African Americans in Times of War

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: August 20, 2018

Pre-registration August 21 - September 12, 2018

On-site registration prices effective September 13, 2018

Download the 8 page conference brochure here

CONVENTION

The ASALH Annual Convention is an occasion to explore the history and culture of Africans and people of African descent. Our convention brings together more than one thousand people, including academics, community builders, business professionals, and others, who share an abiding interest in our annual theme. For over a century, our scholarly sessions, professional workshops, and other presentations have served to analyze and illuminate the contributions of people of African descent to the world.

It’s not just a conference for academics. With more than 200 sessions, featuring members who are prominent figures in Black cultural studies, as well as scholars and students from many disciplines, we will all learn much from the presentations.

Our historically rich conference program now includes a Film Festival and other presentations that analyze and illuminate a critical theme in the Black experience. Sessions will be on the theme and many aspects of black life, history, and culture.

ABOUT THE THEME

The 2018 theme, “African Americans in Times of War,” commemorates the centennial of the end of the First World War in 1918, and explores the complex meanings and implications of this international struggle and its aftermath. The First World War was initially termed by many as “The Great War,” “The War to End All Wars,” and the war “to make the world safe for democracy.”

Those very concepts provide a broad, useful framework for focusing on the roles of African Americans in every American war, from the Revolutionary War Era to that of the present “War against Terrorism.” Times of War inevitably provide the framework for many stories related to African American soldiers and sailors, veterans, and civilians. This is a theme filled with paradoxes of valor and defeat, of civil rights opportunities and setbacks, of struggles abroad and at home, of artistic creativity and repression, and of catastrophic loss of life and the righteous hope for peace.

The theme suggests that contemporary conditions, past and present, give us cause for critical pause in our studies and deliberations to consider the specific and unique issues faced by African Americans in times of war. These issues include opportunities for advancement and repression of opportunities during wartime:

-the struggle to integrate the military and experiences during segregation/apartheid and successful integration;

-veterans experiences once they returned home;

-the creation of African American Veteran of Foreign War posts;

-cultures and aesthetics of dissent; global/international discourse, including impact and influence of the Pan African Congresses;

-the impact of migration and urban development; educational opportunities;

-health care development; the roles of civil rights and Black liberation organizations, including the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party;

-the roles of African American businesses, women, religious institutions, and the Black press, in the struggle abroad and at home;

-the topographies and spaces of Black military struggle, resistance and rebellion, and how Black soldiers and/veterans are documented and memorialized within public and private spaces.

These diverse stories reveal war’s impact not only on men and women in uniform but on the larger African American community. 

Read more at www.asalh.org 

Volunteer for the Conference

ASALH depends on a dedicated team of volunteers to support the conference. If you are interested in hearing more about our volunteer opportunities please contact  Karyn Williams at karyn.williams@duke-energy.com. 

Photo Release: ASALH and its legal representatives and assigns, retain the right and permission to publish, without charge, photographs taken during this event. These photographs may be used in publications, including electronic publications, or in audio-visual presentations, promotional literature, advertising, or in other similar ways.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (EIN: 53-0219640) is a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) organization. Contributions to ASALH are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.