Conference celebrates 'camaraderie,' black culture
By Shanika M. Williams
Diversity Institute Fellow
03.12.04
Students from historically black colleges and universities and professors from as far away as Nigeria gathered in Nashville Friday to examine the state of African history and culture.
But participants said the 25th anniversary of the Southern Conference on African- American Studies Inc. was more than just an academic convention.
"It is about camaraderie," said Christopher Branton, a senior at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Between conference sessions, the corridors at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Nashville were filled with people talking about everything from panel discussions to their own personal lives.
The organization that sponsored the convention was founded in 1979 when a group of educators met at Texas Southern University in Houston to discuss African history and culture.
"We realized that these were issues that might interest the whole nation," said Howard Jones, the conference's secretary-treasurer.
About 150 people attended this year's convention, whose theme was "African American Legends and Legacies II."
Patricia Guy-Walls, assistant professor of social work at Arkansas State University, taught a morning session on the changing demographics in American society. She stressed the importance of black students becoming what she termed culturally competent.
"Educators need to look at the issues of cultural competency; we are going to be working with people who look different than we do," Guy-Walls said. "When you look at issues through your own lens, especially when you are of a dominant group, you miss something because you don't know the history of that person."
During the conference, participants discussed the value of the convention.
"[It] is a way for all of us to come and get our batteries charged, even people who have been in the profession for a long time," said Andrew Baskin, humanities professor at Berea College in Kentucky and editor of the conference journal, The Griot.
Baskin said there is a bonding that occurs between conference participants because the goal is to increase the knowledge of people of African descent.
Jennifer Adams, a sophomore at Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., said the sessions helped her find ways to market her African-American book club, "Harambee," to her peers.
"We still have a plantation setting in America, but it is just in a different way," said Adams. "This conference teaches us that the struggle is not over."
The annual convention also provides great networking opportunities for young African-Americans, participants said.
"You have to network and get to know people in your field and if you don't, it makes it harder to attain your goals," said Sean "Skip" Bland, a junior at Morehouse College.
The conference concluded Saturday with an academic address by the organization's president, Monte Piliawsky, a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit.