Resistance Studies' Joanne Sheehan to Discuss 'Resistance and Cooperative Land Ownership by Black Farmers'

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As part of the Resistance Studies Initiative's Fall Speaker Series, Joanne Sheehan, resistance studies fellow with the Initiative, will present "Resistance and cooperative land ownership by black farmers: The Arc of Justice," Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in 145 Integrated Sciences Building.

The racist backlash to organizing during the civil rights movement inspired the development of a community land trust to help secure economic independence for black farmers. Sheehan will discuss the film "Arc of Justice–the Rise, Fall and Rebirth of a Beloved Community," which tells the story of a legendary land struggle that started in 1969. She will introduce this land struggle and discuss how it inspired the development of community land trusts and what more can be learned about resistance and resilience from their experience.

Sheehan has been an organizer, nonviolence trainer and educator for over 48 years. She is on the staff of War Resisters League's New England office in Norwich, Conn., and has been involved with community land trusts for decades. As a resistance studies fellow she focuses on the history of nonviolent action training.

The speaker series is presented in collaboration with the Social Thought and Political Economy Program of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences to encourage students to engage in a critical examination of society and to develop their own capacities for critical reading, writing and thinking.