Roots  at 40: Reflections and Remembrances

In the final week of January, 1977, the ABC miniseries  Roots  became the most-watched television program of all time. To the surprise of the show's producers,  Roots  became not only a ratings windfall, but a cultural phenomenon, articulating an African-American counter-narrative of American history, provoking a dialogue about the legacy of slavery, and presenting African-American characters with a dignity and integrity that differed sharply from the caricatured representations common to television up to that time. In many ways, the response to the show by the media and the general public constitutes the first of many "conversations about race" that have punctuated the Post-Civil Rights era. On October 6 and 7 of 2017, Goodwin College will host a special conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast of  Roots . Goodwin College houses a significant repository of Alex Haley's writings, and it is committed to promoting dialogue about social justice and opportunity for all. We welcome 250-word proposals for conference presentations focused on any aspect of the miniseries, its impact, and its legacy. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Media representations of slavery and African-Americans over the last half-century,
• The sociological and educational impacts of intergenerational trauma,
• Re-viewing Roots within the context of contemporary concerns such as the epidemic of mass-incarceration, the cultural heritage of the Civil War, the Black Lives Matter campaign, etc.,
• The power of television as both an agent of change and as upholder of the status quo,
• Generic interactions between oral history and novelistic fiction, and between historical iconography and televised melodrama,
• The history of attempts to have a public "conversation about race" and their ambiguous outcomes,
• Genealogy, naming, and African-American identity,
• Approaches to teaching the novel and the miniseries.

In addition to scholarly contributions, we also welcome artwork, creative writing, personal narratives, and multimedia reflections on Roots for inclusion in the conference program.

 


For questions about the Conference  please contact Dr. Randy Laist at  [email protected]  or Amanda Daddona at  [email protected]

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPT CHAPTERS
Sub-Saharan African Migrations: Challenges, Failures, and Coping Strategies

We are seeking original chapters for a collection tentatively titled "Sub-Saharan African Migrations: Challenges, Failures, and Coping Strategies". While there are numerous examples of successful migration experiences, the aim of this collection is to explore the nature and frequency of the lack of success that too many sub-Saharan Africans encounter once they make the decision to emigrate. The amount of empirical research focusing on the link between migration and integration in the destination countries rose significantly in recent years. The variety of empirical methods that researchers employ is impressive, ranging from qualitative interviews to diverse questionnaire surveys with highly sophisticated statistical methods. However, apart from some isolated studies (Colomb & Ayats, 1962; Breuvart & Danvers, 1998; Chomentowski, 2010; Sfm, 2005, Thorsen, 2009; Zeleza, 2009), little is known about the lack of success in African migration dynamics.

Most studies on African migration report on the migration benefits, but leave out the social disappointment of migrants on economic, psychological, and political levels. We now know that the inability to achieve goals in a migration context can have different adverse impacts on individuals and the family group. Finally, structural racism in the countries of destination, in particular against African migrants, can significantly impede their professional, educational and personal development and have severe psychopathological impacts. The old "immigration culture" of Africans must be placed in the local and international contexts in which several factors overlap: social and economic disruption, conflicts of various kinds, dissatisfaction in conflict with aspirations towards new horizons that arise every day.

Possible topics might include:

• Modern Diaspora out of Sub-Saharan Africa and into a specific region of the World and the problems that migrants encounter. These regions would include Europe, Asia, Middle East, all of the Americas --including the USA, Canada, and Latin America--where there is a growing population of Africans now choosing to immigrate directly to countries like Brazil and Argentina;
• Internal migration within the continent of Africa;
• Representations of migration failures in performance such as popular culture, movies, literature, art, and exhibitions;
• Symbolic and emotional elements related to migrant lack of success as well as narratives and representations linked to the central topic;
• Disillusionment with the migration effort and its related psychopathologies, mental health and trauma due to any number of factors like: structural, institutional and individual racism or other causes in the destination country";
• Further consequences of the migrant experience in the form of linguistic isolation, lack of harmony or integration within the destination country;
• The ways in which these elements are narrated, visualized and often politicized;
• "The self-interested actions of politicians, pundits, and bureaucrats" (Massey, 2015);
• Gender and Migration;
• The Syrian effect on Sub-Saharan African migration;
• The inter-linkages between African migrations, identity, citizenship and social inadequacy;
• Papers that address possible solutions to any of the problems that appear above or that the author cares to address.

This list of suggestions is not restrictive, and we encourage likely participants to consider their own topics for a chapter.

Book description and Chapter Details:

The book will have two major sections: one descriptive and the other prescriptive. The first section will concentrate on the broad overview of the subjects tied together as one the greatest population movements out of Africa since the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The second section suggests alternatives to what currently happens and provides a pro-active stance towards the problems that receive attention in Section One.

All chapters must be in English and should not have been published previously. Authors should follow the APSA guidelines for writing book chapters. Each final chapter will be between 6,000-7500 words, including references. Images with previous written authorizations and rights for publication are welcome. Authors are responsible for obtaining the rights of any images as well as research interviews that appear in the text. Editors will provide forms later including a contract upon acceptance of the manuscript.

Interested scholars and practitioners of migration efforts should submit the following materials by July 30, 2016:

A) An abstract of no more than 300 words;

B) A biographical sketch of no more than two pages, including complete contact information;

C) An example of previously published work in the case of scholars or a sample of field work in the case of practitioners.

Timeline:

July 30, 2016: Send abstracts of no more than 300 words, together with a short bio including contact details, and one example of previously published work in a relevant field. In the case of practitioners, an example of the field work will suffice.

October 20, 2016: Acceptance letters will be sent to authors after selection.

April 28, 2017: Submission of chapters.

Please submit all expressions of interest, abstracts and bios to [email protected] Preferably with the subject line: "African Migration"

About the Editors:

Professor Yvonne Captain: Prof. Captain is an Associate Professor of Latin American and International Affairs at George Washington University. In addition to her expertise on Africa and its Diaspora, she researches and integrates into her teaching the relationships of South-South nations in Africa and Latin America. Her publications reflect these two areas of focus.

Doctor Papa Sow: Dr. Sow is a senior researcher at the Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany. He is currently working on the WASCAL project - West African Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use - funded by the German Ministry of Education. His research focuses on population dynamics issues with special links to African migrations (Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Morocco) and climate variability and uncertainties.

Dr. Elina Marmer: Dr. Marmer is a researcher, author and lecturer at the University of Hamburg, Institute of Intercultural Education and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work. She is mainly concerned with the nexus of racism and education, specifically focusing on  hegemonic knowledge production and its impact on students of African descent in Germany.

The Annual Ziyaara Ashahadatayn Visiting the 2 Martyrs: El Hajj Malik El Shabazz and Hajja Dr. Betty Shabazz

Fern Cliff Cemetery

280 Secor Rd., Hartsdale, NY

10 am to 1:30 pm

Afterwards

2:00 pm Salatul Dhur / Asr combined (Travelers)