Dennis Childs, associate professor of African American literature and an affiliate faculty member of the department of ethnic studies and critical gender studies at the University of California, San Diego, spoke about the past and present incarceration of the poor and people of color as a continuation of the modern practice of slavery in the U.S.
He currently serves as director of UCSD’s African American studies program, and faculty advisor for Students Against Mass Incarceration, a student-organized prison abolitionist organization.
Child’s talk was sponsored by the Social Thought and Political Economy Program (STPEC) at UMass Amherst. Hoang Phan, director of STEPC, introduced Childs.
Following his talk, Childs signed copies of his recent book, Slaves of the State: Black Incarceration from the Chain Gang to the Penitentiary (University of Minnesota Press, 2015).
This talk was recorded on October 13th, 2016 in the Goodell Hall at UMass Amherst.
