On February 5,2021, CSAD joined the kick-off event for the new Race Beyond Borders initiative “Understanding Race as a Global Concept: Power, Access, and Policy.” Race Beyond Borders is a coalition of Greater Atlanta area higher education institutions, Global Atlanta, and the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. It aims to create a public-facing scholar-activist network and a collaborative, multi-institutional, and multi-stakeholder space for a global conversation on race and Atlanta’s role in it. The virtual launch event featured local experts exploring race as a global concept and presenting diverse perspectives that will help shape views of what race actually is — and isn’t. The event was moderated by Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson, Co-Director of Operations and Outreach, Center for Studies of Africa and Its Diaspora (CSAD), Georgia State University.
The event launched the Race Beyond Borders initiative and offered a first step in bringing multiple stakeholders and diverse voices together to begin a dialogue and process of inquiry. Speakers and panelists included Anna Stenport, Professor of Global Studies, Chair, School of Modern Languages; Founding Co-Director, Atlanta Global Studies Center, Georgia Tech; Julius Coles, Honorary Consul of Senegal; Dorian Brown Crosby, Assistant Professor of Political Science; Faculty-Mentor and Board Member of Spelman College's Social Justice Program; Sheryl Heron, Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Equity and Inclusion; Professor of Emergency Medicine in the School of Medicine, Emory University; Pushpa Parekh, Professor of English; Chair, African Diaspora and the World (ADW) Program, Spelman College; and Elizabeth West, Professor of English and Africana Literatures and Cultures; Co-Director of Academics, Center for Studies of Africa and Its Diaspora (CSAD), Georgia State University; Former Executive Director, South Atlantic Modern Languages Association (SAMLA).
Atlanta Race Beyond Borders initiative is a partnership of the following institutions and organizations:
- Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC), Georgia Tech and Georgia State University partnership
- Georgia State University's Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora
- Georgia State University's Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies
- Spelman College's Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education
- Spelman College's African Diaspora and the World (ADW) Program
- Emory University's Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives
- Emory University's James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference
- Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (IDEI) at Georgia Tech
- Global Atlanta City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International Affairs