Facilitators: Danford Chibvongodze & Andries MotauSpeaker: Tiffany Caesar
Topic: In this webinar Dr. Tiffany Caesar discusses the critical roles of black mothers in the Black Lives Matter Movement and the precedent activities of black mother’s activism within the African American tradition. The presentation focuses on mothers who have transitioned into political activism like Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, Melissa McKinnies mother of Danye Jones, and organizations of mothers like POST (Protecting Our Stolen Treasures). By highlighting how Black Mother’s Activism continues to dismantle violence against black bodies and is a movement within itself, Black Mother’s activism is encouraged and displayed as necessary for permanent change.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Tiffany Caesar is a Black Studies scholar whose research interests include Africana women in educational leadership in South Africa and the United States, African Centered Education, Womanism, Pan-Africanism, and Black culture. She teaches in universities and the K-12 setting utilizing an African Centered Pedagogy that emphasizes black students history, experience, and culture. Dr. Caesar partakes in cultural heritage preservation initiatives in the United States and South Africa focusing on cross-cultural youth dialogue and social justice issues. She has collaborated with Michigan State University Museum, Stellenbosch Museum, the Hush House Community Museum and Leadership Training Institute, and the Nelson Mandela Museum on educational programming and international partnerships. In continued advocacy of Black people’s equality and civil rights, she has also written a children’s book called Where Is Bobby? in response to police brutality in the United States. Her latest publication is a chapter entitled, “Africana Women Leaders of African Centered Education: A Portraiture of Mothering, Pan-Africanism, and Nation-Building in Africa” in the book titled New Frontiers in The Study of the Global African Diaspora: Between Uncharted Themes and Alternative Representation (MSU Press, 2018). Recently, Dr. Caesar has created an online series called Black Meditations that shares stories of national and international leaders, artists, scholars, and activists using their work to heal and build the black community.