Plac(e)ing Black Futures II: Working Theories
October 10-11, 2024
Georgetown University
Healey Family Student Center, Social Room
Join us on October 10 and 11, 2024 for the "Plac(e)ing Black Futures II: Working Theories" Fall Symposium! Hosted by the Mellon Sawyer Seminar on “Creative Placemaking, Black Restorative Ecologies, and Black Spatial Futures” and the Department of Black Studies at Georgetown University, the symposium seeks to continue inquiry into the “where” of Black futurity with the questions:
What theories might we put to work toward future places of Black existence?
What restorative ecological practices might we excavate from the past or elevate from the present that will better support Black life and living in times and places yet to come?
Where will Black futures take place?
Our speakers– to include both emergent and established thought and community leaders– will explore visionary theories for Black placemaking and share their work as practitioners on the ground. The symposium will feature dynamic dialogues, an opening reception, and a guided meditative tea-blending workshop led by Adjourn Teahouse founder LaTonia Cokely.
Thursday Oct.10
Check-In: 4-4:20 PM
Opening Remarks: 4:30 PM
Dr. Amani Morrison
Opening Plenary with the Department of Black Studies: 4:45-6:00 PM
Drs. Soyica Diggs Colbert, Rosemary Ndubuizu,
LaMonda Horton-Stallings
Panel 1:
Futures for Then, Futures for Now: 6-7 PM
Dr. Celeste Winston,
On Fugitivity and Marronage: Grounding Metaphors for Black Abolitionist Futures
Dr. Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Distributive Justice and Reconsidering Reparations
Opening Reception: 7-8 PM
Friday Oct.11
Coffee, Pastries & Check-In: 9:15-9:45 AM
Panel 2:
From Claiming to Reclamation: Power and Place: 10:00—11:40 AM
Empower DC:
Corey Shaw, Jr. &
Dr. Sabiyha Prince,
Barry Farm: From 74 Years of Landownership to Public Housing Project
Dr. Kwame Edwin Otu, Civilization as Extraction: Salvage Anthropology, the Berlin Conference, the Reterritorialization of Africa’s Ecological Futures
Dr. LaToya Eaves,
Black Women’s Reclamation Power at the End of the World
Panel 3:
Black Ecologies, Black Futures: 1:30—3:00 PM
Dr. Danielle Purifoy,
The Black [After]life of the Forest
Dr. J.T. Roane,
Transforming Mississippi America: June Jordan and the Question of Landed Futures
Dr. Joy Priest
The Black Outside: How Black Ecology Leads Us Out of Western Enclosure
Lunch: 11:45—12:30 PM
Slow Pour with Adjourn Teahouse: 12:30—1:30 PM
Closing Remarks: 3:00 PM