Afro-American/Black Studies is committed to academic excellence and social responsibility in relation to the worldwide experiences of African peoples. Our academic field is alive and well. The fact that so much innuendo & foolishness is still hurled at our field says to me that it remains a threat to the forces of ignorance and slavery. As has been said already, let it be done: Don't rest. Don't give up the fight! I look forward to discussing with you how we can help you journey into Africana Studies. Discover what our degree programs and classes can do for you. --Amilcar Shabazz, Du Bois Department Chair

Examples of some off-campus lectures and activities:

Elected to membership in the Texas Institute of Letters and formally introduced at the TIL's annual meeting in Texas, April 17-18, 2009.

Invited lecture on “The Color Complex," Smith College Black Students Alliance Aesthetics of Blackness conference, February 21, 2009.

Invited lecturer, "Making African American History: From W. E. B. Du Bois to Barack Obama," October 28, 2008, at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park in Saint Louis, MO.

Organizer and chair of various sessions at the 93rd Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, October 1-5, Birmingham, Alabama, Sheraton.

The Hampshire Educational Collaborative’s “From Agrarian Colonies to World Leader:  How American Institutions Endure through Change” Emerging America: Teaching American History (TAH) Program, Colloquium Presenter on the Civil Rights Movement, 1940-1970, at Smith College’s Seelye Hall in Northampton, MA.

“Texas 50” Advisory Member for KERA - Public Television and Radio for North Texas conference discussion on the fifty significant events of Texas history for a projected web, DVD, radio, and film series, May 31, 2008, Dallas, Texas.

Invited lecture on “African Americans and Higher Education: Prelude to the New Negro Renaissance,” Tuesday, April 29, Africana Studies Department, Wellesley College, hosted by Prof. Donna A. Patterson.

The Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut national conference on “The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts and Letters,” March 27-29, 2008. Present the paper  “The Miseducation of the New Negro” in the session on Saturday March 29th, on The Black Press and the New Negro. Attended afternoon session of four Du Bois Department graduate students.

Links to news stories:
USA Today - March 13, 2008
....Supporters rally for Mass. student By Mark Pratt, Associated Press Writer
The Massachusetts Daily Collegian Online Edition - Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: News
....Vassell rally brings attention to hate crimes
The Massachusetts Daily Collegian Online Edition - Issue date: 10/2/07 Section: News
. . Protesters rally in Amherst By Stella Cernak, Collegian Staff
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education - Sep 20, 2007
<< Photo: Jena 6 National Walk-Out Day Rally, Amherst Commons, 10/1/07. [by Caitlin Coughlan]
,,, On The Move: Professional Appointments
In the Loop (online informational site for faculty & staff at UMass Amherst), MA - July 6, 2007
....Shabazz named new chair of Afro-American Studies

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Visit our link now: http://www.umass.edu/afroam/gradprog.html