Join us for our virtual Humanities Washington Speaker Series featuring Luther Adams - Free Man of Color

Across the country, efforts to suppress Black history in libraries and classrooms have taken root. Anger against “critical race theory” and “wokeness” has led to new laws prohibiting what can and cannot be taught to students of all ages, and what books can remain in libraries. Why are there efforts to limit this knowledge? Are some ideas just too dangerous? If so, how do we decide what those are as a society? Shouldn’t we have the freedom to think, to know, to aspire?  

To counter some of these efforts, professor Luther Adams – Free Man of Color, uses Black thought, images, and poetry, as well as local history, to create an open space to ask questions about Black history and why it matters to all of us. 

Luther Adams – Free Man of Color (he/him) is an associate professor of ethnic, gender, and labor studies at the University of Washington, Tacoma. As a student and teacher of Black history and culture, his work brings together the interdisciplinary study of urban, southern, labor, and religious history to understand Black culture and life. He is following up his first book, Way Up North in Louisville: African American Migration in the Urban South, 1930-1970, with a history of African Americans’ long struggle with and against police brutality.

Adams lives in Tacoma.

Grab paper and a pencil to follow along with artist Rosemary Jones! Learn how to create thin block letters and the step-by-step process of filling in the empty space with whimsical garden motifs. 

Join us for our virtual Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau Series with associate professor at Washington State University Vancouver’s School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, Carolyn Long!

From the use of pillories and stocks in colonial America to the rise of “cancel culture,” use of shame as a weapon has a long history in the United States. And it has been used to mixed effect in the political arena when used to target politicians and their supporters.   

Professor Carolyn Long examines the rise of shamelessness in American politics and the use of shame against those with whom we disagree. When shame is used to demonize others, does it contribute to political polarization? Are shame and shamelessness equally destructive to our politics and society? Can shame be used effectively in politics without demonizing the person being shamed? And if this is the case, how can we fix this and improve our political discourse?   

Carolyn Long (she/her) is an associate professor at Washington State University Vancouver’s School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs. Her research focuses on American politics, policy, and law. She is the author of Mapp v. Ohio: Guarding Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, and Religious Freedom and Indian Rights: The Case of Oregon v. Smith, and the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards. She was the Democratic nominee for the Third Congressional District in 2018 and 2020.