MSU’s From Slavery to Freedom lecture series returns with virtual speeches

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THURSDAY, Feb. 4 — Michigan State University’s Dr. William G. Anderson lecture series From Slavery to Freedom returns for its 21st year with a lineup of virtual speeches, featuring filmmaker Dr. Monique Morris, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Dr. Cornel West, associate professor of public philosophy at Harvard Univerity and professor emeritus at Princeton University. 

“This is the first time we’ve done this in our 21-year history. Typically, we’d all gather together in the Kellogg Center, but we wanted to follow pandemic protocol. It's also an opportunity for us to have a different reach this year. Being able to participate from your living room gives us a chance to reach more people,” said Marita Gilbert, associate dean of diversity and campus inclusion at MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Which is important, because we are having very critical conversations.”

The lecture series comes after a watershed year for grassroots activism against police brutality and systemic racism, spurred by the police killings of Black citizens including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Gilbert said the important conversations that arose from a summer of widespread demonstrations amid the coronavirus pandemic had an influence on the content of the keynote speaker’s lectures. 

Morris will be the first speaker, scheduled for Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. She directed the 2019 documentary “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.” Morris’ work addresses the marginalization and criminalization of women of color. Gilbert said Morris will discuss how education institutions can be more inclusive and equitable. 

“Having her open the conversation with us in February will challenge us to think about the things we can do to interrupt a system of marginalizing girls and femmes of color,” Gilbert said. “She raises awareness by providing statistics and telling us what’s going on with the data. She shares actual stories and narratives about what these statistics look like in real-time.” 

Cullors will speak on Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. Cullors is known worldwide for co-founding the Black Lives Matter movement, but she is also a New York Times best-selling author and co-founder of the prison activist organization Dignity and Power Now. Gilbert said Cullors’ presence will help inform people of the true impact that they can potentially have as an individual. She will discuss how commitment and hard work is instrumental in grassroots activism. 

“When we hear about people who have been instrumental in large-scale movements, we lionize them and then we feel distant from them,” Gilbert said. “I think young people need to see that she’s not much older than them. The impact she’s been able to make by first starting in her own community and then pushing for other people to see the importance of her work — I hope it serves as an inspiration.”

West, slated for Feb. 25 at 5 p.m., is famous for his longtime status as a thought-provoking speaker and academic visionary. Some of his most well-known and influential published works include “Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters.” While West is a highly respected figure in the world of academia, he is also unafraid of participating in direct action. He was arrested in 2014 at a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri, protesting the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. 

“He talks to the community and the academy in a way that front and center challenges us on what we’re willing to do to make social and political conditions better,” Gilbert said. “As a public intellectual, what I admire about him is that he’s not afraid for folks to disagree, even within our own community. He asks, ‘Even if we don’t agree, what can we commit to in terms of the vision of the work?’”

The Dr. William G. Anderson lecture series began as a way to discuss and explore the history and culture of the African American experience in the United States. Anderson, now 93, is still an active participant in the lecture series' programming and still works with MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. Anderson is a longtime advocate for civil rights and social justice, having participated in the Albany Movement, a desegregation campaign that took place in 1961 in Albany, Georgia. 

“He was a trailblazer in our field of osteopathic medicine. He’s a champion of social justice and transformative change. He has connected that within our field of osteopathic medicine and pushed the field to learn what inclusive excellence really means,” Gilbert said.