Recording Available February 15
Co-Sponsored by Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UIS Black History Month Ad Hoc Academic Committee, History Department, and Brookens Library
What are the roots of the current turmoil over race and policing? How have Chicago’s Black communities held law enforcement accountable? For Black History Month, we bring together in conversation two important new voices in the history of race and Chicago policing. Dr. Simon Balto introduces the development of racially repressive policing over 50 years and how Black activists have challenged police violence through a discussion of his book Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power (UNC Press, 2019). Dr. Andrew Baer addresses police torture of men of color and community resistance through themes from his book Beyond the Usual Beating: The Jon Burge Police Torture Scandal and Social Movements for Police Accountability in Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2020).
Following the lecture, a panel of UIS students, faculty, and staff members will address the importance of these histories to Illinois and the lessons they offer for today.
Professor Simon Balto (University of Iowa Depts. of History and African American Studies) book Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power (UNC Press, 2019) explores the development of a police system in Chicago’s Black neighborhoods. With his work featured in Time Magazine and The Washington Post, he is currently writing a biography of Fred Hampton, the leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party who was assassinated by the FBI and the Chicago Police Dept. in 1969 at the age of 21.
Professor Andrew Baer (University of Alabama Birmingham Depts. of History and African American Studies) studies race and policing in the 20th Century U.S. city. He also writes about Black capitalism and the anti-death penalty movement in Illinois (1996-2011).
Devin Hunter, Assistant Professor of History, UIS. Co-organizer and Presentation Moderator
Hinda Seif, Associate Professor of Women/Gender Studies and Sociology/Anthropology UIS. Co-organizer and Panel Moderator
Discussion Panelists:
Robert Dixon, Director of Government Affairs, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and UIS graduate (B.S. 2013 Political Science, M.P.A 2017)
Ty Dooley, Associate Professor of Public Administration, UIS
Justin Rose, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, UIS
Aislinn Diaz, UIS Student
Sierra Roberts, UIS Student
Briana Rodriguez, UIS Student
