UofL professor Michael Brandon McCormack and the UofL Black Diamond Choir are among the local, national and international faith, thought and community leaders who will participate in the event. Festival programs will celebrate the unique beauty, power and strength of the Black faith experiences while facing the profoundly brutal outcomes of genocide, slavery and “profit at any cost.”

McCormack, professor in the departments of Pan-African Studies and Comparative Humanities and director of the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, will present “The Ghosts and Growing Edges of Black Faith: Intersectional and Interreligious Conversations.” His presentation, Nov. 19 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., will focus on emergent religious experiences and spirituality as tools for liberation and inspiration to address the oppression of Black people and the justification of systemic racism, patriarchy, sexism and homophobia.

Co-presenters include Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” and cofounder of the Mobile Homecoming Trust; Sunni Patterson, an internationally acclaimed poet, performer and an initiated priestess and minister; and Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund and co-chair of the Ferguson Commission.

“I am particularly excited about this panel discussion,” said McCormack. “It will invite us to expand our thinking about the interplay between faith and race by thinking about those who are often marginalized within, or by, our faith traditions. This might be those whose social location, in terms of age, gender or sexuality, has rendered their voices silent within Black church traditions. It might also be those who find their faith and/or religious identification outside of that tradition altogether. Many of those marginalized voices have important wisdom to share about how their particular experiences of faith and race might offer spiritual resources for those involved in ongoing struggles for freedom.”

Later that evening, from 7 to 9 p.m., the University of Louisville Black Diamond Choir will be among the presenters for “Artistic Expressions of Racial Healing and Repair.” The choir, along with the Keen Dance Theatre, the Louisville Jazz Initiative, spoken word artist Hannah Drake and poet Sunni Patterson, will offer an evening of music, dance and spoken word that celebrates hope and activism in the face of oppression.

“It is essential that the Black Diamond Choir and UofL are present for Festival of Faiths, because our students are still living through the daily struggle of racial repair,” said Brandyn Bailey, assistant director of the UofL Cultural Center and advisor for the Black Male Initiative. “From the perspective of gospel music, [the choir] will offer the lineage of our genre since the era of slavery. Our message is a double-edge sword for participants and onlookers alike, that invites hope, redemption and victory.”

Now in its 25th year, the Festival of Faiths is an annual event that celebrates religious diversity, promotes unity and strengthens the role of faith in society. According to Sarah Reed, managing director of the Center for Interfaith Relations, the community is long overdue for “sacred change.”

“National headlines shed light on Louisville’s deep-rooted, institutionalized/systemic disparities of human experience predicated by the color of our skin,” said Reed. “Our city may not be unique in this, but as we became an epicenter at this intersection of turmoil, the painful truth was unavoidably clear — as was our responsibility to seek transformative change.”

Details and tickets for the 2021 Festival of Faiths are . Discounts for student tickets are available.�� 

No doubt some of the legal details of this case, particularly as they apply to race and equity, are complicated. As such, the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law has introduced a new, 14-week class called “”

The class is the brainchild of Dean Colin Crawford and is open to law students who have passed their first year. According to the Courier Journal, 12 students are currently enrolled and eight others are auditing.

The class features different speakers who discuss topics such as housing, reparations and policing. Crawford told the CJ that while Breonna Taylor’s death is the impetus behind the class and, the greater movement, students are tasked with introducing amendments to laws that may mask systemic inequality.

In a letter to the law school community on June 1, , writing in part:

“…As I watch these (protests) unfold, I think of the importance of the importance of the law at times like these. Law is everywhere at this moment. Lawyers likely approved the no-knock warrant policy that has now been rescinded. Lawyers originally charged Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, for the shots he fired from his own, permitted firearm. A lawyer – the Commonwealth Attorney – subsequently rescinded those charges. Lawyers will represent Taylor’s family and Walker going ahead, as they will do for the police involved.

“The law also permits us as Americans to protest peacefully. And the law will be used to punish those who turned peaceable protests violent, unnecessarily and with needless destruction of property, causing physical injury and further death.

