A.C.T.O.R (A Continuing Talk on Race): Assata in Her Own Words
Date and Time
Feb 1, 2015 4:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Feb 1, 2015 4:00 pm
14th & V
A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk on Race) presents: Assata in Her Own Words - A Discussion on the Life and Legacy of Assata Shakur
In light of the recent foreign policy shift with Cuba, A.C.T.O.R. takes a look at the life and legacy of Assata Shakur - one of the most famous American civil rights exiles.
Background: On May 2 1973, Black Panther activist Assata Olugbala Shakur (fsn) Joanne Deborah Chesimard, was pulled over by the New Jersey State Police, shot twice and then charged with murder of a police officer. Assata spent six and a half years in prison under brutal circumstances before escaping out of the maximum security wing of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey in 1979 and moving to Cuba.
For a supplemental reading in preparation for this A.C.T.O.R., please check out "An Open Letter Letter to the Media" from Assata Shakur.
Our speakers will be:
Professor Fahima Patricia Seck, MSW, LISW
Professor Seck has served Bowie State University since the fall of 2003 as a member of the faculty in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Human Services within the College of Professional Studies. She has also served as a preceptor and mentor to graduate students in the Masters of Human Services (MHS) program at Lincoln University in Philadelphia, PA.
Professor Seck is a social worker by profession and has provided human services in a variety of settings to a broad spectrum of consumers, ranging from children and their families; at-risk youth; returning citizens; senior citizens; and members of the immigrant and refugee communities.
Professor Seck received a Masters in Social Work (MSW) and BA in Sociology, concentrating in the administration of justice at Howard University. While at Howard University, she was a McNair Scholar, a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, and founding co-chair of the Howard University chapter of N'COBRA. In addition, she earned a diploma in Paralegal Studies from New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Subsequently after graduate school, Professor Seck was selected to participate as a Junior Scholar at Cornell University’s Africana Studies Department's Summer Institute, “Holding up Both Ends of the Sky” Engendering Africana Studies. That same year she was also selected to serve as a Robert F. Kennedy Fellow.
Additionally, Professor Seck has served as a Congressional Black Caucus Intern during the 104th Congress for the Honorable Congressman Charles B. Rangel. She was also selected by Congressman Rangel to participate in the US Congress -Korean Assembly Exchange Program in Seoul, Korea.
Moreover, Professor Seck has traveled extensively, participating in numerous international conferences, to countries including: Russia; England; France; Senegal; Ghana; Barbados; Costa Rica and most notable, Durban, South Africa for the United Nations World Conference against Racism (WCAR). At WCAR, she served as Media Coordinator for the International Black Women's Studies Institute. Most recently, Professor Seck had the opportunity to take part in a study tour to Cuba.
Her research interest includes: Juvenile Justice; Race, Class and Gender issues; Social Inequality and Immigration.
Nkechi Taifa, Esq.
Nkechi Taifa is a social justice attorney, scholar-activist, author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. She serves as a Senior Policy Analyst for an international foundation and convenes a Washington-based coalition advancing federal criminal justice policy reform. She has served as legislative and policy counsel for several advocacy organizations, and as founding director of the award-winning Equal Justice Program. She has also taught at several law schools and has been a private practitioner representing clients before the Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Ms. Taifa has served on the boards of numerous organizations including the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, and has written and spoken extensively on issues of civil/human rights and criminal and civil justice reform, including issues involving COINTELPRO and political prisoners in the United States. She received her Juris Doctorate from George Washington University Law School, and BA degree from Howard University.
Nubia Kai, Poet, Playwright and Novelist
Nubia Kai (a.k.a. Nubia Kai Al-Nura Salaam) received a B.A. degree from Wayne State University in Anthropology and Black Studies, a M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin in African Languages and Literature, and a Ph.D. in African Literature and Film at Howard University. A poet, playwright, storyteller, and novelist, Ms. Kai has won numerous awards for her writing, including three Michigan Council for the Arts Awards, three D.C. Commission on the Arts Awards, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and the Larry Neal Writer’s Competition for Poetry She has been published in Black Scholar, Black World, Essence Magazine, Black American Literature Forum, Quilt, Catalyst, Solid Ground, City Arts Quarterly, Obsidian, Black Books Bulletin, Moving Out, Journal of Black Poetry, Left Curve, Journal of African Literature Association, Black Camera, Journal of African American History and several other journals and anthologies. She has published two collections of poetry, Peace of My Mind and Solos, and a collection of short stories, The Sweetest Berry on the Bush. Her plays have been produced at the New Federal Theater, Penumbra Theater, ETA Theater, and Tafari Jirani Theater. She has taught in the History Department at George Washington University and was an assistant professor at Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts. Currently, she is adjunct professor at University of Maryland-Baltimore.
The A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk on Race) open discussion series is hosted by Busboys and Poets as a community service. It provides the opportunity for people to come together and speak openly and honestly about issues of race. The intent is that each person walks away from the discussion feeling something: challenged, educated, uncomfortable, enlightened, refreshed, reassured and hopefully inspired and moved to action! Each month there is a new topic for discussion.
Free and open to all. To be added to the A.C.T.O.R. email list, please email nafisa@busboysandpoets.com
A.C.T.O.R. is held on the first Sunday of every month at Busboys and Poets 14th & V; 5:00 PM.
