Adrienne Maree Brown. Courtesy of Marc Settembrino
Students interested in being a part of social change may be interested in a visiting speaker. The department of sociology and criminal justice is hosting their 13th annual Social Justice Lecture Series and have invited Adrienne Maree Brown for Nov. 8.
“Adrienne Maree Brown is a writer, facilitator and social justice activist from Detroit, Michigan,” said Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice Dr. Kellen Gilbert. “She is currently the Ursula Le Guin Feminist Sci-Fi Fellow. She is a co-editor of the anthology ‘Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements,’ published by AK Press in 2015. She writes and speaks about social justice, using science fiction as a tool to think about and organize gender issues creatively.”
Brown will be hosting a student workshop from 9:30 until 11:45 a.m. in Student Union Room 3505, and she will be discussing ways for student organizations to work more effectively and creatively. At 2 p.m. in the Student Union Grand Ballroom, she will be discussing her book, “Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds” and afterward will be signing books.
Sociology and Criminal Justice Department Head Dr. Kenneth Bolton explained what Brown’s emergent strategy is about.
“It’s a particular approach that says rather than planning and having a determined path toward social change that things occur more organically like from the ground up,” said Bolton. “And so what happens is instead of people having a vision of how the world should be and it’s a positive vision, which is respectful of other people, and then as they live their day-to-day lives and respect other people, then the whole notion of having positive social transformation kind of emerges from the ground up.”
Gilbert explained what she feels students will be able to take away from Brown’s workshops.
“We think students will be excited by Adrienne’s new and creative voice and her ideas for ways all of us can work toward change,” said Gilbert. “In the growing divisive climate in the United States, we in the department of sociology and criminal justice think it is crucial for our students and the university community to learn to listen to others, especially others who may think or look differently than we do, and be open to thinking about ways we individually and collectively can make this a better world for all. Adrienne Maree Brown will engage us in new ways of thinking.”
Bolton expressed how he feels brown’s messages will reach out to students who want to make a difference in their community and society as a whole.
“One thing about it is that they’ll take away a sense of self-worth, self-evaluation,” said Bolton. “I think a lot of times in terms of school, you know school says, ‘Get a job, get a job, get a job.’ They start telling you to get a job when you’re in kindergarten these days, so I talk to students all the time who are confused. Their parents want them to do one thing, they want to do another thing. They’re really concerned about the world. They don’t know what to do about it. They feel small, and they think about how social forces control them. And they can’t really see themselves as a fully realized person who has the potential to do what they want to do. And so what I hope is that by creating this dialogue and by having a particular speaker who says as an individual we’re all valuable as individuals, we can develop a positive worldview as an individual. We can begin to respect other people, and then we can grow and create a more positive society.”