International Conference:
Black Diasporic Experiences of Societal Engagement:
The Politics of Inclusion - Engagement on whose terms?

An International Interdisciplinary Black Leadership and Black Studies Conference in conjunction with the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire, the 60th Anniversary of Canadian Citizenship and the 25th Anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Organized by
Professor David Divine, James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies
Dalhousie University

April 11 thru 12, 2007
Library and Archives Canada Auditorium
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON Canada


My name is Professor David Divine and I am the James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  I hold the only Chair in Black Canadian Studies in Canada.  My Chair is National. I enclose a brochure which gives an outline of the Chair and some of the work I undertake.  I also have a web-site where you can access further information the address of which is, www.jamesrjohnstonchair.dal.ca

The purpose of writing to you is to invite you as as a delegate to an International Conference which I am organizing titled Black Diasporic Experiences of Societal Engagement: The Politics of Inclusion - Engagement on whose terms?.  Four countries will be featured at this event: the United States of America, France, the United Kingdom and Canada.  The content of the conference will revolve around the following:

There is a presumption that "inclusion" is a wholesome activity, and that somehow both those being received in the countries identified and those countries open to immigration, are mutually benefiting from this transaction. This is highly questionable, in the context of individuals and communities, already residing in the countries concerned, who identify themselves as being marginalised and disenfranchised. The conference will explore the costs and alleged benefits of "inclusion" and whether there is a right to remain excluded.

An additional purpose of writing, is to request that you circulate information about the conference to your networks as I would welcome a significant American presence at this historic event.

The conference will explore notions of "inclusion", "integration", "assimilation" and "community".  It will address measures for evaluating whether inclusion has occurred. It will highlight what conditions need to prevail before one can voluntarily commit oneself to the country where one is resident, including to its values, rights and freedoms and "accepted" perceptions of how to think and act relating to specific areas of life.  It will share models of best practice and highlight areas needing further examination and policy formulation.  In seven major concurrent sessions, key issues will be explored in: Criminal Justice System(s) and Inclusion, Health and Inclusion, National Memory Institutions and Inclusion, Education and Inclusion, Youth and Inclusion, Employment/Business and Inclusion, and Religion/Spirituality and Inclusion.

This conference is timed to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire, the 60th Anniversary of Canadian Citizenship and the 25th Anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
 
The international conference, over two days, will provide a platform for national and internationally recognized contributors from across Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, to share policies, practices, ideas and research both past and present about what it means to be "included" as a Black person in the four participating countries.  This conference will include contributions from scholars, public servants, community representatives, students, youth, and members of the public.
 
This conference is also a major community event in addition to being an extremely scholarly one.  All contributors are being asked to make their presentations as accessible as possible to all members of the audience.  This was very successfully achieved at my last national conference in 2005 titled: "Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora located in Canada."  A book arising from that conference is being launched at the 2007 conference.  The audience will come from all walks of life and one hundred of the 384 delegate spaces are being reserved for youth between the ages of 13 and 25.  There will be a focus on youth although it is not a youth conference.

Thank you and I sincerely hope you will be able to join us.

Kindest regards,

Prof. David Divine

Professor David Divine
James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies
Room 202, Henry Hicks Bldg.
6299 South Street
Halifax, NS, B3H 4H6
Canada

Tel: (902) 494-3007
Fax: (902) 494-6318

http://jamesrjohnstonchair.dal.ca