Thursday, November 20th 2008

6:00 PM, Debartolo Auditorium

Artifacts

• Vindicator Article
• Video Mantage Produced by Trevor Watkins
• Pictures
• Program
• Flier

Committee Members

• Dr. Victor Wan-Tatah
• Cameron Hughes
• Tracey Hughes
• Trevor Watkins
• Lae'l Hughes-Watkins

Co-sponsors

• Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity

THE MODERATOR

THE PANELISTS

Jay Williams, Mayor of Youngstown, Ohio

Jay Williams is serving as the 47th Mayor of the City of Youngstown, Ohio. He is the first African-American to be elected Mayor of Youngstown, and having been elected at 34 years of age, he is its youngest. Williams is also the first independent candidate to win the Mayoral seat in more than eighty (80) years. His electoral upset was both historic and stunning and viewed by many political observers as a watershed event in the changing political landscape of the community. Mayor Williams continues to be a strong proponent of the City's award winning Youngstown 2010 citywide planning initiative, a project in which he played a leading role. Under his leadership, neighborhoods are being revitalized, aggressive policies are targeting crime, and the City is advancing regional economic initiatives intended to stabilize and strengthen the local economic base.

Sen. Bob Hagan

Bob Hagan was first elected to office in 1986 as a State Representative for the 53rd house district, which covered all of the Greater Youngstown area. Bob served in the State House until 1997 when he accepted an appointment to the State Senate. He was elected to the State Senate in 1998 and reelected in 2002. While in the State Senate, Bob accepted the position of Assistant Minority Whip for the Democratic caucus. In 2005, Hagan ran for mayor of Youngstown where he faced independent candidate Jay Williams. Although he lost that race, he entered the race for State Representative of the 60th District and was elected to that office on November 7, 2006.

Victor Wan-Tatah, Ph.D., Director of Africana Studies Program

Victor Wan-Tatah, Ph.D. is Director of the Africana Studies Program and Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He has been teaching at YSU for 21 years. He is author of “The Relevance of Latin American Theology to Africa” and has written book chapters in books and academic journals,and in the local papers. He is a two time recepient of the Distinguished Professor Award in Teaching and Public Service respectively. He is recent past president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA) at YSU.

Cryshanna Jackson, Ph.D., Political Science Professor

Cryshanna Jackson, Ph.D. received a Ph.D. from the University of Akron in Public Administration and Urban Studies. Cryshanna Jackson's teaching experience began as an Adjunct Professor at Baldwin Wallace College in the Division of Health and Physical Education. She currently serves as the Urban Internship Coordinator for the Political Science Department. She has published several articles in the Journal of Public Management & Social Policy and has presented her research at numerous conferences. Cryshanna Jackson is a member of the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA), the Conference of Public Administrators (COMPA), Board Member and Secretary for the Women's History Project of the Akron Area and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy.

Paul Gordiejew, Ph.D., Anthropology Professor

Paul Gordiejew, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Youngstown State University. His dissertation, completed at the University of Pittsburgh, focused on Jews of the former Yugoslavia, a minority population. Dr. Gordiejew authored a book titled, Voices of Yugoslav Jewry, stemming from that research. Dr. Gordiejew is actively working on his local research project, Crossing Midlothian: A Study of Race, Place, Class and Religion in the Greater Youngstown Area. His project Web site, www.crossingmidlothian.com, is currently under development and will be launched this winter.

Shareef Ali, Chapter President of 100 Black Men of Greater Youngstown/Warren Chapter

Shareef Ali is a National Board of Directors Members for the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. and is currently Chapter President of the 100 Black Men of Greater Youngstown/Warren Ohio Chapter. Shareef Ali, a graduate of YSU, was the Former Coordinator, Director, and Executive Director of Youth Development Services and former Veteran Affairs Chairman for the NAACP. He was a founder of the Pan African Student Union, YSU Black Alumni and a founder of the Million Man March Local Coordination Committee. He was also a founder of the Northeast Ohio Division of First Fridays, the only Local Networking Affair administered for Minority Professionals.

Cryshanna Jackson, Ph.D., Political Science Professor

Despite the idea that America is a melting pot, the American identity is linked to one of privilege. Whereas race is a term that has been socially and politically constructed around the color of one's skin and other physical characteristics the notion of race almost always involves inequalities pertaining to power and resources resulting from domination, exclusion, and exploitation. In the United States race differences are constructed based on a hierarchy, making it so that people of color are not only defined as being different from whites, but these differences make them inferior.

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of education against the idea of separate but equal, arguing that separating children solely on the basis of race made the facilities inherently unequal. Was this landmark case enough? I ask myself how did years and years of segregation, degradation, and intimidation impact race relations in the United States? Can 40 years of affirmative action erase 200 years of inequality?

With the candidacy of President elect Barack Obama race relations were once again tested in the United States. Would the country be accepting to an African American President? President elect Obama is well educated, very articulate, married to the mother of his children, and worked hard to become successful. He does not fit into the common stereotypes that we often times label African Americans. His campaign focused on the notion of bringing about change. Change to the political system of yesterday. Change that would help the middle class. A slogan of change that seemed to catch on and grab people's attention. A new type of politician with fresh ideas, who happened to be black.

One of the political impacts of his candidacy were that more people than ever before went out and voted, they helped to ensure democracy by having their voices heard. As far as the test of race relations in the United States, The votes are in 64 million American's voted for President elect Obama, 50 million were not African American, change is what the country wanted, on Nov 4, for 50 million Americans, race was not the issue.

THE MODERATOR'S QUESTIONS

• Will his candidacy affect how Americans feel about race relations in this country?

• Did the questioning of Presiddent-Elect Obama''s Christianity and nationalism (calling him Arab and Muslim) and the subsequent disassociation of both insulting to Arab-Americans and Muslims in this country?

THE AUDIENCE'S QUESTIONS

Do you feel Barack Obama is the perfect candidate for the job? Are his policies and his leadership ability good for the job?


Do you feel that the election of President-Elect Obama is the overthrow of oppressive social power structures and racial boundaries or an expression of already overthrown social structures and racial boundaries?


Is the President actually going to get the chance to change anything? If so, what's most important?


(Directed to Dr. Jackson) Isn't Affirmative Action racist is itself by giving jobs to people due to race?


With the worse state of the economy and the potential of the nation going into a recession or depression, how do the panel think Barack Obama's administration would deal with the high expectations especially among African-Americans and non-whites in such a way that the economic downturn would not nullify all the positive achievements?