Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies
16th Annual Ray Warren Symposium
Beyond Resistance: Race and Revolutionary Struggle
November 13-15, 2019
Please scroll down for the full schedule. This schedule is subject to change. All events are free and open to the public.
Watzek Library Exhibit
“Do-Gooders” and Friends: The Successes and Failures of Community Advocacy in the Case of Cheryl James
Watzek Library, Special Collections and Archives
This exhibit looks at how community groups tried—and, more often than not, failed—to get justice for Portland teenager Cheryl James after her arrest for assaulting an FBI officer in 1971. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Albina Ministerial Alliance, alongside others, sought an acquittal that was never awarded. This exhibition examines their efforts, the challenges they faced, and what hampered their success.
Curated by L&C students Emma Celebrezze ’20 and Ashley O’Leary ’22.
This exhibit will remain on display on the top floor of Watzek Library through the end of the fall semester.
Healing Justice Practice Space
As part of the symposium this year, we are offering a Healing Justice Practice Space (HJPS). An HJPS is a place for community healing in relation to social justice work, and it centers Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, and queer and trans folks. Please read more about the space and specific offerings here!
Wednesday, November 13
7 p.m., Council Chamber, Templeton Campus Center
Keynote Presentation
It’s Our Future: Reimagining Environmental Justice
Feliquan Charlemagne, national executive director, and Kimaya Mahajan, Washington co-director, U.S. Youth Climate Strike
* We regret that Isra Hirsi is no longer able to participate in the symposium. Please note that Kimaya Mahajan is speaking in her place.
Welcoming remarks and introductions by RWS co-chairs Arunima Singh Jamwal, L&C ’21, and Eva Magaña, L&C ’20
- Please click here to view the video of the presentation by Feliquan Charlemagne and Kimaya Mahajan, It’s Our Future: Reimagining Environmental Justice
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For additional information about accessibility, please consult our “Event Details” page.
No tickets needed. Please note that seating is limited. First-come seating.
Thursday, November 14
9:30–11 a.m., Stamm, Templeton Campus Center
Snapshots of a Black Revolution
This discussion highlights Portland Black Panther history. Current moments of revolutionary activism reflect and refract our collective past. How does this history act as a bridge to the future? How can we learn from it?
Kent Ford, Portland Black Panther Party co-founder, in conversation with Jules Boykoff, L&C MA ’98, professor of politics and government at Pacific University.
Introduced by Reiko Hillyer, L&C associate professor of history.
11:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Smith Hall, Albany Quadrangle
Race Across Disciplinary Boundaries: Student Research Presentations
Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion with L&C students who will share original research projects addressing issues of race and ethnicity. Bring your lunch. Coffee and cookies will be provided.
Moderator: Shalini Hanstad, L&C ’22
Emma Celebrezze, L&C ’20, and Ashley O’Leary, L&C ’22, “‘Do-Gooders’ and Friends: The Successes and Failures of Community Advocacy in the Case of Cheryl James”
Anaïs Isiria Gurrola, L&C ’19, SOAN major, RWS co-chair, “No soy de aquí ni de allá: Negotiations of Latinx Liminality”
Mila Robles-Wong, L&C ’19, SOAN major, “What Happens When You Lack Trust: Social Implications of Transportation in Urban Development”
Junix Senner, L&C ’20, SOAN major, “Queering The Filipinx Diaspora With Ruby Ibarra”
Rebecca Ann Yant, L&C ’19, biology major, “Racial Minority Students’ STEM Self-Efficacy at Lewis & Clark College”
Tatiana Hernández, L&C ’21, psychology major, “Underrepresentation of Latina DJs in Portland, Oregon”
1:45–3:15 p.m., Stamm, Templeton Campus Center
Militancy, Non-Violence, and the State: Tactics and Consequences of Revolutionary Action
Is it better for advocates and activists to work outside or inside existing institutions and systems to create change? What factors affect the determination of which tactics will yield more beneficial results? This panel explores the spectrum of tactics and methods of revolution and interrogates militancy, advocacy, and forms of peaceful protest.
Moderator: María Laura Andrade Laso, L&C ’18
Jennifer Anderson, L&C ’19, chairperson of Anakbayan PDX
Anthony Yamashiro, Northwest Filipino American student alliance representative of Anakbayan PDX
Angelica Lim, GABRIELA National Alliance of Women
Teressa Raiford, founder of Don’t Shoot PDX
Nate Atwell, organizer, All-African People’s Revolutionary Party
3:30–5 p.m., Stamm, Templeton Campus Center
Roots and Homelands
This panel considers how our work for liberation originates in the cultures we come from and the roots that nourish us. We hope to hold space for personal and familial stories while also encouraging scholarly reflections on land and its politics. How do people maintain connections to homelands as a form of resistance, or to the colonized lands that they call home? How does our work reconcile the traumas that have been passed down with generational histories, and how might it construct revolutionary possibilities for our shared future?
