Dr. Rashad Shabazz, an expert on the implications of geography and race, will give the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture at Gustavus Adolphus College on Monday, Jan. 18 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m in Christ Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Set against the backdrop of the Ferguson, Mo. unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement both in Minnesota and across the United States, the topic for Shabazz’s speech is “Why Geography Matters in the Struggle for Racial Justice.” He will address racial biases that are still found in urban planning, policing, and housing policy, discuss the historical perspective of the geographic racial divide, and present possibilities for how our country can continue to work towards equality.
Shabazz is an associate professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Minnesota State University, Mankato, a master’s degree from the Department of Justice & Social Inquiry at Arizona State University, and a doctorate in the History of Consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
He is the author of Spatializing Blackness: Architectures of Confinement and Black Masculinity in Chicago. In the book, Shabazz examines how carceral power within the geographies of Black Chicagoans shaped urban planning, housing policy, policing practices, gang formation, high incarceration rates, masculinity, and health.
The College’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture is an annual event that was first held in 1986. The lecture will be streamed live online.
Learn more about the annual event at the College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture website.
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