Got My Mind Made Up / Standing on My Sisters' Shoulders: Women of the Black Freedom Movement, 1940-1975
Lecture by Dr. Derrick Brooms, Prairie State College
at Highline Community College - Seattle, WA
Lecture by Dr. Derrick Brooms, Prairie State College
at Highline Community College - Seattle, WA
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
In spite of their highly valuable roles in the Black freedom movement, the great majority of Black women remain as invisible, unsung heroes and leaders. Framed within a Black Feminist Thought theoretical pinning, this lecture outlines the integral role of Black women in the modern Black freedom movement.
PREVIOUS LECTURES
Addressing Youth Violence through Engaging Our Youth
Dr. Derrick Brooms, Invited Panelist
Stop the Violence, Spread the Love: Addressing Youth Incarceration and Public Safety
NAACP Illinois State Conference and 75th Convention, Rock Island, IL (October 2011).
The workshop provided an opportunity for a panel discussion about the role that youth activists can play in helping implement strategies that decrease our reliance on incarceration, increase public safety, and help heal communities of color that are most impacted by crime, violence, and mass incarceration. In addition, it also looked at the effects and role education plays with regard to our youth.
In my discussion and work with the students, we focused on several key questions that included: What are the environments that we live in? How do environments and people in them contribute to our attitudes and behaviors? And, Why do people commit violent acts / engage in criminal behavior? The point of these questions were to get students thinking about the contributing factors that potentially could lead youth to violent acts and behaviors. I engaged students with two activities that allowed them opportunities to share their own experiences and for their voices to be heard. Students shared a great deal, listened to the information that was provided, and, as a group, we began to discuss how they could be agents of change within their own communities.
How does it feel? -- Black and Brown as Problems in Higher Education
Lecture by Dr. Derrick Brooms
The educational crisis facing Black and Hispanic students has been discussed at length at local, state, regional, and national levels, and a number of reports have documented the problems confronting these students. This talk will address some of the problems faced by these student populations and identify some of the opportunities that exist as well.
The Legacy of the Black Panther Party
Keynote Address by Dr. Derrick Brooms
Black Panther Party Day; Black History Month Celebration
Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL (February 2011)
The Legacy of the Black Panther Party
Keynote Address by Dr. Derrick Brooms
Black Panther Party Day; Black History Month Celebration
Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL (February 2011)
My talk focused primarily on three main components. First, I examined the foundation and beginnings of the Black Panther party within an historical context. In order to achieve this, I sought to answer the question, “Why did the Black Panther Party start in 1966?” I analyzed a 100-year historical continuum to help the audience see what had transpired in African American life from the ending of slavery (1865) right to the heart of the modern Civil Rights Movement (1965). This portrayal allowed the audience to hear a narrative in which African American resistance to oppression, discrimination, and racism took on many forms. A significant arm of African American resistance was in fact the NAACP (founded in 1909) and, later, several other key organizations that included the Congress on Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee to name a few. Second, I examined the history of the Black Panther Party, paying particular attention to their stated aims and goals (“What We Want / What We Need”) and the social programs that they established throughout black communities in the United States. Here, the focus was on their goal of protecting and serving black communities. Of primary concern during this era was police brutality, which prompted the Panthers to engage in community watch activities (policing the police for example) and to arm themselves with weapons (which was legal at the time). Additionally, the Panthers’ symbolic presence cannot be understated, as their highly visible decor, knowledge of the law, and refusal to cow to oppressive force helped to win both community support and an increased membership. I also focused on several of the key members of the Black Panther Party and highlighted a few of their roles. Finally, I focused on the historical legacy of the Black Panther Party, which included self-determination, redefining African American social and cultural identities, and their impact upon social movements during the latter half of the 20th century. The Panthers’ Serve the People Programs is significant as it included an array of activities, such as establishing health clinics and schools, holding food drives, distributing groceries, and morning breakfast programs. Also, many other groups, such as women, Native Americans, and the elderly used many of the tactics introduced by the Black Panthers to help further their respective cause and demand change within United States society.
