A CENTER FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PRESENTATION
CIVIL RIGHTS DAY 2019

Presented in commemoration of Black History Month
Politics centered around narrow interests and perspectives can sometimes seem at odds with broad-based movements and alliances of the past. This year’s Civil Rights Day will focus on the ways in which identity politics appeals to unaddressed grievances of the decades since the Civil Rights struggle as well as to newer identity-based movements such as the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights; the ways in which it has informed and transformed broad-based alliances; and how it has responded to criticisms.

Schedule (more events are being added; check back regularly for updates):

10:10 am – 11:05 am, Guthart Cultural Center Theater

Know Your Rights

This “primer” will introduce participants to rights that protect us at school, work, and in everyday life, whether it is with regard to LGBTQ+ identifying individuals, or immigration status, or in our lives as digital citizens.

Panelists:   Sarah Dowd, Center for Civic Engagement Fellow, Anthropology and Global Studies major; Prof. Jamie Cohen, New Media Studies, Molloy College; others TBD

11:15 – 12:40 (Common Hour), Guthart Cultural Center Theater 

 How To Make Sense Of 2020 Presidential Cycle With Basil Smikle Jr.

As a Democratic Strategist whose commentary has been regularly featured on CNN, MSNBC, and in TheHill.com, Mr. Smikle will discuss how to make sense of the 2020 presidential cycle and what to expect for policy in the second two years of the Trump presidency.

Basil Smikle Jr. is a Distinguished Lecturer of Politics and Public Policy at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies, and most  recently was the Executive Director of the New York Democratic Party during which time he was the “second highest ranking Democrat” in the State. Mr. Smikle was also senior aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton during her first campaign for Senate and later on her Senate staff.

 In collaboration with the Xi Psi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

12:50 – 2:15, Guthart Cultural Center Theater 

Deliberative Forum on Immigration

Facilitator:  Professor Emeritus Michael D’Innocenzo

2:55 pm – 4:20 pm, Guthart Cultural Center Theater 

The “Fight” To Vote  This panel will discuss the current state of voting rights in light of the struggle being waged by various groups against voter suppression, census and ID laws that target the LGBTQ+ community, as well as positive movements to encourage voter registration and access on voting day.

Panelists:   Sergio Argueta, Founder and Board President, S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth;  Prof. Randolph McLaughlin, Pace University Law School;   Alicia Bosley, Asst. Professor, Dir. Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Hofstra University; Marc Fliedner, Attorney and Director, Disability Rights New York

4:30 pm – 5:55 pm,  Guthart Cultural Center Theater

Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture

Latinx is the gender-neutral term that includes 58 million Americans, a sizable part of the country’s working class, both foreign and native-born. Their political empowerment is altering the balance of forces in a growing number of states. And yet Latinx barely figure in America’s ongoing conversation about race and ethnicity. Remarkably, the US census does not even have a racial category for “Latino.” Ed Morales explains how Latinx political identities are tied to a long Latin American history of mestizaje—“mixedness” or “hybridity”—and that this border thinking is both a key to understanding bilingual, bicultural Latin cultures and politics and a challenge to America’s infamously black–white racial regime.

Speaker:   Ed Morales, Lecturer, Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, Columbia University

Author, The Latin Beat: Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music, from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond (Da Capo Press, 2003

Co-sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. 

6:30 - 8 pm, Monroe Lecture Hall

Down the Rabbit Hole   Dramatic Performance and Talk Back.

Written and performed by Liza Jessie Peterson

An up-close and personal night with Liza Jessie Peterson as she takes you on an entertainingly raucous journey down the rabbit hole of prison prose and poetry. After spending more than 18 years working and performing in prison, Liza has a bunch of stories to tell and characters to share. This play is presented in collaboration with the exhibition, Hidden in Sight: Photographing Incarceration which runs thru March 10 at the Hofstra University Museum of Art.

Thursday, February 28

6:30 – 8:30 pm, 10th Floor Axinn Library

*What Does An Inclusive Campus Look Like – a deliberative dialogue dinner and discussion forum with student representatives from Hofstra.

Facilitators:  Dr. Katrina Sims and Dr. Tomeka Robinson; Co-facilitators CCE 

*This is an RSVP-only event intended for Hofstra students only.  Please email CCE Grad Asst Josie Dituri jdituri1@pride.hofstra.edu to indicate your interest in participating.