Equity & Diversity Conference

Abstract

On Juneteenth: The Essential Story of ‘Freedom Day’ and Its Importance to American History

There is perhaps no one more qualified than Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed to tell the sweeping story of Juneteenth. In her searing new book, the Texas native chronicles both the state, and the country’s, long road to Juneteenth—and the many hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Jim Crow and beyond.

Gordon-Reed expertly weaves together her own family’s chronicle—she is a descendent of enslaved people brought to Texas as early as the 1820s—alongside the wider context of American history. It is this combination of poignant personal anecdotes and powerfully demonstrative facts that make Gordon-Reed’s account so vital, stirring, and eloquent.

As our nation verges on recognizing June 19 as a national holiday, On Juneteenth is both an essential account and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is exigent and ongoing. This meaningful and personal talk, based on the book, breathes new life into the historical events that have led us to this moment—and illuminates a new path forward.

About

Annette Gordon-Reed is a Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School, and the award-winning author of six books. Her latest book, On Juneteenth, sets out to capture the integral importance of the holiday to American history. “It is staggering that there is no date commemorating the end of slavery in the United States,” says Gordon-Reed.

In her earlier piece “Growing Up with Juneteenth,” written for The New Yorker, she recounts how the Texas holiday became a national tradition: “When I was a little girl, in Texas, I thought Juneteenth belonged to us, meaning to the state of Texas generally and to Black Texans specifically,” she starts, before going on to recount the disconnect between “freedom” in legal terms versus lived reality, the unfulfilled promise of the Declaration for Black Americans, and the horrors they have had to endure even after the Emancipation Proclamation. Impassioned, moving, and articulate, On Juneteenth is an even deeper, more personal recollection—a captivating blend of memoir and history that explores the violence and oppression that preceded and followed this celebration, what it means to us now, and how it relates to our larger fight for equality.

Abstract

What is Racial Battle Fatigue, and What Can We Do to Combat It?

The past 18 months has been challenging for many people, particularly students and educators with minoritized racial identities who are navigating dual pandemics: COVID-19 and systemic racism. As students and educators confront these dual pandemics, they are likely experiencing racial battle fatigue, which has negative consequences on their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. The purpose of this keynote is to learn what racial battle fatigue is and offer strategies that educators might use in order to heal. This knowledge will enable educators to understand the impact of racial battle fatigue and take on the onus of addressing racism so that their colleagues of color can rest, recuperate, and heal.

About

Stephen John Quaye is an Associate Professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Program at The Ohio State University; Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education; and Past President of ACPA: College Student Educators International. His research concentrates on engaging students in difficult dialogues about privilege, power, and oppression, and the strategies educators use to facilitate productive dialogues about these topics. His current work focuses on student and scholar activism, as well as the strategies Black student affairs educators use to heal from racial battle fatigue.

Stephen values story-sharing and dialogue as vehicles for fostering change in society and prioritizes empathy and healing in his work as an educator. Numerous campuses have invited him to consult on campus climate, diversity, and equity issues, and he has given over 60 keynotes during his career in higher education. His work is published in different venues, including Teachers College Record, the Journal of College Student Development, and The Review of Higher Education.

About

Neil Foote, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, is a principal lecturer at UNT’s Mayborn School of Journalism. He currently teaches classes in media entrepreneurship, business journalism, media management and multimedia storytelling. He is director of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. He is author of Principles of News (Kendall Hunt, 2020) and a contributor to the textbook, Race, Gender, Class, and Media: Studying Mass Communication and Multiculturalism (Kendall Hunt Publisher, 2011, 2017).

Foote has worked at The Miami Herald, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, the Belo Corporation, the Tom Joyner Morning Show and ASNE (now, News Leaders Association).

Foote is a member of the steering committees of Diversity Action Alliance and the Commission on Public Relations Education. He is president of the National Black Public Relations Society, Inc., past chairman of the National Kidney Foundation Serving North Texas, and a past board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

He grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. and received his B.A. in government from Wesleyan University, a M.S.J. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and an M.B.A. from SMU’s Cox School of Business.