RETHINKING RACE: Black, White and Beyond
Jan. 29 to Feb. 12, 2016
A forum in which race and race-related issues can be discussed, examined, and hopefully, better understood through films, performances, Face-2-Face Conversations, and keynote speakers. Rethinking Race hopes to engage the public with important topics such as diversity in the workplace and awareness of issues and culture.
A LOOK BACK AT 2016...
Featured Speaker
Lisa A. Newman, MD, director, Breast Oncology Program at the Henry Ford Health System
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6 - 7 p.m.
Quaker Station
The presentation will help us understand disparities in breast cancer incidence and outcome related to racial/ethnic background; the socioeconomic versus biologic factors that account for disparities; and the epidemiology of triple negative breast cancer.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Elaine Richardson
Tenured professor at The Ohio State University
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 11:30 a.m.
Student Union Theatre
Based on excerpts from her autobiography "PHD (Po H# on Dope) to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life," the show features expressive performance, storytelling and music. The emotional weariness of Dr. Richardson’s passage through a life nearly torn apart by sex trafficking and drug addiction emerges into victorious living, triumphantly immersed in education and service. Dr. E’s story of sexual exploitation and other forms of bondage is used to promote healing and empowerment through education.
Dr. Richardson’s book “PHD to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life” is available for purchase at the event and a book signing will immediately follow the talk.
Transforming American racial conflicts: Why peacemaking is desperately needed today
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2-3:30 p.m.
Student Union Theatre
Grande Lum serves as Director of the Community Relations Service (CRS), the Justice Department's "Peacemaker" for community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and disability.
The role for of peacemaking and mediating to assist in advancing constructive dialogue and concrete problem solving is urgent. Grande will discuss how his agency, the Community Relations Service has worked tirelessly in the communities like Baltimore, Ferguson, and countless others to establish a dialogue and construct a path to peace.
Dr. Helen K. Qammar Memorial Lecture
Monday, Feb. 8, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Student Union Theatre
"Race, Education, and the Law - From Brown v. Board to the Present"
The first annual Dr. Helen K. Qammar Memorial Lecture welcomes Dr. Qammar's son, Shammas Malik.
Malik, a Harvard Law student, will discuss the history of efforts to create racial and socioeconomic equality in education, looking at where we are both as a nation and as a local community.
Featured Speaker
John Quiñones
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
SU Ballroom A & B
Most known for this role as anchor of the ABC news program, “What Would You Do?,” John Quiñones has been in reporting for nearly 40 years.
Born into a family of migrant workers, Quiñones was ABC’s first Latino correspondent. He served as a news reporter in Texas and Chicago prior to joining ABC News in 1982.
2015 highlights
Some 6,000 people participated in the 2015 events, which included nearly 100 hours of programming — lectures, facilitated conversations, a photo exhibit, films and performing arts events.
Our history
In 1997, United States President William J. Clinton chose UA as the location for his first Town Hall Meeting on Race.
Each February, The University of Akron provides a forum in which race and race-related issues can be discussed, examined, and hopefully, better understood. The series offers both the University and Northeast Ohio community the opportunity to hear and share a wide variety of viewpoints.
Through films, performances, Face-2-Face Conversations, and keynote speakers, Rethinking Race hopes to engage the public with important topics such as diversity in the workplace and awareness of issues and culture.
