At a pivotal historical moment, this symposium will bring further attention to anti-black state violence in the Americas. The University of California, Berkeley will host some of the most influential social movement leaders from Brazil and the United States—homes to the two largest Black populations outside the continent of Africa.
As the U.S. enters a contentious new congressional term and Brazil’s far-right presidential leader comes to power, this symposium will facilitate transnational dialogue, learning, and coalitions. Taking place over three days, we will engage with scholars, scholar-activists, and organizers from Brazil’s Black Movement (Movimento Negro), Black Women’s Movement (Movimento de Mulheres Negras), and the U.S. who have made critical interventions in the areas of law, politics, education, health, and cultural production. Through discussions, workshops and presentations, we will engage with the power and challenges of addressing anti-black state violence through political action and scholarship from three vantage points: the historical foundations of Black struggle, today’s socio-cultural and democratic political contexts, and future pathways to contesting racialized forms of violence.
This symposium will generate fruitful pathways for moving toward inter-disciplinary research on ethno-racial inequality, the African Diaspora in the Americas and histories of Black struggle, state violence, law and democracy, social movements, gender politics, education, and public health, among other areas.