Upcoming Events
Black Table Talk x DCC: Reading Discussion of Sami Schalk’s “Black Disability Politics” Heading link
Wednesday, April 17
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
In anticipation of the 2024 Grace Holt Lecture and Celebration with Dr. Sami Schalk, UIC’s Black Cultural Center, Disability Cultural Center, and Racialized Body Cluster are hosting a reading discussion!
Join us to discuss excerpts from Dr. Schalk’s Black Disability Politics–the connections it draws and the questions it provokes. We’ll read some passages together to get the discussion rolling. To access the readings, please visit this link. We will be reading:
Introduction: Black Health Matters (pp. 1-17, 16 pages)
Praxis Interlude One: Anti-ableist Approaches to Fighting Disabling Violence (pp. 69-80, 12 pages)
(Not a) Conclusion: The Present and Futures of Black Disability Politics (pp. 154-160, 7 pages)
In this busy time of the semester, read what you can, and come as you are. Don’t forget to register by visiting this link!
Lunch will be provided! We’ll have vegan and gluten-free options, and lunches will be boxed / take-away friendly, in case people prefer not to unmask around others to eat.
Book giveaway (while supplies last): Get a print copy of Black Disability Politics! Access Living’s Arts & Culture Project is generously sponsoring copies of the book to be given away.
Covid safety: More masking means more safety for immunocompromised people in our communities. Because lunch will be served, people will likely be unmasked to eat and drink. Please wear a mask when you’re not actively eating or drinking! We will have extras on hand.
Access info: We will have CART (live captions) in the Zoom and projected into the space. The BCC gallery is on the 2nd floor, and the elevator is located in an adjacent, connected building, Burnham Hall.
This event is hosted by UIC’s Black Cultural Center, Disability Cultural Center, and the Provost Initiative on the Racialized Body.
We want to thank our co-sponsors, Access Living’s Arts and Culture Project and the UIC Department of Black Studies, for their support.
ID: On a purple and fuscia background a flier features a banner at the top “UIC Black Cultural Center and Disability Cultural Center present.” Just below the banner is a graphic of two black chairs at a table, and black letters read “Black Table Talk” and yellow letters read “DCC.” Just below is the byline in white font “Reading Discussion on Sami Schalks,” and in yellow “Black Disability Politics.” The date of the event is in white italicized letters, “April 17, 12-1pm CST BCC Gallery and on Zoom.” On the bottom left of the flier is a text box that shares more details on the event “In anticipation of the 2024 Grace Holt Lecture and Celebration, UIC’s Black Cultural Center, Disability Cultural Center and Racialized Body Cluster will host a reading discussion on excerpts from Sami Schalks book! Read what you can, and come as you. Lunch provided!” On the right of this body of text is an image of the book cover with a black background, yellow letters with a red line above and below the book title “Black Disability Politics.” At the bottom of the poster is a request in purple text on a yellow background, “Please RSVP on the Grace Holt website, You can find more details the readings, Zoom info and accessibility info.” At the bottom is the logo for the centers, and the QR code for the event.
Saving Ourselves for the Principled Struggle: Protecting Minoritized Women's Mental Health in Higher Education Heading link
Wednesday, April 17
5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
The sudden deaths of two Black women university presidents, Joanne A. Epps (Temple) and Dr. Orinthia T. Montague (Volunteer State Community College), and the suicide of Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey, Vice President of Student Affairs (Lincoln University) brought to light the impact of work-related stress on minoritized women in higher education. The battle weariness that comes from doing social justice work has mental and physical consequences that go unacknowledged and unaddressed in the academy. Yet it must be if we are to save ourselves for the principled struggle, where we work collectively in the service of justice. Join us on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 5-7pm CST as we discuss this important issue. Out of our discussion, we hope to build a working group to equip our institutions with knowledge to promote accountability for the harms that prevent our shared work.
This is an online event.
Ghosts of the Past: Anti-Black Aesthetics and the Ruse of Historical Accuracy in the Sherlock Holmes Video Game Series Heading link
Thursday, April 18, 2024
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Join us for a talk by Dr. Dez Brown exploring the anti-Black aesthetics within three popular video games in the Sherlock Holmes series and their effects on Black gamers.
