ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries will be hosting the “Black Diaspora Panel: Conversations on Race, Education, and Social Justice” on Thursday at 6 p.m. to discuss matters of race through personal experiences from panelists that grew up in the Appalachian Region.
Viewers will get to hear stories of unique experiences that are personal to the panelists with the goal of fostering a better understanding and appreciation for those of different ethnicities inside the Appalachian region. The Panel coincides with “Black Diaspora: Reclaiming Experience, Memory and Place” and features one of the exhibiting artists as a speaker.
“This is a very relevant conversation right now about racial relationships and racial justice,” said Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, director of Slocumb Galleries. “We invited artists, curators and scholars who can talk about this issue in the context of Appalachia.”
This panel and the art exhibition that coincides with it are both part of a three-part series that delves into people of different ethnicities’ experiences living in the Appalachian region, and it will offer different points of view through the personal experiences of the panelists.
Speakers include poet Frank X. Walker, Marie T. Cochran, exhibiting artist Viola Spells, Dr. William Turner and Dr. Keith Johnson. These panelists were carefully selected by organizers because they each use their voice and influence in their communities to move toward social justice.
“These people are agents of change,” said Contreras-Koterbay. “They are part of that group of people who are significant in the current movement that can say what the voiceless in their communities cannot.”
This event will also provide an opportunity for community engagement in which viewers are encouraged to ask questions and actively engage with panelists. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the event will be open to the public online through Facebook Live and Zoom videoconference, and those who want to participate will need to reach out through chat on whichever platform they decide to use.
“Oftentimes, history and memory are contradictory in various communities of color,” said Contreras-Koterbay, “So, we want our students and communities to be enlightened to this.”
Viewers can access the live stream by either visiting the Slocumb Gallery’s Facebook page or by the Zoom Meeting ID: 710 908 4999.
“We are able to get five amazing people to have a conversation with each other and the community and provide an opportunity to contribute to the wider social landscape of political reform,” said Contreras-Koterbay.
