MOORE COUNTY — It’s been called the “single worst racial violence incident in American History.” On May 31 and June 1 in 1921 mobs of white residents attacked a prosperous Black-owned business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It destroyed more than 35 square block of what was at the time the wealthiest black community in the United States, known as Black Wall Street.
On Tuesday, February 23 Dr. Fredrick Douglas Dixon will present The Death of Black Wall Street and the Myth of the American Dream from 12-1:30 p.m. via Zoom at https://mscc.zoom.us/j/93950141333. The event will be cohosted by Motlow’s Access and Diversity Committee, Community Relations Office, NIXLA Fellows, and the Dean of Students office as part of the college’s celebration of African American History Month.
African American History Month, also known as Black History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a recognition of their central role in U.S. history. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as African American History Month.
Dr. Dixon serves as an educator and community advocate through his roll as Director of the University of Wyoming’s Black Studies Center and an Assistant Professor in the African American and Diaspora Studies Department. Dr. Dixon teaches Introduction to African American Studies, Social Justice in the 21st Century, the Black Freedom Movement, and African American History. He also hosts The First Amendment: Historically Speaking, a public-access TV program that centers on and examines the accurate history of blacks in America.
Dr. Dixon’s commitment to connecting academia with the broader community includes working with several national academic and grassroots organizations, including the National Council for Black Studies and the Black Doctoral Network. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Purdue University, a Master of Arts from Northeastern Illinois University, and a Ph. D. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
““The thrust of my existence is to elevate the whole of the community, particularly Black students, to high levels of academic excellence,” Dr. Dixon says.
The Black Studies Center (BSC) is a new addition to the University of Wyoming and one of many university initiatives spearheaded by Dr. Dixon. The multi-purpose BSC creates an institutional platform dedicated to providing efforts and resources to support culturally responsive teaching, rural-community focused engagement, and evidence-based research related to black studies.
Through the BSC, he is hosting a four-part webinar series The State of Black Studies After 50 Years: A Critical Analysis, that examines components of the black studies field in education, providing an introduction to the BSC mission and goals. Motlow President Dr. Michael Torrence will present the third lecture in the series, The Miseducation of the Negro in Black Studies, Feb. 8, from 6-7:30 p.m. •
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