Attending a Panel - Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Liberal Arts Tradition Symposium - Nia Gooden Class of 2029
On October 9th, I was able to attend a panel during the Martin Luther King Jr. And the Black Liberal Arts Tradition symposium. The panel was titled “Unearthing the Black Liberal Arts Tradition in the Archives” and it featured Dr. Michelle Hite, Shaundra Walker, Dr. Aisha Johnson, and Holly Smith. This panel gave me a window into the important work being done by Black memory workers at HBCUs across the country both in the past and in the present. Dr. Hite started the panel off with an informative explanation of how archival research proves transformative for Black students. She spoke about the limits of current archival practices, particularly at PWIS where Black students are an afterthought. She mentioned this in order to demonstrate the benefit of the contrary, where HBCU libraries have Black students at the forefront of their mind and therefore are prepared with substantial archives of Black history. She concluded her section of the panel by highlighting the...
