More than 50 Sessions Featured as Part of SUNY Plattsburgh Black Solidarity Day Event
SUNY Plattsburgh will host “Honoring Our Past and Empowering Our Future,” the Social Justice Teach-in in recognition of Black Solidarity Day Monday, Nov. 2, featuring a day-long series of workshops, presentations, events and more that touch on the importance of social and racial equality.
Sessions will run throughout the day in various locations on campus, most of which are in or in proximity to the Angell College Center. Many are streamed online via Zoom.
The day begins at 8 a.m. with refreshments on the first floor of the ACC across from the HUB, followed at 8:30 with opening remarks in the Warren Ballrooms by President Alexander Enyedi, event intern Fatima Ba, Dr. Dottie Morris, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Student Association President Hassani St. John, and Dr. Rohit Rampal, chair of the Faculty Senate and professor of management, information systems and analytics.
At 9 a.m. in the Cardinal Lounge, a panel discussion featuring Tiffany Rea-Fisher, director of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, Jacqueline Madison, president of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, and Helen Nerska, co-president for the League of Women Voters of the North Country, will explore historical social justice efforts of the North Country as well as the current work they lead to increase cultural competency, civic engagement and create a more equitable and just North Country.
Beginning at 10 a.m., more than 50 concurrent break-out sessions are scheduled through
4 p.m. and include:
- Uplifting Black Voices: What Does It Mean to Be an Actively Anti-Racist Ally?
- Using Technology to Address Injustice
- Inclusion and Democracy in Times of Backlash
- Fuerza: The BIPOC Student Union Presentation
- Solidarity in Action: What Does Support Actually Look Like?
- Ancestral wisdom, storytelling, and memory: The Antidotes for Erasure
- The film, "Silent Echoes: The Invisible Women"
- Diversity in Children's Picture Books
- Paint Your Power, Color Your Legacy
- Social Justice Activism 101: Know Your Protest Rights
The teach-in will also include an all-day exhibit in Feinberg Library, “Americans Who Tell the Truth,” featuring more than a dozen posters derived from a series by artist Robert Shetterly, showcasing Americans of various races, genders and backgrounds who have championed the courage to uphold democracy and the American Dream.
The Plattsburgh State Art Museum will host “Hands that Nurture: Perceptions of Masculine
Devotion,” which explores the ways men express devotion, nurturing and care through
everyday action and skilled labor. Open noon to 2 p.m. in the Slatkin Study Room,
Myers Fine Arts Building.
Beginning at 4 p.m., a keynote performance by spoken-word artist, educator and cultural curator Lyrical Faith will take place in the Warren Ballrooms, followed by a closing reception.
Faith’s works blend storytelling, reflection and emotional connection and have been performed around the country and the world. She has appeared on National Public Radio, Button Poetry, iHeartRadio, and at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
Black Solidarity Day was created in 1969 by activist, and former SUNY Old Westbury professor, Carlos Russell, who was inspired by Douglas Turner Ward’s fictional play, “Day of Absence.” The plot focuses on a fictional town where the Black residents suddenly disappear, resulting in the White residents realizing how much of their lives rely on Black labor.
As part of this annual day and to highlight their contributions to society, Black people were encouraged not to work and not to shop as a form of economic protest. Russell encouraged them instead to engage in educating and enlightening their communities. Since 1969, members of college campuses have recognized Black Solidarity Day the day before Election Day by convening panel discussions, educational workshops, rallies and other culturally enlightening forums. SUNY Plattsburgh has recognized the day in its current iteration since 2022. The first teach-in, “Many Faces of Social Justice Teach-In” was held in February 2019. Plans for a 2020 even had to be shelved because of the COVID pandemic.
For more information on SUNY Plattsburgh’s Black Solidarity Day Social Justice Teach-in, including a full schedule of events, visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/diversity/teach-in.html.
— By Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs; with BSD File Photos
