Free Public Events to Explore Racial Justice, Equality Issues
10/01/2020
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – Fania Davis, a civil rights attorney who pursued her path as a justice-seeker and healer after the murder of two of her childhood friends, will serve as UMass Lowell’s Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies.
A lawyer, writer and scholar, Davis will headline programs at UMass Lowell to cap a yearlong, public event series that will examine issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Davis came of age in Birmingham, Ala., amid the social and political upheaval set in motion by the civil rights movement. On Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963, white supremacists bombed the city’s 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four Black girls – two of them Davis’ friends – and injuring 14 others. Viewed today as a watershed moment in U.S. history, the act triggered riots and public condemnation across the country. For Davis, it crystalized her commitment to social transformation, leading to decades of work as a civil rights activist and attorney, along with earning her doctorate in indigenous studies and apprenticing with traditional healers in Africa and across the globe.
Today, Davis is a founder and director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), a California-based organization that works to transform public schools and juvenile court systems through restorative-justice programs to reduce racial disparities, the public costs of school suspensions and expulsions and prison incarcerations for young people of color.
Davis joins an esteemed list of humanitarians – including Nobel Peace Prize recipients Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman – as a UMass Lowell Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies. She will be in virtual residence at the university in April, when she will lead online programs for the campus and community.
“We are thrilled to have Fania Davis, civil rights leader on restorative justice, as the 2021 Greeley Peace Scholar. Now more than ever, we need her leadership in changing how we think about and practice justice,” said UMass Lowell Prof. Ardeth Thawnghmung, chairperson of the Political Science Department and co-chairperson of the Greeley Scholar Board with UMass Lowell graduate Gordon Halm, executive director of the African Community Center of Lowell.
Leading up to events with Davis, UMass Lowell will present the Greeley Peace Scholar Speaker Series on Race and Social Justice. These free programs for the public will unite scholars, students and the community in discussions that illuminate the Black experience and the history and struggle for racial equality.
“Sparked by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the Black Lives Matter protests have led to a reckoning about race. As we work toward greater justice, the Greeley Peace Scholar Speaker Series invites all in the campus and community together to build greater understanding and awareness,” said Sue Kim, associate dean of undergraduate studies in UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and member of the Greeley Scholar Board.
Programs to be held virtually through the fall semester will examine the legacy of white supremacy, voting rights and voter suppression, public memorials and more. UMass Lowell faculty experts in a variety of fields will help guide these sessions, which will feature other leading voices on these topics. All programs are free and open to the public.
Upcoming programs in the series include:
- “Memory and the Built Form” – Thursday, Oct. 8, 11 a.m. - Artist Steve Locke will talk about his work designing memorials and how public spaces and monuments should address the history of slavery and racial violence. UMass Lowell History Prof. Michael Pierson, a U.S. Civil War expert, will lead a discussion after Locke’s presentation.
- “Climate Change, Epidemics and Human Capital Outcomes: Who Bears the Cost of Climate Change?” – Wednesday, Oct. 14, 11 a.m. -Economist Belinda Archibong will share her research on how the environment, pandemics – including the COVID-19 outbreak – and institutions give rise to unequal access to public services and diminish opportunities for all people. UMass Lowell Economics Assistant Prof. Kelly Hellman will moderate the discussion.
- “Speaking Out of Turn: Lorraine O’Grady and the Act of Language” – Thursday, Oct. 15, 12:30 p.m. -Black feminist and curator Stephanie Sparling Williams will discuss artists’ interpretations of racial issues, focusing on Lorraine O’Grady, a critic of the New York art world in the 1970s and 1980s. UMass Lowell’s Kirsten Swenson, associate professor of art and design, will moderate.
- “Voter Suppression Then and Now: How Did We Get Here and What Can be Done?” – Thursday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. -Political scientist and award-winning author Frederick Harris will lead a discussion about race, the history of voter participation, voting rights and what needs to change in the future. Moderating the session will be UMass Lowell History Associate Prof. Elizabeth Herbin-Triant, co-coordinator of the Race and Ethnic Studies program.
- “The Socio-Historical Foundations of Hip-Hop Pedagogies: The Why, When, Where, Who and How” – Thursday, Oct. 22, 1 p.m. -Music educator, multi-instrumentalist and performer Jarrit Ahmed Sheel, an authority on hip-hop, will lead a session on the genre’s history and how to teach it.
For more information about the Greeley Peace Scholar Speaker Series, members of the public should visit www.uml.edu/greeley-race.
Greeley Scholars are selected for their achievements as humanitarians and their efforts promoting peace and conflict resolution at the local, regional, national or international level. A list of past scholars is available at www.uml.edu/Research/PACSI/Greeley-Scholars/About.aspx.
The honor is named for the late Rev. Dana McLean Greeley, who was a longtime Unitarian Universalist minister in Concord. The Greeley Scholar Program is funded by the Greeley Endowment for Peace Studies, established with a gift from the Dana McLean Greeley Foundation for Peace and Justice and a contribution from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts via the UMass Foundation. In addition, this year’s programs are sponsored by UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu