Black Lives Matter. What does this assertion mean for American political life and public policy? Why does this simple, seemingly self-evident assertion evoke such a broad range of responses? What are the origins of this phrase and how has its meaning evolved over time? Who are the activists, thinkers, organizers, writers, and policymakers for whom Black Lives Matter is a guiding principle?
The Spring 2021 Black Lives Matter Speaker Series will help attendees understand the contemporary web of social, political, economic, and direct actions operating under the broad theme of Black Lives Matter.
The inaugural event of our series is a discussion with Dr. Frank Leon Roberts, founder of the Black Lives Matter Syllabus.
About our Guest Speaker:
Dr. Frank Leon Roberts is an activist, professor, and political organizer based in Harlem, New York. The proud son of two formerly incarcerated parents, he is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of the Arts at The New School.
Frank is the founder of Black Lives Matter Syllabus— the nationally acclaimed, open access curriculum that provides resources for teaching BLM in classroom and community settings. In addition to his upcoming anthology The Black Lives Matter Syllabus: Key Writings from the Movement for Black Lives (forthcoming from the University of California Press with a foreword by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza) he is also at work on a new book on author James Baldwin.
Frank’s career as a grassroots political organizer has spanned two decades. He began his career as a teenager; mobilizing disenfranchised voters in the wake of the 2000 Bush/Gore Election. Later, in 2004 Frank co-founded the National Black Justice Coalition—based in Washington, DC. He then went on to serve as the special assistant to civil rights attorney Johnnie Cochran, whom he worked with on the early legal movement for racial reparations.
Dr. Roberts is a past winner of NYU’s Distinguished Alumni Award; the MLK Trailblazer Award, the Roddenberry Fellowship, and the Ford Foundation Fellowship, among many others.
Click here to register for the event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-lives-matter-as-a-curriculum-tickets-139688248311
Click here to view the Black Lives Matter Syllabus: http://www.blacklivesmattersyllabus.com/frankleonroberts/
