Living Thought, Living Freedom Through Three Portraits of Philosophy Born of Struggle

Lewis Gordon’s closing keynote address at the 2013 Philosophy Born of Struggle Society meeting at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The society was founded 21 years ago in celebration of growing research in African American philosophy. The title is based on Leonard Harris’s canonical anthology: Philosophy Born of Struggle: Afro-American Philosophy since 1917, ed. Leonard Harris (Dubuque, IW: Kendall/Hunt, 1983). This closing lecture explores the importance of intellectual work and its relationship to freedom and questions of political struggle.

Professor Randall Kennedy and the Dangerous Politics of Sentiment

Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy recently penned an op-ed entitled "Why Obama's Black Critics are Wrong." He contends that President Obama's African-American critics have focused on his "racial bona fides" and, "Throughout President Barack Obama's political career, he has been dogged by ... accusations that he is not 'black enough'..." I respect Kennedy and appreciate his contributions to scholarship, but in this instance his analysis is shallow and unsupported by the data.

by: Wilmer J Leon III

October 14, 2011

Struggle for Equality Continues for Civil Rights Generation

Adorned in a freshly-ironed dress and satchel for her books, Ruby Bridges, age six, walked past an angry mob and into the doors of William Frantz Elementary School. The girl’s father was initially reluctant to let his daughter become the school’s first African American student, but her mother felt strongly that the move was needed not only to give her daughter a better education but rather to “take this step forward for all African American children.” That was the spring of 1960. Ruby Bridges is now age 57. As she and her peers, who were some of the youngest activists of America’s civil rights movement, begin to consider retirement, they are once again confronting another struggle for economic equality.

by: L Toni Lewis

March 5, 2012

Professor Robert Jensen on “Arguing for Our Lives: A User’s Guide to Constructive Dialog“

Author and professor Robert Jensen answers questions about his book and future projects.

by: Laura Byerley

May 19, 2013