NEW YORK — In a session at the National Action Network (NAN) Convention in New York, prominent Black academics discussed the importance of raising hard questions, standing firm in their beliefs and doing work useful in the struggle to overcome oppression.
Black intellectuals have a distinct connection to activism. “The Future of Black Intellectuals” panel at the NAN Convention, moderated by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education executive editor Dr. Jamal Watson, addressed what role Black intellectuals should play in this era of President Donald Trump.
Dr. Obery Hendricks, Visiting Scholar of Religion at Columbia University, said it’s important for academic intellectuals to do work that generates resources and analysis that activists can use. This involves raising hard questions and make sure issues don’t get swept under the rug.
“Intellectuals have a responsibility to analyze, to represent, to embody, to articulate a message that opens up the issues,” said Hendricks. “Use whatever skills and training that we have to lay the groundwork for folks to build on.
“It must be real intellectual work that is useful in the struggle,” he adds. “We have to get up and tell the truth and be willing to stand on it and pay for it if we have to.”
Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman, assistant professor of Theology and African American Religion at Yale University Divinity School, said one of the roles of the Black intellectual is to help the Black community remember where it has come from. The oppression and racism of today are not new.
“That will help in many ways to combat the fear and anxiety that we have around facing racism, sexism, classism and the many different kinds of injustices that are facing our community today,” said Turman. “When we can tap into the strength that comes from those who may no longer be here or from the strategies that they employed, then we can find our way forward.”
