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Jan. 8-22: ‘The Abolitionists’

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013Culture13th amendment, 1863, 1865, abolitionist movement, american history, angelina grimke, beyond lincoln, black, black abolitionist, civil rights, documentary, drama, emancipation proclamation, end slavery, erica armstrong dunbar, female, frederick douglass, harriet beecher stowe, historian, john brown, male, pbs, slavery, the abolitionists, university of delaware, white, william lloyd garrison

UD’s Armstrong Dunbar a featured expert in PBS series ‘The Abolitionists’

The Abolitionists, airing on PBS this month, is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, but it offers viewers “a real understanding of the complexities of what it took to end slavery” beyond Lincoln’s proclamation itself, a University of Delaware historian featured in the series says.

Erica Armstrong Dunbar, associate professor of history with joint appointments in Black American Studies and in women and gender studies, was approached by creators of the three-part series to provide her perspective on the issues and individuals featured. The Abolitionists is part of the “American Experience” series and is scheduled to air Tuesday nights, Jan. 8, 15 and 22. (more…)

Public Obsession with Obesity May be More Dangerous than Obesity Itself, UCLA Author Says

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2012Culture, Healthabigail saguy, body mass, cervical cancer, civil rights, confirmation bias, diabetes, genetic factors, neighborhood limitations, obesity, obesity epidemic, obesity task force, poor nutrition, social factors, socioeconomic status, sociologist, stress, third factor, ucla, us population

Much has been made about who or what is to blame for the “obesity epidemic” and what can or should be done to stem the tide of rising body mass among the U.S. population.

A new book by a UCLA sociologist turns these concerns on their head by asking two questions. First, how and why has fatness been medicalized as “obesity” in the first place? Second, what are the social costs of this particular way of discussing body size? (more…)

(Re-)Writing History

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2012Cultureadam overland, america, american civil rights, american history, civil rights, dale carpenter, first amendment, flagrant conduct, gay, gay rights, lesbian, role of government, same sex, sexual orientation, the new yorker, university of chicago, university of minnesota

University of Minnesota law professor Dale Carpenter’s first book, Flagrant Conduct, took him nearly nine years of research and writing to complete. Research that included, he says, “sitting in police department parking lots at 3 a.m., trying to catch officers going on and off duty so that I could interview them.”

He characterizes the amount of time he put into the book not as a job but as a way of life. If he had been looking for a payoff in writing it, he found it. With reviews in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and this past Sunday, the crème de la crème of the review world—the cover of The New York Times Book Review—it’s clearly a hit with critics. (more…)

‘Daughter of the Struggle’

By Guest PostFebruary 17, 2012Culture, Entertainmentactivist, american, american family, ayanna gregory, black american studies, black history month, Chicago, civil rights, civil rights movement, daughter of the struggle, dick gregory, fear, god, gore recital hall, human rights, jerry rhodes, john wayne, king, lillian, martin luther king, new england, plymouth, racial bigotry, roselle center, soul singer, university of delaware, Washington

*Ayanna Gregory celebrates heroes of civil rights movement*

Wearing a mauve-colored dress with flared sleeves that flowed with each dance step, soul singer, educator and activist Ayanna Gregory celebrated the history of the American civil rights movement with an evening of song and spoken word before an enthusiastic audience on Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, in the Gore Recital Hall of the University of Delaware’s Roselle Center for the Arts.

During her performance, “Daughter of the Struggle,” Gregory recalled what it was like growing up as one of 10 children of Lillian and Dick Gregory, the standup comedian who used his comic skills to tell Americans that segregation and racial bigotry were no laughing matter. (more…)

Tag Archives: civil rights

Jan. 8-22: ‘The Abolitionists’

Public Obsession with Obesity May be More Dangerous than Obesity Itself, UCLA Author Says

(Re-)Writing History

‘Daughter of the Struggle’