FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., ASALH President
[email protected]
ASALH TO HOST FIRST VIRTUAL NATIONAL CONVENING
Baltimore, MD – March 24, 2025 – ASALH, the premier organization for the study of African American Life and History will host its first virtual national convening to discuss The Fierce Urgency of Now.
ASALH National President Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead, along with invited scholars, will critically analyze the state of the nation and outline concrete individual and collective actions needed as the country approaches the First 100 Days of the Trump Administration.
American civil rights advocate and scholar of critical race theory Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Johns Hopkins political science professor Lester Spence, and educator and thought leader LaMarr Darnell Shields will lay out a Magna Carta—for the American people.
“I have always held fast to the belief that America’s version of representative democracy was stronger than one person, one party, or one Branch,” said President Whitehead. “The whole idea of checks and balances is to provide guardrails that prevent tyranny. Today, I no longer believe that to be the case.”
“We are watching a worst-case scenario of what happens when the political levees break. Democracy was not perfect. It was fragile and it has ended. The questions we must now address are: How did we get here? What comes after representative democracy? And what do we need to do to continue to take care of ourselves, push back when we can, and stay healthy and grounded? This virtual Convening is where we will seek to answer these questions.”
After the Convening, ASALH will host an open community discussion. The event will be held on Zoom on Monday, March 24, 2025 from 7:30-9:00p ET and is free and open to everyone. Tickets are available through Eventbrite and can be accessed through www.asalh.org.
About ASALH:
Established on September 9, 1915, ASALH was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and is committed to creating and disseminating knowledge about Black History.