40 Years of Anti-Racism: France and Beyond
Posted in G+JI Events Lectures
Monday, September 25, 2023
5:00 PM EST – In-Person Event
Location: Leavey Center, Program Room, Georgetown University Main Campus
Presented by Gender+ Justice Initiative.
Join us to mark the 40th anniversary of France’s historic ‘March for Equality and Against Racism.’ This important event reshaped conversations on racism, police violence, and inequality. We’ll learn about the march, spotlight the crucial role of Black and Brown women in the anti-racism struggle and discuss recent tragic events, Nahel Merzouk’s murder in June 2023, emphasizing the ongoing fight against racism and police brutality. We’ll also connect France’s struggles to the global context of the Black Lives Matter movement and the wider anti-racism fight.
Featuring influential voices: Rokhaya Diallo, acclaimed journalist, director and social justice advocate, and Karen Attiah, distinguished journalist and cultural critic. Discussion moderated by Georgetown African Studies Professor, Kwame Edwin Otu
Program
5pm-6pm | Screening of Documentary: “The Steps to Liberty” (2013, 54min) by Rokhaya Diallo. Immerse yourself in the heart of the journey with a documentary screening that captures the spirit and energy of the historic events. Witness the passion and courage of those who marched for justice and equality.
6pm-7pm | Discussion and Q/A with Rokhaya Diallo and Karen Attiah
They will share their insights on the march’s impact, its resonance in the present, and the pressing need to address ongoing racial inequalities.
Refreshments and snacks will be served after the event.
About the speakers:
Rokhaya Diallo is a renowned journalist, author, filmmaker, and antiracist feminist advocate, who has fought tirelessly against racial and gender discrimination in France and beyond. She is the author of a dozen books and writes a monthly column in the Washington Post, covering issues of racism and sexism in France and abroad. She hosts a podcast with Grace Ly called Kiffe Ta Race (Binge Audio), a show which critically examines issues of identity and race. In 2022, she founded W.O.R.D a school whose mission is to teach communication and public speaking skills to emerging advocates and organizers. She is the Georgetown Gender+ Justice Initiative’s inaugural Researcher-in-Residence for 2021-2024. — Follow Twitter: @RokhayaDiallo, IG: @rokhayadiallo
Karen Attiah is a columnist for The Washington Post and writes a weekly newsletter. She joined The Post in 2014 as a digital producer in the Opinions section. Attiah often writes on issues relating to race, gender and international politics, with a special interest in Africa. Previously, she reported as a freelancer for the Associated Press while based in the Caribbean. Attiah was the winner of the 2019 George Polk Award and was the 2019 Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists. Follow Twitter: @KarenAttiah, IG: @karenattiah
Dr. Kwame Edwin Otu is associate professor of African Studies at Georgetown University. Professor Otu is a cultural anthropologist with varied interests, ranging from the politics of sexual, environmental, and technological citizenships, public health, and their intersections with shifting racial formations in neocolonial and neoliberal Africa and the African Diaspora. Otu’s first book monograph is entitled, Amphibious Subjects: Sasso and the Contested Politics of Queer Self-Making in Neoliberal Ghana (University of California Press, 2022). The book is an ethnography on queer self-fashioning among a community of self-identified effeminate men, known in local parlance as Sasso.
Accommodation requests can be made at genderjustice@georgetown.edu
This event is free and open to all