Institute of the Black World, 50th Anniversary

NOTE: This informational blog was compiled by and reprinted with the permission of Abdul Akailmat, PhD.

One of the founding institutions at the 1960s birth of Black Studies, the IBW reignited the radical Black tradition by linking academic work with the Black Liberation Movement.  There will be seven ZOOM seminars exploring IBW history and more (see below).  You can register at this link: bit.ly/IBW50Plus

https://twitter.com/50Ahsa/status/1405518885626040321/photo/1

The personal archives of Abdul Alkalimat, as an IBW founder, can be found here: http://alkalimat.org/ibw/

History is not only about the past.  We need to use historical reflection as a guide to the future.

SESSION#1: Tuesday, June 29 The Origins and Mission of IBW This program critically assesses IBW’s role as a think tank for black struggle, discusses the role of Dr. Vincent Harding within the Institute and explores ways in which IBW’s experiences are relevant to today’s struggles.

SESSION #2: Tuesday, July 13 Understanding the New Black Poetry Dr. Stephen Henderson, an intellectual architect of the Institute, taught in the first of IBW’s Summer Symposia in 1969 and wrote and produced the book Understanding the New Black Poetry. [This collection] framed the seismic shift that occurred in African American arts and letters in the 1960s. This session looks at the ways in which that shift has developed and morphed over the years since.

SESSION #3: Tuesday, July 20 Remaking the Past to Make the Future: The New Black History This program explores the evolution of Black History from the late 1960s to the present and its relevance to the future of Black America.

SESSION #4: Tuesday, July 27 Education for Liberation This session will look at our goals in the struggle for a New Black Education. As an IBW Monthly Report said in August 1973, “The education of our children is our responsibility. We cannot place it in anyone else’s hands.”

SESSION #5 : Tuesday, August 3 The New Black Studies This session assesses IBW’s role in promoting, informing and supporting the development of Black Studies with an emphasis on two seminal Black Studies conferences and a variety of publications and consultancies.

SESSION #6: Tuesday, August 10 The New Black Agenda IBW drafted “The Gary Declaration...." With additions and revisions, it became the National Black Agenda of 1972. This session discusses contemporary black agendas against the backdrop of the Gary Declaration.

SESSION #7: Tuesday August 17 Following the Ancestors' Footsteps into the Future Tribute to the Ancestors.

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