African American, Native America , Caribbean & the Americas Conference Series
In January, the African American, Native American, Caribbean & the Amercans Conference Series took place at NEIU. Below are summaries from some of the events.
Vasilka Atanasova
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: News
As a part of the 14th Annual African, African American, Native American, Caribbean and the Americas Heritage Conference Series (AAANACA) held at NEIU, Stan West presented the book he co-authored, "Suburban Promised Land."
As one of the authors of the book, West said that 10 years ago he and Peggy Tuck Sinko, Frank Lipo, and Yves Hughes, Jr. came up with the idea to chronicle the history of African Americans in Oak Park, Ill. He talked about how there had been many studies and research done, but they needed the people to tell their stories in order to get a complete account.
Combining oral history with primary sources was the approach they felt necessary in telling the authentic story of the emerging black community in Oak Park. Telling public stories along with people's private stories, he said, was the right way to depict this part of the history.
"We felt we needed both wings," he said. Stories grandparents had talked about are important and according to him, "Bring power to people who don't normally do this."
He was not only addressing African Americans, but bi-racial people as well. He told a few stories of how, when and why these individuals began to move to Oak Park. To open this part of the discussion West played a short movie called "The Achievement Gap: From Students' perspective."
The crew was asking the kids in the movie what they thought about black and white, and if there is an achievement gap by race in the schools. It was interesting for the audience to hear the answers of all the kids interviewed, and that is why he encouraged everyone to go to Youtube.com to watch the entire movie.
Elaborating on why Oak Park was the Promised Land for many blacks and bi-racial people, he said that it was one of the few, "tolerant and receptive communities" at that time in the nation. Oak Park, according to him, for many black people was that peaceful place where they were not beaten, chased and hung.
Continuing with the discussion on his book, he talked about certain black members of the community. He mentioned some famous and well-educated people who had lived or visited Oak Park. One was Paul Robenson, an African American singer, writer, athlete, multilingual orator lawyer, and forerunner of the Civil Rights movement.
As one of the authors of the book, West said that 10 years ago he and Peggy Tuck Sinko, Frank Lipo, and Yves Hughes, Jr. came up with the idea to chronicle the history of African Americans in Oak Park, Ill. He talked about how there had been many studies and research done, but they needed the people to tell their stories in order to get a complete account.
Combining oral history with primary sources was the approach they felt necessary in telling the authentic story of the emerging black community in Oak Park. Telling public stories along with people's private stories, he said, was the right way to depict this part of the history.
"We felt we needed both wings," he said. Stories grandparents had talked about are important and according to him, "Bring power to people who don't normally do this."
He was not only addressing African Americans, but bi-racial people as well. He told a few stories of how, when and why these individuals began to move to Oak Park. To open this part of the discussion West played a short movie called "The Achievement Gap: From Students' perspective."
The crew was asking the kids in the movie what they thought about black and white, and if there is an achievement gap by race in the schools. It was interesting for the audience to hear the answers of all the kids interviewed, and that is why he encouraged everyone to go to Youtube.com to watch the entire movie.
Elaborating on why Oak Park was the Promised Land for many blacks and bi-racial people, he said that it was one of the few, "tolerant and receptive communities" at that time in the nation. Oak Park, according to him, for many black people was that peaceful place where they were not beaten, chased and hung.
Continuing with the discussion on his book, he talked about certain black members of the community. He mentioned some famous and well-educated people who had lived or visited Oak Park. One was Paul Robenson, an African American singer, writer, athlete, multilingual orator lawyer, and forerunner of the Civil Rights movement.
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