Critical Race Initiative
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      • Wealth Building: Investing in Community Change
      • Wealth Solutions: Creating Wealth Equity for Communities of Color
    • 2017 Parren Mitchell Symposium >
      • The Power of Popular Culture
      • Intersectionality and Critical Race Theory: A Dialogue
      • The Politics of Racial Representation
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      • Health Strategies: From This Day Forward
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The Legacy of Congressman Parren Mitchell: 
First African-American to Obtain a Graduate Degree from the University of Maryland

On April 29, 2014, The Critical Race Initiative (CRI), under the auspices of the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland, will hold a symposium honoring the legacy of the late Congressman Parren Mitchell. Mitchell was a recipient of the Purple Heart for his service in WWII, the first African-American elected to Congress from Maryland in 1970 (serving in Congress for eight terms) and a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. Most noteworthy from the point of view of our institution, in 1952 Mitchell became the first African-American to obtain a graduate degree from the University of Maryland. This degree was obtained in the Department of Sociology, and Mitchell stated later in his life that his sociological training shaped his activism in politics and social change.

The symposium will employ critical race theory as a framework to examine the legacy of Parren Mitchell. Specifically the symposium will: 1) Chronicle past events at UMD and the state of Maryland that helped establish the landmark Brown v. Board Education decision; 2) Address current practices, strategies, and policies aimed to transform barriers to graduate education for racial/ethnic minorities and eliminate racialized experiences on campus; and 3) Discuss future possibilities for UMD to increase minority student representation and become a positive presence in local minority communities including Prince George's County and Baltimore.

This symposium will focus on the structural and interpersonal barriers that minorities face in higher education. Moderated by sociologist and Distinguished University Professor Patricia Hill Collins, panelists Odis Johnson (Interim Chair, African American Studies Department), Sharon Fries-Britt (Associate Professor in the College of Education), Julie J. Park (Assistant Professor in the College of Education), and Kumea Shorter-Gooden (Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice President) will discuss key gateways of the education pipeline (e.g., high school, college, graduate school and junior faculty life) as minorities transition from students to professionals. This symposium also will focus on how Mitchell's legacy speaks to the importance of continuing the pursuit of racial equality through institutional policies aimed to address systemic inequities in higher education.

Reception Immediately Following in the downstairs Art Gallery 
Keynote Address given by State Delegate Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, Jr.



 For more information about the legacy of Parren Mitchell, watch this video!

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  • Home
  • About
  • Parren Mitchell Symposium
    • 2020 Parren J. Mitchell Symposium >
      • Criminalization in Daily Life
      • Unequal Treatment and Enforcement
      • Responses and Solutions
    • 2019 PARREN MITCHELL SYMPOSIUM >
      • Intersectional Perspectives on the Family
      • Family Diversity and the Disruptive Force of the Law
      • Challenging, Expanding, and Reinventing the Family
    • 2018 Parren Mitchell Symposium >
      • Wealth Matters: Examining Racial Wealth Inequality
      • Wealth Building: Investing in Community Change
      • Wealth Solutions: Creating Wealth Equity for Communities of Color
    • 2017 Parren Mitchell Symposium >
      • The Power of Popular Culture
      • Intersectionality and Critical Race Theory: A Dialogue
      • The Politics of Racial Representation
    • 2016 Parren Mitchell Symposium >
      • Health Outcomes: For Better of For Worse
      • Health Strategies: From This Day Forward
    • 2015 Parren Mitchell Symposium
    • 2014 Parren Mitchell Symposium
    • Symposium Storified
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • CRI Event Photos
  • #Justice4RCIII
  • BLOG
    • A STATEMENT FROM OUR DIRECTOR ON THE LOSS OF BLACK LIVES
    • Asian American Activism
    • Black Feminist Thoughts
  • Election Reflections