On Feb. 26, Professor Clemmie Harris of the History and African Studies program presented, in collaboration with the Center for Historical Research and the Office of DEI and Belonging, “The Black Freedom Struggle for Political and Economic Justice.” 

The presentation highlighted influential events and people that impacted Black History and current culture today. It touched on the Great Migration, Civil Rights Movements, Black Power Movement and today’s struggle for diversity, equity and inclusion under the new presidential administration.

“If we decide to open up to diverse histories of people different from us, we will have a new attitude,” Harris said.

Harris started by discussing former President Woodrow Wilson’s impact on civil and human rights. Wilson not only presented a movie supporting the KKK in the White House, which normalized racist behavior, but also enacted racist policies to keep minorities lower in society to prevent discord.

Another point Harris emphasized during his presentation was a discussion on lynching. He told the story and images of Emmett Till, who was a young boy in Mississippi who was lynched in 1955. Till’s death brought uproar and was a starting point for the Civil Rights Movement, after his mother showed the world the gruesome death that her son endured. 

Later on, Harris discussed the Harlem Renaissance, which “empowered changes in Black identity and expression.” He touched on the impacts of Rosa Parks, the Little Rock Nine, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the March on Washington. 

With DEI rollbacks taking place under the new Trump administration, many considered the presentation especially relevant.  

“Dr. Harris was talking about things that I knew about, but he went more in-depth and discussed history from a different perspective that I was previously unaware of,” sophomore Liv Leider said. “I found it interesting to learn about the war on drugs and the racial biases the government held against minorities.”

“While we cannot choose our color, we can choose our commitments,” Harris said.