Part of the second generation of the Race and Democracy Project, this working conference, organized by faculty fellow Dianne Pinderhughes, addresses the capacity for routine democratic participation in governance and public life by populations of African descent in North and South America, and in the Caribbean. The interdisciplinary conference will gather  scholars to discuss how populations of African descent can engage in voting, electing public officials to office, both descriptively and substantively, and how they can encourage routine recognition of their groups’ interest in and by the public sector.

All those interested in attending are asked to please respond to this brief questionnaire.

Presented by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies with cosponsorship by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts (ISLA), the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, and the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Photo above courtesy of Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira.

David Covin, California State University, Sacramento
Ollie Johnson, Wayne State University
Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
K.C. Morrison, University of Delaware

Tuesday, July 23

6:00 - 8:30 pm
Informal buffet dinner

Wednesday, July 24

9:30 - 10:30 am
Opening Session
Welcome –  Sharon Schierling, Managing Director of the Kellogg Institute 
Introduction of Participants – Dianne Pinderhughes

10:45 am - 12:00 noon
Discussion of Working Conference Goals and Schedule
David Covin, K.C. Morrison, and Dianne Pinderhughes

12:00 noon - 1:45 pm
Lunch
From "Race and Democracy in the Americas" to "A Collaborative Study of Race in the Americas" - Looking Backward, Looking Forward
David Covin and K.C. Morrison, Past and Current PIs

2:00 - 3:30 pm 
Panel 1: Contemporary Racial Politics in Brazil
Chair:  Ollie Johnson
Sílvio Humberto dos Passos Cunha  – “Black Protagonism and Parliament”
Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira – “Black Politics in Bahia – Challenges to Afro-Brazilian Election to Mayoral Offices”
Paula Cristina da Silva Barreto – “Visual Cultures of Privilege: Ways of Looking and (in)visibility of Black Bodies in Brazilian Contemporary Society”
Commentators:  Danielle Clealand and Ollie Johnson

6:00 - 8:00 pm
Conference Dinner
Keynote I –"Afro-Brazilian Women: Bolsa Familia Beneficiaries and Politics"
Gladys Mitchell-Walthour 
with an introduction by K.C. Morrison

Thursday, July 25

9:00 - 10:30 am
Panel 2: Race and Social Movements in the Americas
Chair:  David Covin 
Danielle Clealand – “Who are the Black Revolutionaries?:  Black Politics, The Cuban State, and the Cuban Diaspora”
Fernanda Barros dos Santos  – “State and Black Movements in Brazil (1980 – 2010):  Cooperation, Contest, or Autonomy?"
Commentators:  David Covin and Kathie Stromile Golden

10:30 - 10:45 am
Group Photo

10:45 am - 12:00 noon
Working Session I (informal discussion of the organization of projects by the participants)
Discussion Leaders:  Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira and Dianne Pinderhughes
Silvio Humberto Passos Cunha – Steve Biko Cultural Institute; Political Campaigns for City Council and Federal Deputy
K.C. Morrison – University of Delaware, Biden School of Public Policy;  APSA Funding, "Collaborative Study of Race in the Americas"
Kathie Stromile Golden – International research projects and travel

12:00 noon - 1:45 pm
Working Lunch (informal presentations by Notre Dame Faculty on African diaspora/racial and ethnic research)
Welcome: Sarah Mustillo, I.A. O'Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters 
Chair: Dianne Pinderhughes
Speakers: Darren Davis, Korey Garibaldi, Karen Graubart, Marisel Moreno, and Mark Sanders

2:00 - 3:30 pm
Panel 3:  Project Presentations
Chair:  Korey Garibaldi
Lorrie Frasure-Yokley – "2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS)"
K.C. Morrison and David Covin – "The Collaborative Study of Race in the Americas: Team-Building in the 21st Century"
Gladys Mitchell-Walthour – "Afro-Brazilian YouTubers and Social Activism"

3:30 - 5:00 pm
Keynote II  – “Black Politics in Brazil 2016-2019”
Ollie Johnson
with an introduction by David Covin 

6:00 - 8:00pm
Buffet dinner, music, and dancing
Celebration, honors,  and commemoration
Off-campus location: International Fuse

Friday, July 26

9:00 - 10:30 am
Working Session II (informal discussion of the organization of projects by the participants)
Discussion Leaders: Ollie Johnson and Danielle Clealand
David Covin – Sacramento Black Book Fair
Fernanda Barros dos Santo – Research update
Ollie Johnson – Research update on Organization of Afro-Latino Legislators
Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira – A Cor da Bahia, programming for visiting groups from the US
Dianne Pinderhughes – Department of Africana Studies and affiliated faculty

10:45 am - 12:00 noon
Reports from Working Sessions
Danielle Clealand, Ollie Johnson, Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira, and Dianne Pinderhughes

12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
Luncheon and Closing Panel
Michael Coppedge – The Democratization Theory Research Cluster 
David Covin, K.C. Morrison, and Dianne Pinderhughes – Reflection on the conference and a look toward what’s next