“Perhaps most powerfully, these events remind me of our national commitment to equality of treatment before the law, a principle included in the 14^th Amendment over a century ago. The inequities that led to its passage, as recent events demonstrate, are tragically still with us. For my part, I therefore hope that this historical moment will lead all of us to re-examine the persistent disparities and inequities that too often characterize the structure and practice of our institutions, enabling systematic oppression of particular groups, and especially of African Americans.��I hope that many of you feel the same.��The current events show us that we still have far to go to be able truly to claim to be ‘one nation, undivided, with liberty and justice for all.’

Lawyers can help change that reality. Lawyers will be evermore important in the coming months and years. More will be demanded of us as we are called upon to dedicate ourselves, as officers of the court and as those who translate our highest principles into laws and regulations, to the cause of justice applied equally and fairly for all people, no matter what they look like or their station in life. As Justice Brandeis famously said, ‘The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people.’ This is no time for us as a people – and as lawyers – to be inert.”

The CJ reports that “Freddie Gray’s Baltimore” class at the University of Maryland helped inspire UofL’s class. Freddie Gray was arrested in Baltimore in 2015 for possessing a knife. He fell into a coma while being transported in a police van and later died due to injuries to his spinal cord. Breonna Taylor’s death obviously hits closer to home.�� 

“We’re the only law school in this city, so it’s really important that we engage,” . “I’m really hoping (the students) will come up with a solution of their own and feel they’ve been empowered to think about these matters differently and use law as a tool for positive change.”

Resources added ahead of the verdict

The Counseling Center, Cultural Center, LGBT Center, PEACC, and Student Affairs are collaborating to hold virtual drop-in group sessions for students who want to connect, share, and find support in light of the Attorney General’s impending announcement on the Breonna Taylor case. Student well being is a priority, as we strive to foster an environment of inclusiveness that empowers us all to our highest potential without fear of prejudice or bias. Groups will be held via Microsoft Teams. The sessions will not be recorded. .

Additionally, the Office of Diversity and Equity has compiled a list of for the campus community. The list will be updated on an ongoing basis.

In “Protecting the flock or policing the sheep?” Ben Fisher, assistant professor of criminal justice, studied 73 school resource officers across two school districts; one made up of primarily white students and one made up primarily of students of color.

“What we found is that the way SROs talked about the most salient threats to their schools are really different across the two districts,” Fisher said.

“At the whiter and wealthier district, it was a lot more about preventing external threats from coming into the school,” Fisher added. “In the more diverse, urban district, it was more about the students themselves as threats.”

Fisher’s findings elaborate on the ways SROs from each district perceive students. For example, in the primarily white districts, many issues are attributed to typical youth behavior such as drugs, alcohol and violence. However, those same issues in the more diverse district were attributed to the community environment bringing those issues into the classroom.

Fisher also refers to SROs as an extension of police within a community, which may often influence biases within a school or region.

For more information, visit .

Story, who lives in Louisville with her wife Missy, was recognized by NBC Out for “opening hearts and minds in Kentucky.” She is the mastermind behind many courses at UofL that deal with gender, sexuality, race and the intersection of those identities, such as “Queer Perspectives in Literature and Film” and “Black Lesbian Lives.”

“In every course, I out myself at the beginning so my students never get away from intersectionality,” she told NBC Out.��

For the series, Story said,” Being proud of oneself means not letting society define you, but for you to feel emboldened enough to define who you are on your own.” 

.��

The production was first performed by the AATP in February.��

“The National Black Theatre Festival is the largest, most important venue for black theatre in the United States,” said , chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and director of “Baltimore.” “Our students will perform before audiences that include professional actors, directors, designers, theatre educators, agents, recruiters and the general public. It’s a terrific way to get our students and our program in the spotlight, in addition to great visibility for the African American Theatre Program.”

The African American Theatre Program has previously performed the plays, “Mr. Bluesman” (1997), “Monsieur Baptiste, the Con Man” (1999), “Steal Away” (2005), and “The Orphan’s Revenge” (2011) at the festival.

