Branches of the Same Tree – Black and Brown Unity
Friday, January 17, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
*Registration starts at 8:00 a.m.
West Hartford Conference and Meeting Center
50 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT 06107
It is said that the histories of African Americans and Latinos can be understood as “Branches of the Same Tree”, sharing common African ancestry, customs, and solidarity. We use this idiom with Student Summit III to express the unity and solidarity exemplified historically in Black and Brown communities. We expect that students will be inspired to take on roles of civic engagement and activism in CT and beyond.
In Summit III we invite our youth to participate in a day that includes:
- exploring the histories of the settler colonial project in the United States;
- engaging in cultural community-building activities through Afro/Latino traditional and contemporary dance and spoken word;
- learning about Black/Brown principles of unity from the historical perspective of the Black Panthers and Young Lords; and
- planning and co-creating Black/Brown Principles of Unity for today’s youth.
Special Guests
Miguel Melendez
CEO, Weapons of Knowledge
Dr. Johanna Fernandez
Author, “The Young Lords”
Denise Oliver-Velez
Activist and Member, Young Lords
RapOet-Khaiim Kelly
1st Hip Hop Troubadour of an American City
For questions regarding content, please contact:
Nitza M. Diaz, 860-632-1485, ext 394 or diaz@ctserc.org
For questions regarding registration or to arrange for a language or sign language interpreter, please contact:
Heather Dawes, 860-632-1485, ext 263 or dawes@ctserc.org
*Transportation stipends and permission forms will be made available upon registration.
An offering by Connecticut’s African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies
(CT PA 19-12 and PA 21-2).