Student Activism Is Focus of Lecture, Workshop

NC State welcomes a nationally acclaimed civil rights leader and scholar to campus this month to lead a discussion of intersectional activism: the effort to organize diverse groups in the fight for social justice.

Political scientist Ravi K. Perry, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, will deliver an address titled “Rise. Resist. Repeat.” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, in Room 3285 of the Talley Student Union. He will conduct a student workshop on activism from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in Witherspoon 356.

An openly gay African American, Perry has written books and articles on urban racial politics, minority LGBT political progress and African American attitudes toward LGBT issues. He is president of the National Association for Ethnic Studies and co-editor of Ethnic Studies Review.

In a telephone interview, Perry said the leaders of social movements have historically forged coalitions among oppressed groups, working together at the intersection of their common quest for freedom and opportunity. In recent years, movements like Black Lives Matter have engaged people across the country.

“Barriers exist because people don’t see their shared values and common experiences,” he said. “But many of us confront the same issues, despite different shades of colors and different regional experiences and upbringings. That is a recipe for building strong, lasting coalitions across groups and within groups to move everyone forward.”

Perry praised the millennial generation’s commitment to social justice but warned against underestimating the difficulty of effecting change.

“Change is not a slogan; it’s hard work, it’s a life commitment,” he said. “You have to continually be willing to rise up against injustice and resist any oppression. And you have to do that over and over and over again.

“The opposition never gets burned out. The opposition is always there. For some reason, the opposition never gets tired.”

The Jan. 28 workshop, in particular, will focus on real-world techniques for effective organizing.

“I’ll be talking about some of the tools you can use, in terms of strategic activities you can engage in, ways you can mobilize populations, ways you can build coalitions — even given a climate where you have limited resources,” Perry explained.

Perry became the first openly gay African American to lead a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People when he was elected president of the Worcester, Massachusetts, chapter in 2011. He was named one of “50 Hero Citizens” by the Andrew Goodman Foundation last year.