Historically, the Black community has been largely ostracized from on-screen representation in the video game genre. On-screen inclusion was limited to sparse portrayals of anti-Black, one-dimensional caricatures. In recent years, there has been a noted increase in the prominence of Black characters due to demands for authentic and multifaceted Black life in this genre; however, this is often solely through narratives of slavery, violence, and domination underneath the guise of historical accuracy.
In this presentation, Dr. Brown will discuss the anti-Black aesthetics illustrated within three popular video games in the Sherlock Holmes series: Crimes and Punishments (2014), The Devil’s Daughter (2016), and Chapter One (2021). They will consider the implications of historical accuracy used as a moral impetus to showcase Black life and their effects on Black gamers. In conversation with Jared Sexton, Saidiya Hartman, and other scholars in the fields of Afropessimism and Black feminism, they will argue that these violent representations of Black people are the result of the concurrent history of slavery in the U.S. as well as the spectacle of Black suffering in the U.S. and abroad.
2024 Grace Holt Lecture and Celebration Heading link
Thursday, April 18, 2024
3:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Join the UIC Department of Black Studies for their annual Grace Holt Lecture and Celebration! This event honors the tremendous work and legacy of Dr. Grace Holt, the founder and first director of the UIC Department of Black Studies.
The 2024 Annual Grace Holt Celebration serves the purpose of engaging our community of faculty, staff, students and alumni with emerging scholars and pressing issues in Black Studies as well as providing a space for reconnection and networking.
RSVP here: https://forms.uofi.uic.edu/sec/759714480
We believe that training in Black Studies is critical for our students as they enter an increasingly tumultuous world and that we provide an important companion to many professions ranging from health care to business, law and public policy. This was Grace Holt’s vision, and we are committed to sustaining it even in challenging times.
At the event each year, we recognize outstanding UIC students that are dedicated to fighting social injustices and promoting racial equity in our community.
The celebration will feature keynote speaker Dr. Sami Schalk (she/her), an associate professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Schalk’s talk is titled, “504 and Beyond: Disability Politics and the Black Panther Party.” Drawing from her book, Black Disability Politics, this talk will detail the Black Panther Party’s involvement in the 1977 504 Sit-in and discuss it as a historical example of how Black cultural workers have engaged with disability as a political issue in ways that have sometimes been obscured in Black studies and disability studies alike.
Dr. Schalk is the author of Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction (Duke 2018) and Black Disability Politics (Duke 2022). Dr. Schalk’s academic work focuses on race, disability and gender in contemporary American literature and culture. She also writes for mainstream outlets, including a monthly column called “Pleasure Practices” in TONE Madison. Dr. Schalk identifies as a fat, Black, queer, disabled femme and a pleasure activist.
To learn more about and apply for these awards, visit the Grace Holt Memorial Award and Black Studies Departmental Award pages here: https://blst.uic.edu/resources-for-students/departmental-funding/grace-holt-awards-2/
To learn more about Dr. Grace Holt, visit her page here: https://blst.uic.edu/grace-holt/
Write@WLRC Heading link
Every Friday through April 26, 2024
(except March 22)
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center
1700 Student Services Building
1200 W. Harrison St.
Feeling like you don’t ever have time to put words on a page? Looking for a writing community that can keep you moving?
Whether you are writing a thesis, article, chapter, or book, you could use some support.
Join Write@WLRC, a weekly drop-in space dedicated to supporting your writing goals! Graduate students, faculty, and staff are welcome to join.
Sessions are semi-structured. A typical session begins with a check-in; participants share goals for the day, then get to writing.
Drop in and stay for as long as your schedule allows
Accessibility and Food Info:
– Masks are required.
– Hot/cold drinks and snacks will be available. We ask that guests not eat inside WLRC’s suite (quick bites and sips are okay as long as masks are immediately replaced).
– Guests may eat inside the building’s courtyards or lounge.
– Building and suite accessibility info is available on our website.
Please contact us with any questions or access requests: wlrc@uic.edu or (312) 413-1025.