8/1/2016

Solidarity and Racial Justice

Solidarity and Racial Justice

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Solidarity and Racial Justice

Monday & Wednesday 10:30-12:20
McMurtry Building, Room 360

Dereca Blackmon
dereca@stanford.edu
Oce Hours: by appointment
Oce: Suite 206 Old Union

Daniel Murray
ddmurray@stanford.edu (mailto:ddmurray@stanford.edu)
Oce Hours: Tuesdays 1:30-2:30
Building 360, Room 361G

Support Team
Brina Evans (TA)
brianaev@stanford.edu

Molly Seligman (CEL)

mollyals@stanford.edu

Kathy Martinez (DGen)

kathypm@stanford.edu

Solidarity is not an act of charity. It is an act of unity between allies ghting on dierent terrains toward the same objective.
-Samora Machel, revolutionary socialist and former President of Mozambique

#BlackLivesMatter doesnt meant your life isnt important it means that Black lives, which are seen as without value within White supremacy, are
important to your liberation.
-Alicia Garza, co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter

Course Description
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Is multiracial solidarity necessary to overcome oppression that disproportionately aects people of color? What is frontline leadership and what role
should people play if they are not part of frontline communities? In this course we will critically examine practices of solidarity and allyship in
movements for collective liberation. Through analysis of historical and contemporary movements, as well as participation in racial justice work, we
will see how movements have built multiracial solidarity to address issues that are important to the liberation of all. We will also see how racial
justice intersects with other identities and issues. This course is for students that want to learn how to practice solidarity, whether to be better allies
or to work more eectively with allies.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Describe the strategic value of solidarity, allyship, and coalition-building.
Compare and critically evaluate historical and contemporary practices of solidarity, allyship and racial justice.
Locate and describe their own self-interest in social/racial justice work.
Assess the state of solidarity in their community, articulate their role in how it has come to be that way, and design an intervention that moves
forward collective liberation.
Integrate allies into their social justice work and/or practice solidarity across racial dierence.
Develop a commitment to ongoing racial justice work.

Students in the Community Engaged Learning Option will also be able to:
Collaborate with multiple communities to implement an intervention to improve relationships and practices of solidarity.
Evaluate an intervention in terms of both its eectiveness in a community and in relation to concepts and histories of solidarity work.

CEL Option
For an extra unit, students have the option to work with Stanfords DGen Oce. Students will work 2-3 hours per week on their project. You will
decide on Wednesday of Week 1.
Courageous Conversations
In groups, students will design, promote, and facilitate a series of three conversations among Stanford students - and potentially faculty and
sta - addressing questions of solidarity and racial equity on campus. The team will be led by sta from Stanfords DGen Oce and the
conversations will be part of the Oces larger Courageous Conversations program.

Assignments
*All assignments are due at the start of class (10:30am) Mondays, unless otherwise noted.

Reections
Length: 500 words
Due Date: Reections will be due on Mondays before class of weeks 2, 3, and 5.
Description
CEL students: Make connections between the work you are doing and the course material for the week. What did you do/learn? Why is it
important? How will it inuence your action and thinking going forward?
Non-CEL students: Submit a reection making connections between the readings for the week and previous class material. What did
you do/learn? Why is it important? How will it inuence your action and thinking going forward?

Autobiography

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Length: 1200-1500 words (4-5 pages)

Due Date: Monday of Week 4 (5/18)
Description/Questions to Consider:What is your currentunderstanding of your racial identity and how have you come to that
understanding? What are your relationships with people with other racial identities? Where do you stand on a ladder of anti-racist/ally/social
justice identity development? What motivates you to do this work? What is your stake in racial justice? What work do you need/want to do (on
yourself and with others)?

Case Study
Length: 2000-2500 words (8-10 pages)
Due Dates:
Monday of Week 6 (5/2): Submit a one paragraph description of the case you will analyze and your initial thoughts on practices and
relationships of solidarity within it. Briey describe how you will analyze it (i.e., which of the tools that we have introduced in class will you
apply? or if you have a dierent angle, what is it?).
End of Week 7 (5/13 at 5:00pm): Completed Case Study
Description: Choose one of the cases we are studying in class, or, if you feel really passionate about it, pick a different case (with consent of
instructors). Describe, analyze and evaluate the principles and practices of solidarity in the movement. You must draw from at least twoof the
readings and concepts from Part 1 of the course.
Questions to Consider: What was the dierent perspectives on solidarity in the movement? How did the movement/organization create a
collective identity or harness existing collective identities? How did the movement/organization relate to other racial/ethnic groups, or how did
groups relate w/in the movement if it was multiracial? Was this an example of true solidarity? How did solidarity change throughout the
movement? How did practices of solidarity change the movement itself? What lessons can we apply to today?

