“Monuments in the Age of Black Lives Matter: The View from St. Louis” SIUE Launches Virtual Sankofa Series
The first of a series of robust conversations surrounding the history of slavery and its lasting legacies will explore the difference between memorial and monuments, the current public discourse regarding Confederate monuments, and the goals and purposes of monuments and memorialization.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, specifically its membership of the international Universities Studying (USS) consortium, will launch the Sankofa Lecture and Dialogue Series with a virtual discussion, entitled “Monuments in the Age of Black Lives Matter: The View from St. Louis” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.
Anyone interested in this important subject is encouraged to attend. Registration is available at https://siue.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fGLYYaT0Tr6bHEHgWW9Zpg
The Sankofa Lecture and Dialogue Series will feature SIUE faculty and other speakers presenting on a variety of topics within the framework of slavery in the region.
“These presentations are designed to facilitate discussion with the community and illuminate histories that have previously been understudied or are not well-known by the general public,” said TRHT member Bryan Jack, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies. “The goal is to provide context for a better understanding of the legacies of slavery in our region and to dismantle the idea of a hierarchy of human value.”
Presenters of “Monuments in the Age of Black Lives Matter: The View from St. Louis” include Katie Poole-Jones, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Art and Design; and Erik Alexander, PhD, and Jeff Manuel, PhD, both associate professors in the Department of Historical Studies.
The speakers will create discourse around such questions as:
- Does removing monuments erase history?
- How else can or should we remember history if not through monuments?
- What do we choose to memorialize and why?
The Sankofa Lecture and Dialogue Series is one of the University’s many anti-racism initiatives. For more information on the TRHT and its future programs and initiatives, visit siue.edu/provost/trht.
Photo: Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center logo.