“Baltimore,” written by Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge, centers on a racial incident that occurs in a New England college residence hall. The incident – a student draws a racist caricature on the door of an African-American student’s room – brings out an array of different beliefs in the students affected and living in the residence hall. The play provides social commentary on issues surrounding race, identity, sexual orientation and gender. The play also documents how difficult discussions of race and identity can be.

“It’s a terrific ensemble show with a very racially diverse cast and excellent performances by all,” Burton said.

The free event will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

UofL’s Middle East and Islamic Studies program organized the event with support from the Louisville-based Snowy Owl Foundation and UofL’s Liberal Studies Project, Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and the anthropology department, all in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Scholars with expertise in law, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies will share their views on topics ranging from the increase in anti-Muslim fringe groups to the racialization of religion since 9/11.

Organizers intend for the discussions to appeal to the campus and community.

Three panel discussions, moderated by UofL professors, will focus on:

• “Race, Religion and Power: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives” (9:30 a.m.��to noon), moderated by Brad Bowman, history. Speakers will be Sahar Aziz, law, Texas A&M University; Greg Hutcheson, Spanish, UofL; and Junaid Rana, Asian American studies, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.
• “Representations, Mobilizations and the Media” (1:30-3:30 p.m.), moderated by Gul Marshall, sociology. Speakers will be Christopher Bail, sociology, Duke University; and Evelyn Alsultany, Arab and Muslim American studies, University of Michigan.
• “Islamophobia and Racism on the Ground” (3:45-5:30 p.m.), moderated by Steven Brooke, political science. Speakers will be Donna Auston, anthropology, Rutgers University; and Louise Cainkar, sociology, Marquette University.

Programming kicked off in October with the first part of the Difficult Dialogue Series, featuring Dr. Frances Kendall. Kendall is an expert on diversity and organizational change, and is the author of “Understanding White Privilege and Diversity in the Classroom.”

During her presentation, Kendall, who is white, discussed how her Southern heritage hinders necessary conversations, particularly between those of different races and classes.

“We who are white and raised in the South are raised not to say too much. We are taught clearly what we can and cannot say. Some of this is cloaked in ‘manners,’” she said. “But until we begin to talk across races, we will never be able to fix the messes we’re in today. If I don’t know what other people experience, I have no way to connect with them personally.”

The two-hour program continued with those in attendance participating in “authentic” conversations that were meant to be difficult. The objective was to “better understand each other.”

This correlates with Vasser’s overall objectives with the Diversity ����ֱ�� and Inclusive Excellence program. As part of her work, she will continue to develop and deliver diversity and inclusion training opportunities and workshops.

She will also work with various partners to develop leadership and training opportunities for students, staff and faculty. Currently, there are 27 campus partners being trained as facilitators for the Difficult Dialogue Series. Cultivating such partnerships help advance the goal of creating more inclusive and equitable climates, Vasser said.

Nearly 50 diversity workshops and/or training sessions reaching close to 3,500 participants had been conducted as of Oct. 31. The majority of those sessions focused on implicit bias awareness and tools for interrupting bias.

Following a passion

Prior to this role, Vasser was the coordinator for Diversity Programs for the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office for International, Diversity, and Engagement Programs. In her new position, she is able to continue her passion, which lies with social justice.

“I work tirelessly to engage others in the work of creating environments that are more inclusive and equitable for all. It is a blessing to have my personal and professional passion align perfectly. It is also exciting being in a unit where this work is fully supported and modeled,” she said.

That’s not to say Vasser doesn’t expect some challenges.

“Although there will always be those who are resistance to this critical work, those numbers pale in comparison to those who desire to engage,” she said.

Vasser said she has already received several emails and anecdotal comments from the program’s participants demonstrating how they were able to use information obtained in a session to acknowledge and interrupt harmful effects of a particular bias.

“(One) participant shared how they are becoming more aware of their areas of privilege and sent a picture of a ramp that was blocked near a construction site. This individual articulated this barrier with inspiring passion as an able-bodied person,” Vasser said. “Stories like those are perfect examples that this work is needed and is also effective.”