Final Paper and Presentation

Length: TBD
Due Dates:
Project Due Wednesday of Week 106/1 (before class)
Presentations Finals Week June 7th 8:30-11:30am
10 minutes per group + Q & A
Non-CEL: Proposal for an Intervention
Description: In a small group, apply what you have learned from class to a specic need for solidarity in racial justice work in your
community.
Elements to Include:
Context and Description of the eld (who is the target community? institutional bodies, student groups, etc.)
Describe the intervention
Justify it (both why necessary and why eective)
How could you measure its impact?
How does it relate to the concepts and history we have discussed? Relate to at least one other reading from Part 1 and one
case from Part 2 of the course.
Individual reections on the process and project

CEL: Report on CEL Interventions

Description: Prepare a report and a presentation of your work for the stakeholders and the class (i.e., the DGen Oce and the
Practicum planning team)
Elements to include:
A description of the problem/purpose
Description of project
Evaluation
Recommendations
How does it relate to the concepts and history we have discussed (relate to at least one other reading from Part 1 and one case from
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Part 2 of the course)?

Individual reection on the process and project

Participation
In-class discussion will be central to our class. Participating in our classroom discussions is an important way for us to bring together the scholarly
readings and our experiences working with community groups. We will have a range of activities to encourage the sharing of our thoughts, feelings
and experiences. We will be addressing some challenging topics throughout the class (that is the point!), so it will be important to create a brave
space. We will develop commitments together to ensure that this happens, but a safe/brave space requires that we actively work to create it
together. We wont be perfect in our terminology and discussion, but we will learn together how we can best communicate in ways that will both
challenge us and create the trust for us to challenge each other to go further.
Being a good participant does not mean talking a lot or show others how much you know. There will be many ways to participate in this class, and
many ways to support a participatory learning environment for the class. Participation includes speaking as well as creating space for others and
listening to their perspectives actively. Here are some concrete ways to participate actively:
Ask a question or make a comment that shows you are interested in what another person says or encourages another person to elaborate on
something they have said.
Make a comment that draws a link between a classmates comment and a text, or between two classmates contributions.
Contribute something that builds on what someone else has said, being explicit about the connection.
Make a comment that draws out a recurring theme in the discussion
Bring in a resource (e.g., reading, website, video) that is not covered in the syllabus but adds new information or a new perspective to our
learning.
Create space for someone who has not yet spoken to contribute to the conversation.
Use body language (in only a slightly exaggerated way!) to show interest in what dierent speakers are saying.
Additionally, if students from neurodiverse backgrounds have recommendations on how to enhance the overall learning experience, we welcome
feedback and recommendations. For the purposes of inclusivity, we request that students use gender inclusive language in section and respectfully
engage/challenge others in the classroom.

Grading
Autobiography - 15%
Case Study - 25%
Final Project - 30%
Reections - 10%
Participation - 20%
CEL - 20% (CEL students will be graded out of a total of 120%)

Late Policy: Late assignments will lose one third of a grade a day (i.e., an A will become an A-).

Students with Disabilities

"Students with Documented Disabilities: Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the
request with the Oce of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional sta will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend
reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is made. Students
should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra
Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL:http://studentaairs.stanford.edu/oae (http://studentaairs.stanford.edu/oae) ).

Course Schedule
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*This schedule is subject to change.

Part 1: Solidarity, Allyship, and their Discontents

Week 1: Introduction to Solidarity
1.1 (3/28): Introduction to Class
1.2 (3/31): Allyship and Its Discontents
Readings
Anne Bishop. Becoming an Ally in Becoming an Ally: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in People
A Critique of Ally Politics. 2013
Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex
In-Class Reection Activity

Week 2: Power, Oppression, and Racial Justice

Assignment Due: Self-Interview Reection
For this assignment, you will record a self-interview, regarding your experiences with and perceptions of race/ethnicity. The questions will be
provided. The interview itself will NOT be submitted, so we encourage you to be open and honest with yourself. You will then listen to the
interview and write a 300-word reection on the experience.How did you feel doing this exercise? What surprised you? What ideas would you
like to explore further? Which question was hardest to answer?
2.1 (4/4): Oppression and Resistance
Iris Marion Young. The Five Faces of Oppression.
Chela Sandoval. U.S. Third World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World. 1991.
2.2 (4/6): Racial (In)Justice
Elizabeth Betitia Martinez, What is White Supremacy?
Andrea Smith, Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy
Scot Nakagawa, Blackness Is The Fulcrum
(http://www.raceles.com/2012/05/04/blackness-is-the-fulcrum/)
Jahlani Smothers-Pugh, Open Letter To Aziz Ansari and Other Anti-Black People of Color
(http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2015/11/open-letter-to-aziz-ansari-and-other-anti-black-people-of-color/)

Human Rights Watch (video), Do you see how much Im suering here? Abuse against Transgender Women in US immigration detention
(https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/03/23/do-you-see-how-much-im-suering-here/abuse-against-transgender-women-us)

Further Reading:
"Open Letter From Indigenous Women Scholars Regarding Discussions of Andrea Smith," 2015.
(http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/07/07/open-letter-indigenous-women-scholars-regarding-discussions-andrea-smith)

Andrea Smith, "My Statement on the Current Media Controversy," 2015.

