Black & Latino Studies Group Expands Multicultural Reach

HOUSTON -- If there had been a glass anywhere around, Dr. Ellen Foster Randle would have broken it. When she belted an ear-piercing ditty -- a Negro spiritual woeful of the pains slave mothers endured upon separation from their children -- many people came running down the corridor to see what was going on. Others already in the bantam conference room perked up, startled by the off-course method for presenting a research paper.

Not the usual M.O. for a scholarly conference. Then again, when Black folks get together, the agendum can sometimes get a little offbeat.

Do not conclude from this description, however, that there wasn't some serious scholarship being presented here last month at the fourth annual joint conference of the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) and the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies (NAHLS).

More than 500 professors presented papers on topics ranging from the "Communication Process in a Traditional African Society" to "The Impact and Influence of Nike on the African American Community" in the weeklong sojourn that gathered nearly 3,000 Black and Latino scholars and students alike.

It wasn't a caucus of African American Studies' most renowned scholars, rather the attendees represented the gamut of disciplines from large and small colleges across the United States as well as several foreign countries.

"[The conference] serves as a resource for scholars in the field who desire information and support for research related to Africans, African Americans, and Hispanics," says Dr. Lemuel Berry, who is the executive director and founder of both organizations.

This year's conference was a first for Dr. Miriam Ma'at-ka-Re Monges. The coordinator of the African American studies program at California State University-Chico says she came because she wanted to expand her network in the field.

Monges, who did her doctoral work in African American studies at Temple University, says that the eclectic presentation of papers from people in various disciplines was refreshing.

"I just knew that there was probably a group of people out there that I wasn't interacting with," she says.

Samina Hadi-Tabassum presented her paper on "Decentering the Black Biography," which focused on Mary McLeod Bethune but also addressed the broader need for more accurate intellectual research on Black leaders.

"There's a tremendous need for less monumentalizing and putting Black leaders on a pedestal," she said. "We need more concrete, specific examples of their daily struggles."

In the next millennium, the conference is scheduled to be held abroad every other year. Berry says he's currently exploring the idea that the conference be held in Mexico in the year 2000.

"We want to bring an international market," he says. "This is still focused on providing people different types of information, bringing different cultures together, sharing of information, addressing issues that have an impact on personal development, professional development, community development, and political issues."

Also beginning next year, the conference will include scholars from the National Association of Native American Studies as well as the National Association of Asian Studies.

"We'll have the four largest minority populations in the United States meeting under one roof," Berry said. "This to our knowledge will be the only organization that is multidisciplinary, multicultural that meets collectively, and they all have the same goals and aspirations. So I think next year's conference will be, as Jesse Jackson says, a `rainbow coalition.'"

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group