Workshops
The Real Homeland Security:
Facing Issues of Public Health in the Black Community
In recent times the specter of racism still lurks in the shadows of the Civil Rights Movement. For the past forty-one years we have been considered full citizens of the United States of America – on paper. And while we are no longer killed at will and whim, we are allowed to die. That being said, the focus of this forum will be on issues facing Black health and wellness in modern America. A number of health issues plague the Black community are go so far as to define aspects of our identity. AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer and a number of other illnesses have come to be widely associated with Blacks. Is this merely a matter of the United States government failing to deliver on the promise of citizenship, or does this dig into deeper issues regarding lifestyle and personal agency? The purpose of this forum (though largely determined by the participants) will focus on the causes of the divide in access to adequate health care. Is the culprit the same economics that have convinced greater America that the nation’s race problem has disappeared, only to be replaced by a division of class that bears striking similarities? Does the environment play a role in the drastic division in the health and wellness of our community and that of majority America?
Prisoners of War:
The Effects of Incarceration on the Black Community
With more Black males in the American prison system today than those incarcerated in apartheid-era South Africa, the relationship between American prisons and the Black community has become intimate, abusive, and above all, an issue of concern for the future of Black Americana. This burgeoning crisis rises to the forefront of this conference, and indeed our minds, as its grasp extends into nearly every facet of our daily lives in our economics, culture and perhaps our existence. From an economic perspective, this plight to some has become a gift to others. The prison industry is expanding to house and correct the growing number “wayward” American citizens, but with the cost of holding a single inmate for a year rivaling and surpassing that of most university level yearly tuitions, we are forced to ask who is benefiting from this spawning enterprise. At the same time, inmates, stripped of their rights and much of their prospects, are often left deserted by the American nation after they have paid their debt. With regards to the Black community, the effects of the prison crisis are so devastating and so widespread that the majority of Black America has become inured to the situation. The demonization of the Black male by American media, and conditioning of the American public, police, and even our own community to fear the Black male has forced our progress over the past forty years into a veritable stalemate. Has this cycle of incarceration and ephemeral freedom developed a psychology of prisoner-and-guard among our men and our people? And does this faux-freedom mirror our past or prescribe our future? Lastly, and perhaps the most malefic perspective, is that of strict biology. With the majority of Black men in prison being at the peak of their fecundity, the natural question would be: is the overall drop in crime across the country, due to the fact that the demographic deemed criminal, is not getting the opportunity to reproduce? In this forum, we will discuss these and other issues concerning the prison crisis in Black America, and where our own responsibility falls. When the United States of America has failed to provide adequate opportunities to keep our people out of jail, and ample opportunities for them to return, we must ask ourselves what we as a nation within a nation can do to achieve our own justice, which may very well lie beyond the jurisdiction of the this country’s government.
Digging the Trenches:
Revitalizing the Movement From the Grassroots Up
A panel of speakers with backgrounds in community organizing will conduct a training session in methods of organization, campaigning around an issue, and publicity. Each panelist will give an autobiography of their experiences, explaining lessons they have learned and general rules to follow, such as when is the best time to mobilize, who to talk to, and which pitfalls organizers should avoid. Are you ready to take on the challenge?
Other BSCs
