Canceled - 2026 Black History Month Keynote Lecture - Dr. Stefan M. Bradley
Campus Center
1 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003
*Due to inclement weather and the closing of the UMass Amherst Campus, we unfortunately have to cancel this event. We will do our best to reschedule the lecture in the coming weeks and will send out the new date and time once it is arranged.
"Rescuing Democracy: Black Youth in Ferguson and Freedom"
Keynote Lecture by Dr. Stefan M. Bradley, Charles Hamilton Houston 1915 Professor of Black Studies and History at Amherst College
Responding to the August 2014 police shooting death of their peer, Michael Brown, Jr., young Black people in Ferguson, Missouri showed the world what democracy looks like. They organized and protested to expose racial capitalism and the blatant violations of their Constitutional rights. By shutting down roadways and disrupting comfortable life in the St. Louis Metropolitan area, society's most marginalized members shook the status quo. They threatened decision-makers that if they didn't get their freedom, they would shut down the system. The efforts those young demonstrators made on the ground and in the political sphere provide a model for the modern moment. As Americans face a rise in state violence against and abuse of the most vulnerable, they should learn from Ferguson, USA.