Diversity
Department wraps up month of cultural events
APRIL 1, 2008 -- The Charleston School of Law's Department of
Diversity Initiatives provided students and people across the
Lowcountry with myriad opportunities in March to celebrate the
region's distinctiveness during its third annual observance of
cultural diversity.
"Charleston's diversity always has been one
of her greatest strengths," said Professor John L.S. Simpkins,
who serves as the schools' director of diversity initiatives.
"Cultural Diversity Week provides us with an opportunity
to better understand the breadth of Charleston's cultural heritage
and to use that knowledge to further improve the quality of life
for Charlestonians now and in the future."
In March, students and area residents heard the
powerful, spiritual Gullah songs echo through the law school's
Barrister commons area as the local group "De Gullah Singers"
sang rich, cultural hymns that intertwined the Gullah language
and experiences of slaves in America.
DIVERSITY
TALK
Warren Redman-Gress, executive director of the
Alliance
for Full Acceptance, spoke to students this week as the
school continues its focus this month on diversity. Next week,
several activities will be profiled highlighting diversity.
(Photo by Celeste Palmer.) |
Also as part of the diversity celebration, the Charleston
School of Law welcomed guest speaker Warren Redman-Gress. He is
the executive director and co-founder of Alliance for Full Acceptance,
"AFFA", a social justice organization that seeks to
achieve equality and acceptance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered Americans.
Ms. Cleo Scott Brown, author of "Witness to
the Truth: My Struggle for Human Rights in Louisiana," hosted
a book discussion last month that shared her story about a complex
and emotional period in history as the audience listened to the
painful stories of her experiences in Louisiana.
Paula Tejeda, a librarian at the Charleston School
of Law, also facilitated "Circulo Hispano," a Latin
American dialogue among natives of Chile, Bolivia, Puerto Rico
and Colombia. As participants in the roundtable discussions, each
shared reasons they came to the United States, particularly, the
Lowcountry.
"It was very interesting hearing the participants'
reasons for choosing the Charleston community to live," said
Reagan S. Flemming, a diversity fellow at the school. "It
makes you appreciate living in this community."
At the Jewish Center at the College of Charleston,
the Department of Diversity Initiatives also participated in several
panel discussions. The "Abolition, the law and its evasion",
was led by Simpkins. Other panel discussions included "This
Ambiguous Anniversary," which focused on the abolition of
slavery and the legal questions posed by the abolitionist movement.
Another event, the contemporary oratorio entitled
"Requiem," fused the "graphic images of the Middle
Passage from renowned African-American artist Tom Feelings' Middle
Passage: White Ships, Black Cargo, with Kwame Dawes's visceral
poetry, all set against a scintillating musical score drawing
from all forms of African and African-Diaspora music from spirituals
to reggae, ska to gospel, R&B to soca."
Simpkins described it as a "truly unique performance
piece that took the audience through the horrors of the Middle
Passage but that, through celebrating survival, left them inexplicably
uplifted."
Following the oratorio, the school's annual observance
of cultural diversity ended with a three-day academic exploration
called, "Ending the International Slave Trade: A Bicentenary
Inquiry." Law school professors and students participated
in the event with colleagues from the College of Charleston and
the Citadel.
Wrapping up the week, Queen Quet of the Gullah Geechie
Tribe, described as an "indefatigable force," gave her
testimony at the Avery Center. The strength of her story, described
as "powerful" by Celeste Palmer, cultural diversity
month events coordinator, as Queen Quet "brought the culture
and tenuous plight of her people to public notice."
To learn more about the Department of Diversity
Initiatives, contact John
Simpkins.
