Art and visual cultures of Black-brown unity to be discussed at next race and policing program

The next Conversations on Race and Policing program will be “An Art for Both My Peoples: Visual Cultures of Black/Brown Unity, A Conversation with Dr. Daniel Widener,” set for 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, on Zoom.

Free and open to the public, it can be accessed from a PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at https://csusb.zoom.us/j/97960458784.

Amidst the continued demographic transition of the United States to a “majority-minority" nation, Widener’s talk will examine efforts to harness visual culture as part of a broader effort to respond to the notion of a crisis between African American and Mexican and Mexican American people.

In particular, Widener will explore the circulation and exhibition of allegorical images meant to demonstrate historic commonalities, interpersonal linkages, and political possibilities, including in the work of Los Angeles-based muralists, African American exile artist Elizabeth Catlett, and between artists affiliated with the Black Panther Party and the Zapatistas.

Widener, an associate professor of history at UC San Diego, is the author of “Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles” (Duke University Press, 2010), and the co-editor of “Another University is Possible.” His past and current political affiliations include the Venceremos Brigade, Community in Support of the Gang Truce, the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, the Labor Community Strategy Center/Bus Riders Union, and Pillars of the Community.

Conversations on Race and Policing, also known as CoRP, began in the aftermath of the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd while in the custody of four Minneapolis, Minn., police officers. A video of the incident posted on social media led to widespread protests, the firing of four police officers, the arrest and conviction of one officer on a second-degree murder and related charges, the other three on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder – and a spotlight worldwide on race and policing.

The series has featured scholars, journalists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, activists, artists, educators, administrators and others from throughout the nation who shared their experience and expertise on issues related to race and policing.

More than 40 forums have taken place, and video recordings of the sessions are posted online on the Conversations on Race and Policing Lecture Series Archive.

The series is organized by CSUSB students Marlo Brooks, Zoralynn Oglesby, Evelyn Jimenez, Jade McDonald, Jaime Castro and Connie Cornejo; Mary Texeira, CSUSB professor of sociology; Jeremy Murray, CSUSB associate professor of history; Robie Madrigal, public affairs/communication specialist for the CSUSB John M. Pfau Library; and community member Stan Futch, president of the Westside Action Group. 

More conversations are scheduled for the fall semester and include:

• Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m.: Dr. Angela Hattery (University of Delaware) and Dr. Earl Smith (George Mason University), authors of “Policing Black Bodies”; and
• Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m.: Dr. Joseph Darda (Texas Christian University), “The Whiteness of Blue Lives: Race in American Policing.”

For more information, contact Robie Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Jeremy Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.

Also visit the Conversations on Race and Policing webpage.