KOSANBA:
The Congress of Santa Barbara (KOSANBA) is a scholarly
asociation
for the study of Haitian vodou housed at the Center
for Black Studies Research. KOSANBA’s
seventh international colloquium, “La
Fanmi-a sanble/Family Resemblances,” focused
on the relationship between Haitian Vodou and African-derived
religions. The colloquium was held March 31-April 1,
2006, in Detroit, Michigan at the Charles H. Wright
Museum of African American History. Over
two hundred participants were in attendance.
One of the books deriving from this project, Fragments
of Bone, appeared in 2005 with Illinois University
Press; two other volumes, Spirit, Myth, Reality and Vodou:
Invisible Powers, are scheduled for publication
this fall, respectively with Indiana University
Press and Palgrave/McMillan. Two more books are
in progress, Dr.
Gede and God in Every Woman.
The
Center’s visiting researcher
in 2005-2006, Dr. LeGrace Benson, completed the
first draft of her manuscript on Historical
Figures of Merit in Haitian Art while in residence
at the Center. The book is a powerful account of
works of art, some of them not known at all, which
offer a visual narrative about the country’s
social and political history (see Visiting Researcher
for more details).
This art project complements
the different, but equally significant work of
artist Hersza Barjon who has painted 126 paintings
depicting an indigenous vision of the Vodou religious
pantheon and whose collection the Center is representing.
The Center has co-sponsored two art exhibits on
her work and continues to apply for grants to
help take this magnificent collection to larger
art centers and museums. We have also produced
two catalogs on her work. Her artwork is featured
on the cover of two of the Center’s volumes.
Brassage, An Anthology
of Haitian Poetry was
published by the Center with Muticultural Women’s
Presence, Inc. This is the first published anthology
of contemporary poetry by Haitian Women. This is
an important project depicting personal, social
and political concerns facing Haitian women living
both in Haiti and in the Diaspora.
Poto Mitan:
The Center for Black Studies is currently working
with filmmakers Renée
Bergan and Mark Schuller to produce Poto Mitan:
Haitian Women Confronting Globalization and the
Third Occupation.
The image of Haiti that
comes out of both mainstream and alternative media
is almost entirely negative: a seemingly endless
stream of dire poverty, protracted violence, and
extreme fallout from natural disasters. While it
is true that Haiti is a society that is poor and
divided, there are important structural causes of
this poverty and division. Poto Mitan steps
forward where the press has left off, providing context
and understanding for the people who are confronting
these structural imbalances.
The film is a story of
struggle, resistance, solidarity, democracy and global
justice. Through gripping images of injustice and
the powerful, compelling stories/lives of five courageous
Haitian women, Poto Mitan will
inspire women around the world. Our approach is to
depict how inequalities based on globalization and
gender roles intersect and are experienced on the
ground. It is a tool to educate and empower solidarity
activists globally.
Journal of Haitian
Studies:
JOHS continues to be well received in the academic
community in the U.S. and abroad and produced
its eleven and twelve issues this year. Papers
are primarily generated from within the US and
from Haiti; we also received submissions from
places as far away as Belgium, Finland or Greece.
We noted an increase in our subscription-generated
income (almost $ 5,000 over the last year instead
of the projected $3,000) which may be linked
with the production of our two [strong] bicentennial
issues (one of them with color photographs) guest-edited
by two formidable teams Fatton/Bellegarde-Smith
and Danticat/Benson. In particular, institutional
subscriptions from Europe have increased. The
number of subscribers remains fairly stable,
combining internationally approximately 200 individual
and institutional subscriptions. An outreach
mailing to U.S. libraries is planned for Fall
2006. We also continue to send 30 complimentary
copies of each issue of JOHS to Haiti. One board
member has assisted us with distributing these
issues to other board members, libraries and
targeted social organizations.
Race and Technology
Initiative
AfroGEEKS
Anthology and DVD: Following
the two successful AfroGEEKS conferences organized
by the Center and held at UCSB, AfroGEEKS:
From Technophobia to Technophilia and AfroGEEKS:
Global Blackness and the Digital Public Sphere, the Center is currently
compiling a collection highlighting the important
work presented at these two international conferences.
The anthology includes seventeen essays from participants
from both conferences, highlighting various topics
including the digital divide, the importance of the
internet and virtual communities, technology and
art, connectivity and the diaspora, representation
in computer and other technology related sciences,
and globalization and modernization. The anthology
will also incorporate a DVD highlighting both conferences,
with special emphasis on the larger second [international]
conference funded by the Ford Foundation. The interactive
DVD will feature clips from speakers, presentation
information, links to the internet and embedded documents.
Both the anthology and DVD will be widely distributed
by the Center.
Screening
Noir: Last
year the Center launched the new journal Screening
Noir: A
Journal of Black Film, Television and New Media
Culture. Edited
by former Center director, Professor Anna Everett,
released its inaugural issue entitled “Blaxploitation
Revisited,” and has sought to distribute
this issue to various university scholars and libraries
in the United States. The journal is currently
accepting submissions after releasing an open-call,
and is poised to release its next issue. This
important marketing and distribution time has allowed
the journal to begin to establish a strong name
in the field, and will allow us to place the journal
on a twice-yearly publishing basis.
