Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration gathered virtually for its 2021 annual conference March 15-24, 2021. The core mission of the Black Communities Conference, a.k.a. #BlackCom, is to foster collaboration among Black communities and universities for the purpose of enhancing Black community life and furthering the understanding of Black communities. The conference is co-chaired by Mark Little, Executive Director of CREATE, an economic development center working to create shared economic prosperity at UNC Chapel Hill, and Karla Slocum, Director of UNC’s Institute of African American Research, which engages in research regarding the Black experience across the African diaspora.
BlackCom first convened in-person in 2018, then again in 2019. In Spring and Summer of 2020, Black Communities hosted “Black Communities and COVID-19,” a series of weekly webinars exploring how people across the African diaspora had been impacted by, and navigated, the coronavirus.
The 2021 online conference had over 400 attendees from 25 states across the US, in addition to two other countries (Trinidad and England). Registrants represented 99 organizations, among which 37 universities were represented. The conference was centered around roundtable panel sessions, followed by collaboration sessions during which conference attendees gathered in zoom meetings to share community project ideas, solicit help on their initiatives, seek feedback on research, etc. The conference featured the following eight roundtable sessions:
Parenting Black Youth in the 21st Century: this session explored what mothering and fathering of Black youth looks like in the 21st century. Featuring journalists and social scientists who have deeply researched different cases of Black parenting, the session addressed the emotional labor, decision-making and strategies that Black parents undertake to raise children and live as parents of Black youth in today’s America.
Are Anti-Racist Public Schools Possible?: What would it take to create a school culture that affirms the value of Black life? Is achieving that culture possible within the American public education system? This panel explored a variety of school and learning structures ranging from those that elevate an African-centered and Black-affirming curriculum to those that engender a school-to-prison pipeline. Drawing on their expertise as researchers and educators, panelists discuss the possibilities for social justice and anti-racism in schooling.
The Future of the Black Commons: There was extensive news coverage last summer of the Freedom Georgia Initiative, a group of Black Georgians who purchased 100 acres of land to start their own community. Their purpose is to promote self-sufficiency, environmental sustainability, and cooperative economics for Black people. This session featured Ashley Scott, of the Freedom Georgia Initiative, who shared information about the group’s work. In dialogue with researchers and activists on this roundtable, Scott discussed histories of Black place-making as well as the future for Black self-reliance through community building and connections to land.
Black Business and Economic Freedom: The past year has witnessed a disproportionately negative impact of COVID-19 on Black health, wealth, and businesses. But there has also been a resurgence of interest in buying Black, banking Black, and investing in Black founders as well as pan-African economic solidarity and reparations. This dynamic discussion explored the business and economic future of Black people and communities across the African diaspora.
Beyond the Lawn Signs and Statements: From neighborhood lawns to corporate advertising, we have all seen the prominent and numerous statements that “Black Lives Matter.” But how meaningful for anti-racist work and impactful on Black experiences are these public declarations? This session delved into this question by looking at issues of corporate social responsibility, community organizing, anti-racist activism, and appropriation.
Ending Profiling, Police, Prisons & Parole as We Know It? Many people are aware of the most egregious outcomes of our justice systems, from state-sanctioned murder of Black people, to abuse of Black women and mothers in prisons, to a parole system that effectively encourages recidivism. This session worked to understand the underlying causes and imagine the fundamental changes required to achieve justice for Black people and communities across the US and globally.
Deep Rivers: The Arts & Music of Racial Reckoning: The complex meaning, central role, and undeniable power of Black art seethes throughout the history of humanity from Capoeira and Negro Spirituals to contemporary visual artists and filmmakers. Black art tells the history of the world with the emotional immediacy of the most intimate personal relationship. This roundtable explored complex ways that Black people engage with art as well as what Black art tells us about this current critical moment in the journey of Black peoples and how Black creativity itself can shape our future.
Gender and Sexuality in Black Lives: Diverse gender and sexual identities have always been a part of and central to Black culture, life and history. However, there are new and emerging ways that Black women, Black trans people, Black gay men, and Black queer people are visible in the past decade. This roundtable explored the challenges and possibilities associated with this visibility and what it means for the future of inclusive Black communities.
In addition to the above four roundtable sessions, and following collab sessions, #BlackCom2021 featured:
Read more information about the 2021 Black Communities Conference. Additionally, you can follow the conversation on social media using #BlackCom2021 and following @BlkCommunities on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
“We stand on this earth because our ancestors living under conditions we can’t even imagine, imagined us.”Dr. Carol Lee, Betty Shabazz International Charter Schools and Northwestern University (Session: Are Anti-Racist Public Schools Possible)
“Parenting Black Youth in the 21st Century” session with: Karla Slocum, UNC Chapel Hill; Shauna M. Cooper, UNC Chapel Hill; Dawn M. Dow, University of Maryland; Mosi Secret, Independent journalist and writer; Dani McClain, The Nation.
"By working collaboratively & in commons with one another we generate a completely different understanding of what wealth and what value is, in regard to how we relate to the land and how we relate to each other.”Willie Wright, Rutgers University (Session: The Future of the Black Commons)
“There is no one-size-fits-all to community engagement.”Samone Bullock Dillahunt, SoSoutheast Raleigh (Session: Black commUNITY: Engaging Authentically with Communities of Color)
“The advice I give to black female entrepreneurs is to not hold yourself to this standard of having to be so perfect. To not talk yourself out of a deal, to not talk yourself out of an investor, and to really just go for it because chances are you’re already holding yourself to a much higher standard than your peers are.”Julia Collins, Planet FWD (Session: Black Business and Economic Freedom)