At a polarizing time in our country, FREEDOM grounded in wisdom from the past is the path forward. Join us this Black History Month as we travel back in time and gain insight into how enslaved and free Black people creatively and courageously strategized pathways to freedom through song, dance, and drumming. We might even be inclined to create a song of freedom in the 21st century! Lunch is included. Guided by Dr. Renee Harrison.
Renee K. Harrison is a tenured Associate Professor of African American and US Religious History at Howard University. She earned her Ph.D. in Religion from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia with an interdisciplinary concentration in History, Philosophy, African American Studies, and Black Feminist/Womanist Thought. Her recent publication, Black Hands, White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America, documents and appraises the role enslaved women, men, and children played in building the USA and its physical and fiscal infrastructure in Washington, DC. Dr. Harrison is also the author of Enslaved Women and the Art of Resistance in Antebellum America and Engaged Teaching in Theology and Religion (co-authored with Jennie Knight).
In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Harrison is recognized for her creative works, speaking engagements, and her role as a ritualist, where she aims to facilitate inner peace and connection through various rituals. A native of Los Angeles, California, Dr. Harrison is a retired 11-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and the former executive director of A Leap of Faith Productions, a non-profit community-based theater group in Los Angeles. She is an artist, poet, and playwright.