Ethnic Studies
Project
On
May 12 – 13,
the Center for Black Studies Research and the Department
of Black Studies hosted a two-day symposium to discuss
the future of ethnic studies on the 21st century
university campus. The event was co-hosted by Asian
American Studies, the Department of Chicana/o Studies,
and the Center for Chicano Studies. The Multi-Ethnic
Alliance symposium brought together an enthusiastic
group of scholars from various ethnic studies programs
to focus on new scholarly paradigms which acknowledge
the inextricability of ethnicity from issues of (im)migration,
class, health, education, and gender studies. The
event was designed so participants would have the
opportunity to present new research and experiences
during a series of panel discussions, and to encourage
the exchange of ideas by creating ample opportunities
for response and conversation. The event offered
new opportunities for interdisciplinary, intercampus
collaborations. All the panels and discussions during
this free event were open to the public. The event
was filmed for distribution by UCTV.
Toni
Cade Bambara has written: “One’s got
to see what the factory worker sees, what the prisoner
sees, what the welfare children see, what the scholar
sees, got to see what the ruling class mythmakers see
as well, in order to tell the truth and not get trapped.” Our
opportunity is to represent and document these multiple—frequently
overlapping and conflicting—perspectives. As
the communities we represent experience complex ethnic
and cultural re-shifting, growing struggles for recognition
and social justice, and challenges to established identities,
our role as scholars must reflect new responsibilities
and levels of engagement. Ethnic studies scholars have
made a commitment to serve as a bridge between these
historically marginalized communities.
Journal of Comparative
Ethnic and Relational Studies
In 2007, the Center will
launch the Journal of Comparative
Ethnic and Relational Studies. Interstices will
focus on social movements, social institutions and
social relations. We aim to build links between intellectuals,
artists and activists, to promote the development of
ethnic studies scholarship, and to disseminate the
specialized knowledge produced in the university to
a broader public, and in particular, to aggrieved communities
of color with the goal of effecting changes in the
realms of public policy and social justice.
Katrina
Events
The government response,
or lack of response, to the devastation of Hurricane
Katrina and Hurricane Rita left many residents of
New Orleans and surrounding communities without homes,
electricity, clean water, or access to basic services.
Communities of color have been disproportionately
impacted, raising questions of institutional racism.
Some people see lethal incompetence; some see an agenda
of ethnic cleansing. On October 19, 2005, the Center
for Black Studies Research and the Department of Black
Studies hosted an interdisciplinary panel to discuss
these issues.
The
Center for Black Studies was the first campus unit
to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster by hosting
such a panel. The event opened with a slide presentation
by Nathan Bassiouni, who took his own boat into flooded
areas to rescue people stranded by the storm, and
was deputized by the National Guard for New Orleans
for rescue work. His narrative set the tone for the
event. The discussion was filmed and broadcast nationally
on UCTV. In addition to hosting this important discussion,
the Center also helped support the Associated Students
Katrina Relief Group as well as their “Report Back” to
the UCSB community event held on February 28 in Corwin
Pavilion.
Fourth Annual
Shirley Kennedy Memorial Lecture
The
Center welcomed award-winning author and leading
United States African-American studies scholar Robin
D.G. Kelley for the 4th Annual Shirley Kennedy Memorial
Lecture, created to help the UCSB community celebrate
the memory and work of community activist and Black
Studies Professor Shirley Kennedy. The event opened
with a nine-minute video presentation on Dr. Kennedy’s achievements.
Dr. Kelley’s lecture, entitled “Africa
Speaks, America Answers: The Drum Wars of Guy Warren,” was
well attended by an enthusiastic audience of both campus
and community members at Campbell Hall. Kelley
discussed the cultural influence of jazz in the 1950s
and Ghanaian drummer Guy Warren, considered by many
critics to be the inventor of Afro-jazz, providing
sound samplings of the drummer’s work and placing
it in a larger historical context.
The
Center is currently working on expanding the video
introduction about the life of Dr. Shirley Kennedy
into a longer film about the life of this important
local activist. The Fund for Santa Barbara has awarded
the Center $3,000 toward this project, which will
allow us to begin interviews and other research. We
are currently seeking additional funding for the project,
which we know is an important educational tool for
which many members of the UCSB and broader community
have expressed great support.
Visiting Researcher
This
year the Center welcomed Dr. LeGrace Benson as Visiting
Researcher in residence. Dr.
Benson holds an M.F.A. from the University of Georgia
and a PhD from Cornell University. Currently she is
Director of the Arts of Haiti Research Project and
an Associate Editor of the Journal of Haitian Studies.
As author of a number of articles concerning Haitian
art, she has also contributed chapters to books concerning
educational, environmental and arts issues in Haiti
and the wider Caribbean. She has taught studies in
the history of art at Cornell University and Wells
College. Her forthcoming book, Figures of Merit
in Haitian Art, will
be published under the auspices of the Center for Black
Studies Research.
Community Outreach
Project
Excel, a new initiative based at the Center for Black
Studies Research, is an outreach and early preparation
program that seeks to increase the number of academically
better prepared African American and American Indian
students in Santa Barbara and Goleta Middle and High
Schools (6 -12) for possible eligibility and enrollment
at UCSB and other colleges and universities. This
first year of the project was a clear success with
a number of significant steps having been achieved.
(see Public Service Activities)
Other Programming Activities
One role of our community
outreach effort is to encourage and facilitate community
attendance at campus events and participation in
campus programs. Another goal is the joint sponsorship
of events and activities. In 2005-2006, we have continued
our program of collaboration with various community
groups to maintain a Center presence in the Community.
(see Public Service Activities)
Annual
Report 2006
