LibertyCon 2019 – Seeking Sanctuary: Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
Saturday, March 30, 2019 – 10am – 5pm
Siena College – 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY 12211
CTLE credit will be available for educators
Workshops, Round Tables, Vendors, Exhibitors will be at Siena Collegee morning and afternoon. Morning refreshments and lunch will be available at the Lonnstrom Dining Hall (#25 on the Siena Campus Map) – special arrangement details are forthcoming.
Light Refreshments will be enjoyed at The Myers Residence in the evening while viewing the movie Black Panther, which will be followed by a discussion about the movie
Saturday Schedule –
- 9:00am – Registration opens (Siena Hall)
- 10:00am – Welcome (in The Norm in Lonnstrom Dining Hall)
- 10:20 -11:20am – Workshops (Siena Hall – ground floor)
- 11:30 -12:30 – Round Tables (Siena Hall – ground floor)
- 12:30pm – 2:00pm – Lunch (in The Norm in Lonnstrom Dining Hall) – attendees can purchase their own lunch in Lonnstrom Dining Hall – please check in at the check-in stand inside Lonnstrom Dining Hall before browsing food offerings
- 2:00pm – 3:00 – Plenary (The Norm in Lonnstrom Dining Hall) “To Catch a Muslim” dramatic reading followed by Q&A
- 3:15pm – 4:15pm – Workshops (Siena Hall, ground floor)
- 4:30pm-4:45pm – Raffle and Litany and Evaluation (in The Norm, Lonnstrom Dining Hall)
- 5:30pm – 8:30pm – movie, discussion and light dinner at The Myers Residence (donations toward dinner will be appreciated)
Workshops
Sanctuary as a Form of Protest: a comparison of 19th and 21st Century Sanctuary Cities – Andrew Cassarino
Education for Liberation: Teaching in the Freedom School Model – lesson about voting rights. — Thomas Ruhl
Sanctuary During the Vietnam War: The Draft Resistance Movement organized in protest to the Vietnam War – Steve Trimm
Freedom Seekers: Sanctuary Settlements, Past and Present – Including anecdotal personal histories and photos of freedom seekers who created, or led freedom seeker settlements, which included social and political status – Darryl Freeman
Aretha Franklin: Activism, Pride, and Respect – As an icon, her influence on social change in the civil rights, and women’s rights movements was profound. – Donald Hyman
Female Underground Railroad Conductors in Western New York and the “spaces” they used as sanctuaries for fleeing fugitive slaves – Michael Boston
An Educator’s Research Adventures of Public Education and School Desegregation of a Rural District In the Commonwealth of Virginia – An overview of research of Public Education in Lunenberg County, Virginia – Shirley Lee
Drumming Circle — Jane Rudden
The Rescue of Charles Nalle – A dramatic reading of The Rescue of Charles Nalle by students from Redemption Christian Academy – Sandra Luraas, Redemption Christian Academy
From Mississippi to Albany: A 20th Century Underground Railroad -Discussion about African Americans fleeing from Clarke County, Mississippi — Dr. Paul Murray, Ann Pope, and Descendants of Mississippi migrants.
The Constitution will not protect us, UNLESS . . . – For Garrison, the Constitution was a “covenant with death,” “an agreement with Hell,” that he denounced as illegitimate. Frederick Douglass offered a different interpretation of the Constitution. The Garrison-Douglass debate reverberates to the present. Should activists defend the Constitution and utilize it as a rallying point in the struggle for social justice – or is it time to reject it as a sham that keeps in power those who would deny basic human rights? – Alan Singer
Roundtables
Reconstruction Era New York State Democrats: Deserving the “Execration of History” – The New York State Democratic Party delegation in the Reconstruction era House of Representatives played a central role in opposition to securing the rights of formerly enslaved African Americans in the South. – Alan Singer
Havens of Freedom: A Discussion on Contemporary and Historical African American Emigration to Black Lands – Ever since the 2016 Election, African Americans have been slowly and even imperceptibly trickling out of the country. – Eric Washington
The Power of Language – Language can build up and break down. Language can heal and language can divide. Language impacts us implicitly and explicitly. – Mary Nell Morgan
Plenary (2:15-3:00pm in the Norm in Londstrom Dining Hall)
To Catch a Muslim – The Sting’s the Thing
A program of Capital District Coalition Against Islamophobia
A staged reading of the original play, “To Catch a Muslim,” written by Steve Downs. It treats the Albany Aref-Hossain case of 2004-2006, the sting, the informant, and the trial’s aftermath with irony and a little humor, and takes some potshots at the government’s legal scheming to convict innocent men. Following the performance will be a panel discussion with Tarik Shah and Shamshad Ahmad, moderated by Kathy Manley. The panel will focus on the impact of Islamophobia on families and community as shown through the Aref-Hossain case. Tarik Shah was ensnared in a similar sting operation in New York City. An internationally acclaimed jazz bassist, he now lives in Albany, and his case was featured as part of the 2015 documentary film (T)ERROR. Shamshad Ahmad is the president of Masjid As-Salam in Albany, which was raided when Aref and Hossain were arrested. He is the author of Rounded Up, the definitive account of the case. Kathy Manley is a defense attorney who worked on Yassin Aref’s appeals.
For more information: Lynne Jackson • lynnejackson@mac.com • 518-366-7324
“I learn so much each conference I attend.” (Sara)
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — President Barack Obama
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Registration information available by clicking here
