Just in case ya'll needed something to get into this weekend

Race, Gender & Class
Annual Conference at New Orleans
February 1-3, 2007

Race, Gender, and Class Solidarity across Borders:
Natural and Social Catastrophes



The 2007 Race, Gender, and Class Annual Conference is co-organized by SUNO RGC Project and ASA SWS Sociologist for Women in Society,
and sponsored by UNO RGC Studies, the Asia Baptist Church at New Orleans, and SUNO Student Government Association


Hurricane Katrina has been called one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. The aftermath of the storm, however, uncovered human-made disasters of equal magnitude. As the world watched, the economic, political, and social systems of the U.S. were exposed, and amid this chaos glaring questions about race, gender and class inequalities became evident. What were also evident were the efforts of ordinary women and men to rebuild. And natural catastrophes, such as Katrina and the Tsunami – with their televised images of poor people left to fend for themselves provide a reminder that there are still race, gender and class issues in America and around the world, as well as what a vision of what the consequences of such RGC inequality can cause. This conference proposes to examine those issues across borders (U.S, Latin America, Asia…)


The struggle is always there.

It gets discouraging sometimes. It gets very disenchanting sometimes. Some of us are trying to build a society of social justice. We struggle against racial, gender and class inequality, but it seems that our head is going against a concrete wall. It seems to mean nothing … Well, that is the story of life. And the thing that makes us happy is that we can hear a voice crying though the vista of time, saying: “It may not come today or it may not come tomorrow, but it is well that it is within our heart. It’s well that we are trying.” We may not see it. The dream may not be fulfilled, but it’s just good that we have a desire to bring it into reality. It’s well that it’s in our heart.

Adopted and modified by Jean Ait Belkhir from “Unfulfilled Dream,” by Martin Luther King., April 3, 1968, in The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by C. Canon, 1998, p. 356ff