Fall 2020 | Black Mobility and Safety in the US Lecture Series

This fall, ACT is co-sponsoring a lecture series as part of MAS.S63 | Black Mobility and Safety in the US I, a new course taught by Ekene Ijeoma, Director of the Poetic Justice Group at the MIT Media Lab.

In this seminar and studio, Ijeoma will guide students to listen, learn, reflect and respond to issues around mobility (physical, mental, socio-economical, political, etc) and safety for Black Americans through words, images, and sounds that reference social science and anti-racist research. Weekly meetings will be organized around public lectures from guests ranging from designers and urban planners to activists and social scientists, and private individual presentations for the group.

Part of a two-semester course, Black Mobility and Safety in the US is organized into two-week topics around living while Black. The first semester (Fall 2020) will include: birthing, breathing, sleeping, eating, and walking; the second: learning, voting, driving, working, and loving. By the end of each semester, students will have the resources and tools to actively listen and respond critically to issues of Black mobility in the context of their own fields and their purposes.

September 8
Hank Willis Thomas and Hugh Hayden | Black Progress

September 15
Arline T. Geronimus | Birthing While Black

September 22
Deirdre Cooper Owens | Birthing While Black

September 29
Marcus Franklin | Breathing While Black

October 6
Linda Villarosa | Breathing While Black

October 13
Tricia Hersey | Sleeping While Black

October 20
Danielle L. Beatty Moody | Sleeping While Black

October 27
Ashanté M. Reese | Eating While Black

November 3
Omar Tate | Eating While Black

November 10
Topher Sanders | Walking While Black

November 17
Elijah Anderson | Walking While Black