All Events
DIVERSITY LECTURE
My Brother’s Keeper? The Intracommunal Practice of Love and the Redefinition of Diversity Felice Blake
MCC Theater
There is a limited range of ideas and actions in our current definition of diversity. If the vision of diversity attempted to include people of color in the institutions that excluded them historically, such inclusion did not (and perhaps never intended to) dismantle the structure of racial power in the U.S. Nonetheless, we live in a moment of social and political unraveling in which we witness, disavow, or simply live with unearned advantage or undeserved suffering. We need to reconfigure the work and politics of diversity. Our ideas about, and our practices, and commitments to diversity need to ask and answer the questions that are valuable to communities of color. These questions are formed, debated, and answered in struggle. Paying attention to intracommunal practices of revolutionary love, care, and support enable us to seek new meanings and values of diversity based on the collective consciousness towards social justice that these very communities envision. Felice Blake is Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Director of American Cultures & Global Contexts at UCSB. Co-sponsored by American Cultures & Global Contexts; AntiRacism, Inc.; the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Academic Policy; and the Office of Equal Opportuniry & Sexual Harrassment/Title IX Compliance.
Cup of Culture-Fun at the MCC
Good Hair
MCC Theater
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, this film visits beauty salons, hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community. Hair care professionals, beauty shop patrons, as well as celebrities including Ice-T, Dr. Maya Angelou, Eve and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock. Co-sponsored by the Black Student Union and the Center for Black Studies Research. Jeff Stilson, 95 min., English, USA.
MCC in IV
An Evening of Spoken Word
Coffee Collaborative-6560 Pardall Rd., Isla Vista
Nationally acclaimed spoken word poet Yosimar Reyes will join us for an evening of powerful and moving poetry based on issues facing queer immigrant youth. The event will be hosted by Reyes and is an open mic for anyone to artistically express themselves while educating others on current issues. Be prepared to come up on stage and share your talents in this safe space for a night of 'edutainment'.
Race Matters Series
South Asian Youth Activism: Resisting Racism Through Fusion Music Falu Bakrania
MCC Lounge
South Asian youth have long resisted racism through various forms of fusion music, including bhangra and Asian Underground. In this talk, Bakrania will trace the history of this resistance, examining music by a range of artists as well as the club-going practices of fans. She will also interrogate this history, illuminating entrenched forms of sexism and classism. Her goal is to broaden our understanding of resistance in youth culture and therefore of pathways to social justice. Falu Bakrania is Associate Professor of Race and Resistance Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Books will be sold following the presentation. Falu Bakrania is the author of Bhangra and Asian Underground: South Asian Music and Politics of Belonging in Britain and is Associate Professor of Race and Resistance Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music
