The Fifth Annual Black Religion Spirituality & Culture Conference

The Black Religion, Spirituality & Culture Fifth Annual Conference aims to create a safe and meaningful space for B.I.P.O.C. cultural-heritages and traditions of being and becoming. We will facilitate much-needed conversations around the global militarization of police and police brutality against Black and Brown folx across the African Diaspora. Students will engage in high-performance dance, movement, listening to panelists expand on the dance traditions of Vodou, Regla de Ocha-Ifá, Candomblé, Umbanda, and Traditional Ifá. The panels will flesh out Indigenous and African ways of being in community. The panels will also explore the dire need to come together as change agents to radically impact academia and our communities positively. Other panels will discuss the work being done by HDS alumni and scholarship undertaken by current students at various institutions. We hold dear this year’s theme, B.L.A.C.K. (Black Liberation, Activism, Community, and Kinship), as the call of the hour. The Fifth Annual Conference serves to build a bridge between the known and the unknown to bring our voices and lived experiences to the forefront in a society where our narratives are deemed unworthy, invalid, and invisible. We commit to disrupting space as claiming our narratives as lived theories and analysis. This year, Harambee: Students of African Descent are breaking out of the box! We bring you this forum to speak truth to power, Àṣẹ, Aché, Ayibobo, Aho, and Amen!