Oct. 23 at Kutztown University
KUTZTOWN, PA – Kutztown University’s Commission on the Status of Minorities presents “Slavery and its Impact: Reflections on its 400th Anniversary,” 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 183 McFarland Student Union. The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
The event will be comprised of scholars from the university faculty and faculty from neighboring universities. There will be a showing of the award-winning documentary Liberty to Captivity. 18 academics from Kutztown and other universities will discuss the significance of the 400th anniversary of the start of slavery in America.
Schedule, Wednesday, Oct. 23
8:30-9:30 a.m.
Panel One: Slavery and Jim Crow: The America it created (MSU 183)
Panelists will discuss how slavery developed in the colonial era in American history. Panelists will discuss how slavery impacted the legal, social, and political foundations of American history and culture.
Moderator: Dr. Michael Gabriel, History
Panelists: Kiara Serrano, Student
Dr. Kwame Essien (Lehigh University)
Dr. Wilbert Jenkins (Temple University)
Dr. Andrew Arnold, History
9:45-10:45 a.m.
Panel Two: Slavery in America: Does it matter in 2019 (MSU 183)
Panelists will discuss the significance of the 400th anniversary of the first 20 slaves that arrived in Point Comfort, present-day Fort Monroe, in Hampton, Va. (Jamestown Settlement), Aug. 20, 1619 and how or whether the subsequent two hundred and 46 years of slavery in America has significance to the American society of 2019.
Moderator: Dr. Arthur H. Garrison, Criminal Justice
Panelists: Kurtis Haynesworth, Student
Dr. Thomas Robinson, Psychology
Dr. Mauricia John, Sociology
Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller, Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church; Author, “The Code of the Righteous Warrior: 10 Laws of Moral Manhood for an Uncertain World”
11 a.m. – noon
Panel Three: Teaching the history of race and what students should be told (MSU 183)
Panelists will discuss how issues of race, slavery, Jim Crow are taught in America and what issues are raised in teaching race in the modern American social and political landscape. Focus will be on what students should be told and why.
Moderator: Dr. Lindsey Livingston Runell, Criminal Justice
Panelists: Dr. Ayana Allen-Handy (Drexel University)
Jayla Lewis, Student
Dr. Amber Jean-Marie Pabon, Secondary Education
Dr. Katherine Norris (West Chester University)
Judith Giesberg (Villanova University)
12:15-1:15 p.m. Lunch (Invited only) (MSU 250)
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Panel Four: Human Trafficking: The New Slavery (MSU 183)
Although slavery is universally condemned worldwide, slavery still is being practiced both in the United States and on all the continents of the world. One aspect of modern slavery is the trafficking of women for forced prostitution. To explore this modern mode of slavery and its connection to the history of slavery in America, the documentary From Liberty to Captivity will be shown. After which a moderated conversation will occur with the director Debbie Wright with Dr. James Jackson. Questions will be taken from the audience.
Moderator: Dr. James Jackson, Psychology
Panelist: Debbie Wright, Director / Producer, “From Liberty to Captivity”
