A Call to Students, Teachers, Scientists, Artists, and All Peace-Loving People in Philadelphia
America today stands at the crossroads of history. The impoverished, war-weary, and despairing masses are rising in rebellion against the most corrupt and inhuman ruling elite the world has ever seen. The American State's unabashed financial, military, and ideological support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has further deepened this crisis of legitimacy. On one hand, this is a moment of shared outrage and disbelief at the barbarity of the “civilized” West. Equally, this is a moment of reckoning that calls for ideological clarity and moral courage.
At the heart of this reckoning is the crisis of the American University, precipitated by the brave and moral stand taken by students all over the country against the genocide in Gaza. The crisis of the American University is rooted in an epistemic crisis of knowledge, which calls for a re-assessment of the assumptions on which knowledge production is based.
We believe that James Baldwin and the Black Freedom Tradition — a rich body of knowledge and revolutionary thought stemming from the lifeworks of W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Baldwin himself — offers us a philosophical and epistemological framework that holds the key to our future. In this symposium, Baldwin will speak to the current moment as a revolutionary thinker and philosopher who has a message for humanity.
We call on all peace-loving people to join us in paying our debt to Gaza. The demand for a new basis for knowledge is also the demand for a new world order centered on human freedom and peace. Every scientist and every intellectual must choose in this urgent moment, to stand with humanity or with the enemies of human freedom and knowledge.
At the heart of this reckoning is the crisis of the American University, precipitated by the brave and moral stand taken by students all over the country against the genocide in Gaza. The crisis of the American University is rooted in an epistemic crisis of knowledge, which calls for a re-assessment of the assumptions on which knowledge production is based.
We believe that James Baldwin and the Black Freedom Tradition — a rich body of knowledge and revolutionary thought stemming from the lifeworks of W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Baldwin himself — offers us a philosophical and epistemological framework that holds the key to our future. In this symposium, Baldwin will speak to the current moment as a revolutionary thinker and philosopher who has a message for humanity.
We call on all peace-loving people to join us in paying our debt to Gaza. The demand for a new basis for knowledge is also the demand for a new world order centered on human freedom and peace. Every scientist and every intellectual must choose in this urgent moment, to stand with humanity or with the enemies of human freedom and knowledge.
Venue: Church of the Crucifixion (807 Bainbridge St, Philadelphia PA) |
June 1st, Saturday 9 am- 6 pmPanel 1: The University as an Arm of the State: Zionism, the War Economy, and the Consequences for Knowledge
Speakers: Eunnuri Yi, Meghna Chandra, Archishman Raju Moderator: Sambarta Chatterjee Roundtable 2: Knowledge, Theory, and Ideology in the Black Freedom Tradition Keynote: Anthony Monteiro Discussants: Jahan Choudhry, Alice Li, Purba Chatterjee Moderator: Nandita Chaturvedi June 2nd, Sunday 11 am- 6 pmPanel 3: Counter-revolution Against Knowledge: Postmodernism, Identity Politics, and Pessimism
Speakers: Nandita Chaturvedi, Emily Dong, Jeremiah Kim Moderator: Purba Chatterjee Roundtable 4: The revolutionary philosophy of James Baldwin and the Path Towards a Human Future Discussants: Michelle Lyu, Sambarta Chatterjee, Kathie Jiang, Serafina Harris Moderator: Archishman Raju |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Science and Freedom: Toward a New Revolutionary Epistemology ; Avant Garde Journal by Sambarta Chatterjee and Purba Chatterjee
- Science, the Black Proletariat, and Revolution: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Henry Winston’s Strategy for a Black Agenda; Avant Garde Journal by Dr. Anthony Monteiro.
- Of the Sorrow Songs ; The Cross of Redemption (Uncollected Writings) by James Baldwin.
- The Uses of the Blues; The Cross of Redemption (Uncollected Writings) by James Baldwin.
- Galileo Galilei; by W.E.B.Du Bois.
- Of Our Spiritual Strivings; Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B.Du Bois.
- Of the Ruling of Men; Darkwater by W.E.B.Du Bois.