The Foundation of Colonialism in Thought

This is an insight written by Stella Hudson on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Lecture by Dr. Olivia Rutazibwa on “Dignity, Repair & Retreat: reflections on anticolonial and anti-racist solidarity” held on April 5, 2022.

In her talk “Dignity, Repair & Retreat: reflections on anticolonial and anti-racist solidarity” Dr. Olivia Umurerwa Rutazibwa, touches on the many ways that our history of colonialism has shaped our current ways of thinking and epistemic paradigms. So much of how we create and value information and knowledge is centered around western and white ways of thinking. Further, people from marginalized regions and identities, non-white, non-western voices are often actively censored. Acknowledging this unequal framework that upholds much of our intellectual, imagined, and academic spaces can be difficult, as we are steeped in this ideology at every level of development. 

Continue reading

Upcoming Event – Book Discussion: Struggling to Learn An Intimate History of School Desegregation in South Carolina

Professor June Manning Thomas, Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Urban Planning, Centennial Professor Emerita of Urban and Regional Planning

April 27, 2022

1pm – 2.30pm 

Virtual Event Register at: https://umd.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZxoIMjqNSFWI-NF3hgPmew

Continue reading

Treating the Disease: Street Names as Symptoms of Confederate Legacies

This is an insight written by Stella Hudson on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Lecture on Confederate Streets and Black-White Labor Market Differentials” co-sponsored by the Critical Race Initiative and the Department of African American Studies on November 16, 2021.

Maryland never seceded from the union, yet we still have plenty of streets named after Confederate figures like Robert E Lee. Houses are adorned with Confederate battle flags despite the state never being a part of the Confederacy, and the statue of Chief Justice Taney, who ruled against Dred Scott in 1857 was only recently removed from its place of honor in front of the State House in Annapolis. Because Maryland remained in the Union, the Emancipation Proclamation, delivered in January of 1863, did not free the people enslaved here. Slavery was not outlawed in Maryland until 1864. 

Continue reading

Breaking the Silence

This is an insight written by Meredith Friedland on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Symposium on Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence” co-sponsored by the Critical Race Initiative and the Department of African American Studies on  October 12, 2021.

Professor Geoff K. Ward in his lecture “Haunting Legacies of Racial Violence: Clarifying and Addressing the Presence of the Past” discussed how we must address the horrors of our country’s past in order to move forward to a more peaceful future.  Continue reading

Upcoming Event – Anti-Asian Violence in Context: Historical Roots and Contemporary Connections

April 13, 2021 

Event Time: 2pm – 3.30pm 

Virtual Event: You must register in advance at:  https://tinyurl.com/bahai-wong

Professor Janelle Wong, Professor of Asian American Studies, American Studies, and Government and Politics, University of Maryland 

This event features a discussion between Professor Hoda Mahmoudi and Professor Janelle Wong on the recent anti-Asian violence. The discussion will focus on the historical context and contemporary connections of the recent attacks.

Speaker Bio:

Janelle Wong is Professor of Asian American Studies, American Studies and Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. Her research and teaching focus on Asian Americans and race in the U.S.

 

 

 

 

About the Author:

Kate Seaman is the Assistant Director to the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace where she supports the research activities of the Chair. Kate is interested in understanding normative changes at the global level and how these changes impact on the creation of peace.

You can find out more about the Bahá’í Chair by watching our video here.

Upcoming Virtual Event: From the Powerful and Evil Jew to the Zionist as Racist, Oppressor and Imperialist:  Continuity and Change in Antisemitic Falsehoods from Ancient Times to the Present.

