A first-of-its-kind symposium March 23-24 will be centered on highlighting the shifting, dynamic contributions that Afro-Diasporic communities have made to Houston throughout its history and in the present day.
The "Black Houston(s): Research, Policy and Activism - Past and Future" symposium is supported by Rice University's Center for Engaged and Collaborative Learning, Fondren Library, the university's Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice and the Houston Public Library's African American History Research Center. Attendance is free and open to the public; registration is required.
This inaugural symposium has been designed to provide a platform for both scholars and community members to come together toward furthering the goal of unpacking the varied ways in which the political, economic and social landscapes of Houston impact the diverse experiences for Black people in the city. It will also serve to draw attention to the rich past of Black Houston while creating an intellectual space for scholars and collaborative working groups to establish research networks that will impact future policymaking and scholarship in the years to come.
"Our hope is that this will be the first of many opportunities to facilitate discussion and develop collaborative programming across the community and among scholars throughout the city," said Portia Hopkins, the Council on Library and Information Resources and Digital Library Federation Postdoctoral Research Associate in Data Curation for African American Studies and co-chair of Rice's Symposium Planning Committee.
The "Black Houston(s)" symposium will take place at two separate locations. On March 23, events are from 12:30-7 p.m. at the African American History Research Center's Gregory Campus in Houston's Fourth Ward, while the symposium's final day of programming will take place from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. in the Kyle Morrow Room on the third floor of Fondren Library on Rice's campus.