(https://andrea366.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/my-

statement-on-the-current-media-controversy/)

Week 3: Finding Your Role in Racial Justice Work

Assignment Due: Reection
3.1 (4/11): Articulating Your Self-Interest in Racial Justice Work
Andrea Smith. The Problem with Privilege. 2013. (Focus on Introduction, Alternatives to Self-Reection, and Conclusion, less on The
Confessing Subject).
Cherre Moraga, La Gera from This Bridge Called My Back (pp. 27-34)
Paul Kivel, The Costs of Racism to White People (pp. 55-58)
3.2 (4/13): The Process of Social Justice Identity Development
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Tema Okun. From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: the life-long journey. 2006
Keith E. Edwards, Aspiring Social Justice Ally Identity Development: A Conceptual Model 2006 (pp. 39-57).

Week 4: Tools for Analysis: Frontline Leadership and Coalition-Building

Assignment Due: Autobiography
4.1 (4/18): Frontline Leadership
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 1 (pp. 27-56)
Hilary Moore and Joshua Kahn Russell. Find Your Frontline and Align Your Frontline. Organizing Cools the Planet. 2011
4.2 (4/20): Coalitions (Daniel)
Bystydzienski and Schacht, Introduction in Forging Radical Alliances Across Dierence: Coalition Politics for a New Millennium, 2001 (pp. 114)
Edwina Barvosa-Carter, Multiple Identity and Coalition Building: How Identity Dierences within Us Enable Radical Alliances among Us, 2001
(pp. 21-32)
Cynthia Burack, The Dream of Common Dierences: Coalitions, Progressive Politics, and Black Feminist Thought, 2001 (pp. 35-46).
Further Reading:
Gutierrez, et al. Multicultural Community Organizing: A Strategy for Change, 1996.
Rusch, Lara. Rethinking Bridging: Risk and Trust in Multiracial Community Organizing, 2009.
Gamson, William. Commitment and Agency in Social Movements, 1991.
Polletta and Jasper. Collective Identity and Social Movements, 2001.
Joshua Gamson. The Dilemmas of Identity Politics.

Part 2: Learning from History

Week 5: Freedom Summer
Assignment Due: Reection
5.1 (4/25): Grassroots Leadership in SNCC
Mueller. Ella Baker and the Origins of Participatory Democracy (pp. 79-89)
Film: Eyes on the Prize, Mississippi: Is This America? (vol. 3, part 1)
5.2 (4/27): Working with Whites
Zinn, Howard. White Man in the Movement in SNCC (pp. 167-189)
Carson, Clay. Planning for Confrontation and Mississippi Challenge in In Struggle (pp. 96-129)
Further Reading/Viewing:
McAdam, Doug. Freedom High and Taking Stock in Freedom Summer.
Payne, Charles. Transitions from Ive Got the Light of Freedom
Film: Freedom Summer
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/lms/freedomsummer/player/)

Week 6: Taking It to Your Community

Assignment Due: Case Study Proposal
6.1 (5/2): Black Power
Stokely Carmichael. Power and Racism in Stokely Speaks. 1966
Film: Eyes on the Prize (Vol 5 part 1, 20:00-37:00)
Bloom and Martin, Gender Revolution from Black against Empire, 2013 (pp. 302-308)

(http://site.ebrary.com/lib/stanford/detail.action?

docID=10614249)

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Further Reading/Viewing:
Carson, Clay. Racial Separatism in In Struggle.
Film: Black Power Mixtape
Film: Eyes on the Prize, The Time Has Come (vol 4, part 1)
Recent debate on race and economics:
Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Bernie Sanders and the Liberal Imagination"

(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-

sanders-liberal-imagination/425022/)

Cedric Johnson, "An Open Letter to Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Liberals Who Love Him."
(https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/ta-nehisi-coates-case-for-reparations-bernie-sanders-racism/)

Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The Enduring Solidarity of Whiteness"

(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/why-we-

write/459909/)

6.2 (5/4): The Weathermen and the (Original) Rainbow Coalition

Williams, Jakobi. The Original Rainbow Coalition in From the Bullet to the Ballot, 2013. (pp. 125-166)
Film: The Weather Underground
Further Reading/Viewing:
Bloom and Martin. Free Huey! and Vanguard of the New Left in Black against Empire.
(http://site.ebrary.com/lib/stanford/detail.action?docID=10614249) 2013. (Selections)

Jakobi Williams, The Original Rainbow Coalition: An Example of Universal Identity Politics, 2013.

