UNF holds new ‘Justice Sessions’ discussion series topics

The University of North Florida’s virtual webinar and discussion series “The Justice Sessions” will include a new list of topics and discussions for the spring semester.

The series was developed by an interdisciplinary group of University departments and will feature speakers from UNF and the local community who will discuss Jacksonville’s history of racial and civil rights struggles to better understand where we came from and how we can move forward united into the future. 

All sessions will take place noon to 1 p.m. on the following Wednesdays (except "Research Local Black History" taking place at 3 to 4 p.m. on February 24):

• January 13 - "Pathways to a People: Gullah Geechee Heritage in Florida & Beyond" featuring Saundra Morene of Gullah Geechee Nation Jacksonville leading an introductory discussion on the rich heritage of an Afro-creole people.

   

• January 27 - "Gullah Geechee Communities of Florida" featuring Saundra Morene and invited guests from Gullah Geechee Nation discussing Gullah Geechee communities of northeast Florida and Jacksonville as a cosmopolitan Afro-creole urban center.

   

• February 10 - "Self-Care for Social Justice: How can we engage in activist work in a way that builds us, rather than burns us out?" featuring Dr. Richmond Wynn, UNF Counseling Center director, and Dr. Tru Leverette, Africana studies director, sharing practices toward emotional, physical and mental self-care for those working for social justice.

   

• February 24 - "How to Research Local Black History" is a roundtable discussion hosted by UNF's Digital Humanities Institute.

   

• March 10 - "El grito de Yanga/Yanga's Freedom Cry" featuring Dolores Flores-Silva, Roanoke College professor, screening her documentary on Yanga, the Afro-Mexican freedom fighter who forced recognition of the first free Black community in the Americas. Yanga will be discussed in relation to the First Coast's Fort Mose.
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• March 24 - "Black Memorials" with Dr. Felicia Bevel, history assistant professor.

   

• April 7 - "Community Learning Exchange" featuring Dr. Chris Janson, Center for Urban Education and Policy director, and Dr. Rudy Jamison, urban education and community outreach assistant director.

Zoom session registration links and more information can be found at the Justice Sessions website.

The Justice Sessions are presented by UNF's Coggin College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Digital Humanities Institute, Ethics Center, Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.