Teleconference: New African Immigrants-Grappling with Concepts of Race and Identity

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration & Priority Africa Network present

Black Intersections on Migration – Series III of IV Teleconferences

Thursday, March 31: New African Immigrants-Grappling with Concepts of Race and Identity

Speaker: Jackie Copeland Carson, PhD, President Copeland-Carson and Associates and author of "Creating Africa in America: Translocal Identity in an Emerging World City".

Moderator: Nunu Kidane, Director Priority Africa Network


Dr. Copeland-Carson will speak on the following topics and more:

- Figures of increase of African immigrants in the U.S

- Why is this significant, particularly for African American communities

- Understanding the importance of race and immigration as relates to African immigrants

- What are some of the important points to consider for organizers and social justice activists to increase outreach into African immigrant communities

- The need to develop a global Pan African consciousness

Toll-free Dial-in (US/Canada): 1-866-931-7845

International Dial-in: 1-310-374-4949

Conference Code: 484457

Please RSVP by calling (510) 663-2254 or sending an email to teleconference@blackalliance.org

Speaker Bio

Trained as an anthropologist and urban planner, Dr. Copeland-Carson has worked for over 25 years as an executive, grant-maker, evaluator, or researcher for philanthropies, including the Pew, Lilly, Noyes and Northwest Area foundations among others. In addition to serving as vice president of The Philadelphia Foundation, she was the founding managing director and vice president for private philanthropy at US Bank’s Private Client Group. Currently she is founding principal of Copeland Carson & Associates, an international consulting practice providing program design, evaluation and related services to diverse philanthropies in the U.S. and abroad. A frequently sought after speaker and published author on a wide range of nonprofit sector issues, Dr. Copeland-Carson has also taught philanthropy to graduate students for the University of Minnesota and St. Mary’s University. Over her career, she has worked with several hundred foundations. Current clients include Bertelsmann Foundation, Grantmakers Concerned about Immigrants and Refugees, and the Ford Foundation among others.

Dr. Copeland-Carson holds two masters degrees, one in urban planning and the other in cultural anthropology, with a Ph.D. in anthropology all from the University of Pennsylvania. She has done fieldwork in Nigeria as well as numerous U.S. cities and rural communities. Her undergraduate degrees are from Georgetown University in literature and African studies. She also studied African history, culture, languages and religion at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria.

An expert in community development, cross-cultural issues, immigration and emerging markets, Dr. Copeland-Carson’s most recent books and articles examine issues in diversity, evaluation, community revitalization, alternative finance, and transnationalism. She serves on the board of the African Women’s Development Fund and is founder and chair of the Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network.

Background to teleconference series:

The United Nations has declared 2011 as the “International Year for Peoples of African Descent”. Ten years ago, landmark recommendations were made at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban South Africa. In a four-part series of teleconferences that looks at the span of Black presence in the U.S. over the centuries, we will examine the unique migration experiences of the African Diaspora within the context of U.S. history and the current debate over immigration. The series brings provocative frameworks and analyses into the discussion about race and immigration that are seldom considered.