Events By Quarter
Race Matters Series
Unsettled: The Refugee in the Hyperghetto
MCC Lounge
Scholar-activist Eric Tang will explore themes from his new book, Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees in the NYC Hyperghetto, including the relationship between immigrant communities and African Americans as they experience common and distinct forms of state violence taking shape in America’s inner cities. Tang’s research sits at the intersection of two issues that define the current moment: the international refugee crisis and the resurgent movement against police violence in the urban United States. Eric Tang is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas-Austin.
Cup of Culture
13th
MCC Theater
“Powerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming, Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13TH will get your blood boiling and tear ducts leaking.” – The NY Times
Award-winning director/writer Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out with bracing lucidity. (English, 2016, 100 min)
Watch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66F3WU2CKk
Poetry Reading with Shirley Geok-Lin Lim & Rick Benjamin
MCC Lounge
Join Shirley Geok-Lin Lim and Rick Benjamin for poetry readings, open mic, and reception. Shirley Geok-Lin Lim will be reading poetry written during the 2014 Hong Kong Democracy Movement protests and from more recent work on the U.S. and Santa Barbara scenes. She hopes to facilitate discussion on the relations between the poet and the world, poetry and politics. Rick Benjamin’s work walks the line between the mystical and the mundane and sometimes attempts to blur it altogether. He will be reading new work and other poems from his three books, Passing Love, Floating World, & Endless Distances. He has just completed his term as State Poet Laureate of Rhode Island (2012 - 2016) at Brown University.
Race Matters Series
Trump Says Go Back, We Say Fight Back
MCC Theather
Donald Trump's election has been viewed with dismay, even alarm. Join us in a discussion of the opportunities for organizing and coalition building that we can and must engage. The panel discussion will include Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson and Dr. Robin Kelley from UCLA. Johnson writes and teaches on race and racism, cultural history, spatial politics, and political economy. Kelley’s research has explored the history of social movements in the U.S., the African Diaspora, and Africa; black intellectuals; music; visual culture; contemporary urban studies and more. Elizabeth Robinson is an independent media practitioner and activist, both locally and internationally, and who currently produces ‘No Alibis’ on KCSB fm.