(http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/the-

original-rainbow-coalition-an-example-of-universal-identity-politics)

Film: American Revolution II

(http://mediaburn.org/video/american-revolution-ii-right-on/)

Film: Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2016)

Pulido, Laura. Black, Brown, Yellow, and Left, 2006. (selections)

Week 7: Racial Solidarity in Rethinking the Academy

Assignment Due (FRIDAY) at 5:00pm: Case Study
7.1 (5/9): Third World Liberation Front at SF State
Margaret Leahy, On Strike! Were Gonna Shut it Down - The 1968-69 San Francisco State Strike, in Ten Years that Shook the City (pp. 15-29).
Video:
"Activist State" (0:00-18:00)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoPmb-9ctGc)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoPmb-9ctGc)

Further Reading:
Jason Ferreira, To Develop a New World Consciousness of Oppressed Peoples: The Third World Liberation Front on the Eve of the Third
World Strike in All Power to the People, 2003 (pp. 78-119)
Jason Ferreira, Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win: The Third World Strike at San Francisco State College, 1968-1969 in All Power to the
People, 2003 (pp. 120-176)
Karen Umemoto, "On Strike!San Francisco State College Strike, 1968-69: The Role of Asian American Students", 1989 (pp. 3-37)
Angie Chung and Edward Chang, "From Third World Liberation to Multiple Oppression Politics: A Contemporary Approach to Interethnic
Coalitions", 1998 (pp. 80-100).
7.2 (5/11): Takeover 89
Guest Panel (Tentative)
Video:
Panel on 89 Takeover

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikckClp6unk)

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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikckClp6unk)

Readings:
"Justice and Hope" (Selections)
NYT on Western Culture Debate

(http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/19/us/in-dispute-on-bias-stanford-is-likely-to-alter-western-culture-

program.html?pagewanted=all)

Daily Article

(http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19880420-01.2.2)

Week 8: Racial Solidarity in Rethinking Stanford

Assignment Due: Proposal for Final Project
8.1 (5/16): Whos Teaching Us?
Required Readings:
About Whos Teaching Us?

(https://www.facebook.com/WhosTeachingUs/?fref=ts)

Who's Teaching UsDemands

8.2 (5/18):#BlackLivesMatter
Alicia Garza, A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. 2014.
Jelani Cobb, The Matter of Black Lives, 2016.

(http://www.thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/)

(http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/where-is-black-lives-matter-headed)

Terrell Jermaine Starr, Violence against Black Trans Women goes largely ignored
(http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/01/violence_against_black_transgender_women_goes_largely_ignored.html)

Part 3: Solidarity Today

Week 9: #BLM
Assignment Due: None
9.1 (5/23): Student-Led Discussion/Activities/Presentations

9.2 (5/25): Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter

Guest Panel: #BLM and #BLM Solidarity Organizers
#Asians4BlackLives, Who We Are and Principles and Protocols.

(https://a4bl.wordpress.com/who-we-are/)

Bay Area Solidarity Action Team, Protocol and Principles for White People Working to Support the Black Liberation Movement, 2014.
(https://baysolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/protocolandprinciples/)

Week 10: Living Solidarity for Collective Liberation

Assignment Due: Final Project 6/1
10.1 (5/30): No Class - Memorial Day
10.2 (6/1): Final Class
Chris Crass. From a Place of Love in Towards Collective Liberation. 2013.
Ana Perez, Love while challenging racist behavior, 2016.
(http://interactioninstitute.org/love-while-challenging-racist-behavior/)
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Further Reading:
bell hooks, "Love as a Practice of Freedom," 2006.

Finals Week: Group Presentations

Assignment Due: 10 minute presentation + Q&A
11.1 (6/7 8:30 am - 11:30 am): Group Presentations

Date
Mon Apr 4, 2016

Details
Self-Interview Reection
(https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/13985)

due by 10:30am

Mon Apr 11, 2016

Week 3 Reection (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/14519)

due by 10:30am

Mon Apr 18, 2016

Autobiography (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/15557)

due by 10:30am

Wed Apr 27, 2016

Week 5 Reection (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/16740)

due by 10:30am

Mon May 2, 2016

Fri May 13, 2016

Mon May 16, 2016

Wed Jun 1, 2016

https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783

Case Study - Initial Paragraph

(https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/16743)

Case Study - Complete Assignment

(https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/16744)

Final Paper Proposal

(https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/18685)

Final Paper (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/16745)

due by 10:30am

due by 11:59pm

due by 10:30am

due by 11:59pm

CEL (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/22715)

Roll Call Attendance (https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/24783/assignments/13998)

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