Special Session on Ferguson at the OAH Conference, St. Louis, April 18

Historicizing Ferguson: Police Violence and the Genesis of a National Movement

Saturday, April 18 at the OAH Conference
8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Chair and Commentator: Donna Murch, Rutgers university
Panelists:
• Kayla Reed, Organization for Black Struggle organizer
• T-Dubb-O, Cyber activist and hip hop artist
• Beverly Jones, rank and file protestor

The Ferguson Police Department's shooting of eighteen-year old Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 has sparked a sustained campaign against police violence in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and more recently, throughout cities across the United States. By creatively mixing social media and street protest, this remarkably dense mobilization has lasted nearly six months. Ferguson activists have inspired an extensive national network of allies and supporters as well as international solidarity efforts. Indeed, many young protestors repeatedly invoke Stokely Carmichael's plea to "Organize, Organize,Organize." In New York City, Los Angeles, and numerous other communities, a nation-wide campaign has cohered around the claim that "Black Lives Matter." While it is adiverse movement with multiple tendencies, an explicit goal is to seek justice for victims of police shootings and to help activists create anti-police / anti-state violence groups, organizations, and policy changes at the municipal, state and federal level. The daily protests, sit-ins, flash mobs, permitted and spontaneous marches and other acts of civil disobedience have placed St. Louis at the center of a burgeoning youth movement against racism and state violence. Arguably, these demonstrations represent the most sustained anti-racist effort since the urban rebellions of the 1960s and 1970s. To address Ferguson's historical significance, the Organization of American Historians will hold a special Saturday night session on April 18, 2015 at 8pm. Rutgers professor Donna Murch will provide analysis of the past year's events and then lead a discussion with St. Louis activists, including Organization for Black Struggle organizer Kayla Reed, hip hop artist and cyber activist T-Dubb-O who recently met with President Obama, and rank and file protestor Beverly Jones. The formal presentation will be followed by a question and answer period with the audience. This plenary session will provide a unique opportunity to bring together Ferguson activists, members of the broader St. Louis community and American historians from the across the US to discuss one of the most important social movements of our time.