Sites of Struggle: Centering African American Women in Contemporary Politics and Culture

The Sites of Struggle symposium will provide the community with an opportunity to engage in critical reflection on the impact of recent developments on the status of women and gender relations in African-American communities. Key recent developments include, but are not limited to, Hurricane Katrina, the Don Imus Controversy, and the Duke lacrosse rape investigation. This event is being organized by faculty in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies and the Curriculum in Women's Studies, in conjunction with the Institute of African American Research.

Featured Symposium Speakers

Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Melissa Harris-Lacewell is Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University. She is author of Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, (Princeton 2004).Her academic research has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes and her interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology. Professor Harris-Lacewell's writings have been published in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Crain's Chicago Business and New York Newsday. She has provided expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender issues for the New York Times, Boston Globe, CNN, NBC, Fox, Public Television, Showtime, Black Enterprise, National Public Radio and many other radio and print sources around the country. Professor Harris-Lacewell is a dynamic public speaker who often addresses youth groups, colleges, churches and other organizations.

She keeps a political web log at www.melissaharrislacewell.com. She is the mother of a five-year old daughter.

Moya Bailey

Moya Bailey is a third year fellow in Women's Studies at Emory University. Her research is focused on health care disparities in marginalized groups. She received her undergraduate degree from Spelman College where she majored in Women's Studies with a concentration in Health. While at Spelman she was a resident assistant and was active in many campus organizations including AUC Peace, Sisterfire, Afrekete, and served as President of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) during the famous Nelly Protest. Her organizational and planning activities with the FMLA and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Rights Conference led her to a life of activism centered on health issues and social constructs affecting women of color. Bailey also serves on the national board of the Davis- Putter Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for activist students.