From the Powerful and Evil Jew to the Zionist as Racist, Oppressor and Imperialist:  Continuity and Change in Antisemitic Falsehoods from Ancient Times to the Present

Professor Jeffrey Herf, Distinguished University Professor, Department of History, University of Maryland, College Park

October 6, 2020

4pm – 5.30pm

Virtual Event Only

You must register in advance for the event at:

tinyurl.com/bahai-herf

Continue reading

Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic – Professor Hoda Mahmoudi

This has been a sorrowful moment. Racial unrest. Economic dislocation. The ravages of Covid-19. There has been death, and there will be more. All of us have somehow been shaped by this ‘Year of Covid’.  Even those not directly touched – that is to say, from a personal encounter of the disease or by a loved one’s personal encounter – have seen fundamental changes in our way of life. We all bear witness to the sorrow that comes as we witness the end of an age, the closing of a well-known world. We have missed new opportunities, new chances of recognition and acceptance. We have all lost something, whether big or small. All should craft a small space to grieve, to process, and to consider. Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Reactionary Democracy in the United States: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream

Reactionary Democracy in the United States: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream

September 3, 2020

2PM

You can register to attend the event at:

tinyurl.com/bahai-mondon

Dr. Aurelien Mondon, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath 

Dr. Aaron Winter, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of East London  Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Reactionary Democracy in the United States: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream

Reactionary Democracy in the United States: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream

September 3, 2020

2PM

You can register to attend the event at:

tinyurl.com/bahai-mondon

Dr. Aurelien Mondon, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath 

Dr. Aaron Winter, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of East London  Continue reading

Statement on Policing and Racism in America – Professor Hoda Mahmoudi

Policing and Racism

On June 8, 2020, Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, The Bahá’ì Chair for World Peace gave a statement at the opening of the town hall meeting on Policing and Racism in America.  The town hall was sponsored by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park. Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Life After the Gunshot: A Digital Storytelling Project on the Impact of Structural and Interpersonal Violence and the Healing Process for Young Black Men

Baha’i Chair for World Peace 

Professor Joseph Richardson Jr.

Life After the Gunshot: A Digital Storytelling Project on the Impact of Structural and Interpersonal Violence and the Healing Process for Young Black Men

Monday, April 6th, 2020

2:00pm-3:30pm

Prince George’s Room, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland, College Park Continue reading

Upcoming Event: Environmental Racism and Slavery in 21st Century Jim Crow America: Stories of Resistance, Hope, and Change

Baha’i Chair for World Peace 

Professor Sacoby Wilson

Environmental Racism and Slavery in 21st Century Jim Crow America: Stories of Resistance, Hope, and Change

Thursday, October 24, 2019

12:30pm-2:00pm

Atrium, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland College Park Continue reading

Reflection: Solving Racism Through Dialogue

The Problem of Prejudice 

Once again the stubborn scourge of racial prejudice and structural racism is tearing apart the American society. For almost four-hundred years since slavery was first introduced to the American continent, the pseudo-scientific doctrine of racial superiority, and the structural arrangements that promote the systematic support of racism, continue to persist. Continue reading

Insights: Racism as a Barrier to Justice

This is a reflection written by Esther Kaufman on the lecture given by Dr. Rashawn Ray as part of the Bahá’ì Chair for World Peace series on Structural Racism. 

Racism as a Barrier to Justice 

Dr. Rashawn Ray’s emotional presentation on “Why Police Compliance Does Not Save Black Lives” left me feeling a deep sense of disappointment in our society’s failure to recognize and deal with racism.  He began his lecture with the juxtaposition of videos and statistics that emphasized the differences between races in police compliance and non-compliance. Continue reading

Interview: Dr. Rashawn Ray on Why Police Compliance Does Not Save Black Lives

Interview with Dr. Rashawn Ray, interview conducted by Brandie Reeder Williams.

Dr. Ray will be giving a lecture on the 25th of October in Hoff Theatre, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland. To find out more and to RSVP visit the website of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace.

Continue reading

Book Review: How to Rescue Those Who the System Fails

This is a book review of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. The review was written by Esther Kaufman. 

“Mercy is most empowering, liberating and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving,” writes author Bryan Stevenson in his book, Just Mercy. This is a concept that is difficult but perhaps essential to embrace as the media constantly divides people and societies into heroes and villains. I was born to immigrant parents who fled anti-Semitism and praise America as the land that gave their families mercy when no other state could. Yet, Bryan Stevenson’s portrayal of the American criminal justice system revealed injustices that disrupted all of my preconceived notions regarding America’s inherit goodness. Continue reading