Interesting Intersections Continue

I read in the Wall Street Journal today (sorry no link - you need a paid subscription to the online journal edition to access - if you have it it's in the Personal Journal section, page 2 in the Giving Back column under the heading First Class) that Roland Fryer, whom I discussed in a previous post, was named one of the newest Fletcher Fellows.

Alphonse Fletcher Jr., who leads Fletcher Asset Management, pledged $50 million to Harvard's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research to honor the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The selection committee is headed by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. who, as I also mentioned in the previous post, brought together an impressive group of African American scholars at Harvard.

In addition to Professor Fryer, Brandeis Professor Anita Hill, author Stanley Crouch, anthropologist Nina Jablonski, Dance Theater of Harlem artistic director Arthur Mitchell, and artist Glenn Ligon have been selected as Fellows. The Fellows receive $50,000 stipends to explore issues related to race.

I feel encouraged by developments in the Academy such as these. And when there are events such as the efforts to forge coalitions between Black and Latino voters in LA to support Mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa (my Ph.D. research focused on development of Black-Latino political coalitions in urban areas) I sort of miss my academic life. It's a fascinating time right now and I look forward to continuing to watch with eager interest from the sidelines.