness in civil and criminal cases.
Dedrick Muhammad is the Senior Organizer and Research Associate for the IPS Program on Inequality and the Common Good. His special area of focus is the domestic racial wealth divide particularly between African-Americans and white Americans. He was a co-author of the State of The Dream 2004, 2005, and 2008 reports. He also co-authored with Chuck Collins a chapter in the Inequality Reader. Dedrick was the former National Field Director for Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. He also was the Coordinator for the Racial Wealth Divide Project of United For A Fair Economy. His op-eds can be found on www.inequality.org and he has been featured on Democracy Now, BET News, C-SPAN, NPR, and many other radio and television shows.
Dr. Clarence Lusane is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations in the School of International Service at American University. He is also an author, activist, scholar, lecturer, and journalist. For more than 25 years, he has written about and been active in national and international anti-racism politics, globalization, U.S. foreign policy, human rights and social issues such as education, crime, and drugs. His most recent book is Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice: Foreign Policy, Race, and the New American Century (2006). He is a national columnist for the Black Voices syndicated news network, and his writings have appeared in The Black Scholar, Race and Class, The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Covert Action Information Bulletin, Z Magazine, Radical History Journal, and many other publications.
Moderator: Saif Rahman is the Institute for Policy Studies Movements Coordinator. He sits on the United for Peace & Justice Steering Committee and is a Coordinating Committee member of the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition.