Moderator: Sepideh Bajracharya, L&C assistant professor with term of anthropology
Kaiya Laguardia-Yonamine, Roosevelt High senior and student activist
Anand Vaidya, assistant professor of anthropology, Reed College
Moé Yonamine, L&C ’01, Roosevelt High teacher and Rethinking Schools editor
Jairaj Singh, community outreach manager at Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) Communities United Fund
Simeon Jacob, community youth organizer at Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
7 p.m., Council Chamber, Templeton Campus Center
Keynote Presentation
Prison Abolitionist Imagination
Jackie Wang, black studies scholar, poet, multimedia artist, and author of Carceral Capitalism
Welcoming remarks and introductions by RWS co-chairs Anaïs Isiria Gurrola, L&C ’19, and JahAsia Jacobs, L&C ’20
- Please click here to view the video of the presentation by Jackie Wang, Prison Abolitionist Imagination
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For additional information about accessibility, please consult our “Event Details” page.
No tickets needed. Please note that seating is limited. First-come seating.
Friday, November 15
9:30–11 a.m., Stamm, Templeton Campus Center
Community Work for Collective Liberation
What does it look like to challenge our dependence on state institutions for help, especially when they have a history of failing us? How do communities of color build strength, healing, and sustenance in one another when legal resources fall short? This panel explores various ways to put pressure on existing institutions through alternatives to the criminal legal system, housing and food justice, and local economies.
Moderator: Kim Cameron-Domínguez, L&C assistant professor of anthropology
Cameron Whitten, executive director of Q Center and founder of Brown Hope
Lilith Sinclair, organizer, Portland Jobs With Justice
Quinn Orona Burgos, L&C ’20, “Reparations and Lewis & Clark College”
LaQuida Landford, community health worker and housing justice activist
11:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Fir Acres Black Box Theatre
Performance: Petite Dames
Written and directed by Josie Seid, in collaboration with student producer Citali Guevara Hernandez, L&C ’21
Featuring L&C students Nyna Kumi Butler, Cy Matthews, Tuse Mahenya, Olivia Santiago, Arielle Scena-Shifrin, and Rocco Weyer Johnson
Inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women, and written as an act of resistance to disrupt the usual depictions of the Civil War era, “Petite Dames” tells the story of a “family” of women who come together to survive during turbulent times: Beck, the writer; Celia, the artist; Sissy, the singer; and Adelade, the daughter of the plantation owners. Some of the women have come to the plantation to escape horrible circumstances and plan for the future, while others are there to avoid that future, hoping simply to have some peace and finally live a life that is truly their own. As they grow closer, we discover that their dreams are shrouded in fear and secrets that could possibly put their self-made family in grave danger.
Co-sponsored by Students for Cultural Inclusion in the Theater (SCIT) and L&C Theatre Department
1:45–3:15 p.m., Stamm, Templeton Campus Center
Artivism: Art as Revolution
This panel will explore revolutionary artistic modalities and aesthetic dimensions. One way we go beyond resistance is by concretely remaking meaning through words onto paper, paint brushes, and songs. How do artists bring change to life? What is the place of art in the revolution?
Moderator: Tammy Jo Wilson, L&C visual arts and technology manager
Rell Be Free, educator, community organizer, and hip-hop artist
Emilly G. Prado, writer, DJ, and consultant
Cambria Lorene Herrera, stage director, community organizer, and performance artist
3:30–5:00 p.m., Watzek Library Classroom 245
Social Justice Zine Workshop facilitated by Vo
Participants will run through the process of zine-making from initial concept to fabrication with a focus on social justice themes, and an undercurrent of community and capacity-building. Facilitator Vo is the editor of international zine for folks of color “Fix My Head” and “The Swan The Vulture,” in addition to other publications.
Limited to 35 participants. Register by emailing rwchairs@lclark.edu. Some seats may be available at the door.
7 p.m., Agnes Flanagan Chapel
Race Monologues
Each year a different group of L&C students writes an original series of personal narratives to share their feelings, experiences, and understandings of race, ethnicity, and identity.
Featuring L&C students Yashshree Raj Bisht ’21, Sam Daer ’21, Sam Durán ’20, Elizabeth Gillingham ’20, Lizzie Gregory ’22, Anaïs Isiria Gurrola ’19, Shalini Hanstad ’22, Immanuel Harice ’22, Tatiana Hernández ’21, Arunima Singh Jamwal ’21, Anmol Kahlon ’22, Misha Kurita-Ditz ’23, Marilyn Lucas ’23, Amelia Madarang ’22, Lucas Martinez ’20, Ariely Mejia ’22, Joanne Sally Mero ’20, Sherlock Ortiz ’20, and Huitzil Sol Bennett Perez ’22.
Coordinated by L&C students Liza Clairagneau ’21, Elizabeth Gillingham ’20, and Samantha Hernandez ’21.
Doors open at 6:40 p.m. Seating in the Chapel will be limited to the first 460 people who arrive. Please also note that the doors will be closed at 7 p.m. Latecomers will not be seated.