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| Photo by Amanda Smith |
On November 8, 2024, the European Union Center hosted a symposium, "Black Europe: Formations," featuring three distinguished guest speakers: Dr. Kehinde Andrews (Birmingham City University), Dr. Chelsi West Ohueri (University of Texas Austin), and Dr. Karen Flynn (University of Illinois Chicago). The symposium concluded with a roundtable featuring both Dr. Andrews and Dr. Flynn as well as University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s own Dr. Teresa Barnes (Professor of History) and Dr. Charles Webster (Director of the German Language Program).
Dr. Andrews, Professor of Black Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University and director of the Centre for Critical Social Research, founder of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity, and co-chair of the UK Black Studies Association, opened the symposium by talking about his experience as the first teacher of Black Studies in academia in the UK (and in Europe more broadly). He emphasized the importance of decentering methodological nationalism, which he argues inhibits global context being properly accounted for in the role of ideas and concepts. Drawing upon the ideas of Malcom X, he applies this argument specifically to the idea of Blackness and the need to build and foster collective identity that transcends national borders. While Black Studies may be a more recent endeavor in academia in the UK/Europe, Andrews reminds the audience that Black Studies has existed outside of academia for a much longer time, demonstrating the utility and importance of community teaching and learning. Dr. Andrews leaves the audience grappling with the question of to what extent the revolutionary nature of Black Studies can and/or should exist within formal academia.
Dr. West Ohueri, sociocultural anthropologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies with appointments in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas Austin, then gave a talk focusing on racialization in Albania and the Balkans. Drawing upon her own ethnographic research into studying race as an ethnographic object in Albania, Dr. West Ohueri described race as something that is globally formed, yet locally situated. In Albania, Dr. West Ohueri investigated the idea of ‘racelessness,’ describing how Albanians often feel racialized themselves from white Western Europeans, yet they in turn also take on whiteness when othering Roma and Balkan Egyptians. Dr. West Ohueri ultimately argued that whiteness is pliable yet obstinate in its determination of who is white and why. She aimed to further this research by exploring race and proximity to death, specifically the ways in which Roma and Balkan Egyptians were often forced to bury the dead.
Dr. Flynn, the Terrance & Karyn Holm Endowed Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at the University of Illinois, Chicago, brings her extensive expertise in Black feminist and diaspora studies, health and care work, and transnational mobilities to the event, backed by her recent book, Moving Beyond Borders: Black Canadian and Caribbean Women in the African Canadian Diaspora. In her talk, "The Sky’s the Limit: Identity and Subjectivity Formation of Young Caribbean Women to Britain," Dr. Flynn discussed the multifaceted reasons behind the migration of young Caribbean women to Britain post-World War II. Moving beyond conventional narratives centered solely on economic motives, she shed light on the roles of adventure, freedom, and parental influence in shaping these journeys and challenged the idea that upward mobility was often the sole driving reason behind the decision to migrate. Moreover, the talk revealed how this migration shaped new realities of British life for these women, redefining identities and forming new subjectivities. Dr. Flynn’s nuanced exploration offered a renewed understanding of migration that effectively reshapes our perspectives on history and identity.
Dr. Andrews, Professor of Black Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University and director of the Centre for Critical Social Research, founder of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity, and co-chair of the UK Black Studies Association, opened the symposium by talking about his experience as the first teacher of Black Studies in academia in the UK (and in Europe more broadly). He emphasized the importance of decentering methodological nationalism, which he argues inhibits global context being properly accounted for in the role of ideas and concepts. Drawing upon the ideas of Malcom X, he applies this argument specifically to the idea of Blackness and the need to build and foster collective identity that transcends national borders. While Black Studies may be a more recent endeavor in academia in the UK/Europe, Andrews reminds the audience that Black Studies has existed outside of academia for a much longer time, demonstrating the utility and importance of community teaching and learning. Dr. Andrews leaves the audience grappling with the question of to what extent the revolutionary nature of Black Studies can and/or should exist within formal academia.
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| Photo by Amanda Smith |
Dr. Flynn, the Terrance & Karyn Holm Endowed Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at the University of Illinois, Chicago, brings her extensive expertise in Black feminist and diaspora studies, health and care work, and transnational mobilities to the event, backed by her recent book, Moving Beyond Borders: Black Canadian and Caribbean Women in the African Canadian Diaspora. In her talk, "The Sky’s the Limit: Identity and Subjectivity Formation of Young Caribbean Women to Britain," Dr. Flynn discussed the multifaceted reasons behind the migration of young Caribbean women to Britain post-World War II. Moving beyond conventional narratives centered solely on economic motives, she shed light on the roles of adventure, freedom, and parental influence in shaping these journeys and challenged the idea that upward mobility was often the sole driving reason behind the decision to migrate. Moreover, the talk revealed how this migration shaped new realities of British life for these women, redefining identities and forming new subjectivities. Dr. Flynn’s nuanced exploration offered a renewed understanding of migration that effectively reshapes our perspectives on history and identity.
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