Writer Melissa Harris-Perry to speak on community care and democracy

Drawing inspiration from the Black radical tradition and models of restorative justice, writer and journalist Melissa Harris Perry will explore the history and applications of collective care in her lecture “Radical Care: Nurturing Self, Community, and Democracy,” on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. in Ives Hall, Room 305. 

The lecture is free and open to the public; registration is required. Harris-Perry’s public lecture will be the third event in the Black History Month series organized and hosted by the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures.

Another event, which includes movement and yoga, will offer students the opportunity to practice embodied and interactive care within community. It will take place on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in Willard Straight 407.

"We asked our first cohort of Racial Justice Student Fellows to develop a theme for Black History Month, and they worked together to come up with the excellent idea of focusing on care, and exploring it through the lens of seminal thinkers like Audre Lorde and Ella Baker," said Jamila Michener, director of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures and associate professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and public policy in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation,” Audre Lorde wrote in 1988. 

Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University. She is the founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, an independent organization advancing justice through intersectional scholarship and action. 

She is also the author of “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought” and “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.” Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the The Chicago Tribune, and she has been a regular columnist for The Nation and Essence. In 2016, she was awarded the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism.

“A radical approach to self-care encourages us to show love through solidarity and action, reminding us that care is collective, not just personal," said Lisa Quainoo '25, one of the student racial justice fellows. "The goal of these events is to foster resilience by learning from the ways our ancestors and community members have persevered through tumultuous times. We hope this event strengthens us in the face of adversity, reinforcing that our struggles are interconnected and that true care means showing up for one another.” 

Also in the center’s Black History Month series was a faculty panel Feb. 6 entitled “The Purpose and Practice of Care: Sustaining Resilience to Preserve and Transform Communities.”