The Stephen Lawrence Research Centre Annual Lecture 2024

Countering the "Blackface" of Empire and the Rise of "Cop Cities"

The evening commences with the Keynote Lecture by Professor Joy James, Ebenezer Fitch Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Political Sciences at Williams College, USA.

Followed by responses from the panel, hosted by Dr. Fatima Rajina, Legacy in Action Senior Research Fellow, Stephen Lawrence Research Centre (SLRC).

Refreshments served from 5.30pm

6pm: Keynote lecture, followed by panel discussion

8-9pm: Book signing and drinks reception

Professor Joy James will lead us through an inspiring and challenging talk unpacking the resources that critical theory can provide in a political age of intensified repression, individualism and rampant propaganda. The keynote will be responded to by Dr Chantelle Lewis, Immy Kaur and Dr Michael Bankole, chaired by our Senior Legacy in Action Fellow, Dr. Fatima Rajina.

About the Keynote Speaker

Joy James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. She has published extensively on political theory; police, prison and slavery abolition; radicalizing feminisms; diasporic anti-black racism; and US politics. Her insightful and extensive work has become a reference for academics interested in social justice. She is the author of In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities (2022) and most recently New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)life of Erica Garner (2023) and Contextualizing Angela Davis:The Agency and Identity of an Icon (2024).

Professor James' recent work focuses on exploring the Captive Maternal through the lens of "The Womb of Western Theory." Among the many highlights of her work, we also remember Resisting State Violence (1996);Transcending the Talented Tenth (1997); Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics (1999); and Seeking the Beloved Community: A Feminist Race Reader (2013). James is also editor of The Angela Y. Davis Reader (1998); and co-editor of Imprisoned Intellectuals (2003); The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings (2005); Warfare in the American Homeland (2007); and co-editor of The Black Feminist Reader (2000).

She is the creator of the digital Harriet Tubman Literary Circle at UT Austin and also a member of Penn State University's Policing, Policy, and Philosophy Initiative (3PI) and serves on the circle of advisors for Oxford Public Philosophy.

To learn more about Professor James's work and insights: Joy James | Writings and Works (williams.edu)

About the Panellists

Dr Michael Bankole - Royal Holloway, University of London

Dr. Michael Bankole is a Lecturer in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on race, racism and political representation. Michael is a regular guest on news outlets such as the BBC, Sky News, ITV News and LBC where he offers his insights on politics through a scholarly lens.

Immy Kaur - Founder and CEO, Civic Square

Immy Kaur completed an MSc in International Development at the University of Birmingham in 2011 and served as founding co-director of Impact Hub Birmingham between 2015 and 2019. Throughout her career, she has engaged in the advocacy of the rights of recent migrants and minoritised communities in the UK.

Immy Kaur co-founded Civic Square in 2020, a civic infrastructure project committed to investing in local communities and neighbourhoods.

Dr. Chantelle Lewis - Research Fellow in Black British Studies, University of Oxford

Dr. Lewis is a public sociologist whose research is situated at the intersections of socio-historical analysis; politics, Black feminism, family studies and racism studies. She is the co-host of Radio Academy award nominated podcast Surviving Society, the Deputy Director of Leading Routes and currently holds a Junior Research Fellowship in Black British studies at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. Her debut book We See Things They'll Never See: Love Hope and Neurodiversity (2025), a sociological intervention on the intersectional nature of disability justice co-authored with Professor Jason Arday, will be published in Spring 2025 by Princeton University Press.

Chair

Dr Fatima Rajina - Legacy in Action Senior Research Fellow, SLRC

Dr. Fatima Rajina is a Senior Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, De Montfort University. Completing her PhD at SOAS, Fatima's work looks at British Bangladeshi Muslims and their changing identifications and perceptions of dress and language.

Dr Rajina has also worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge looking at police and counter-terrorism. Fatima was also a Teaching Fellow at SOAS, Research Fellow at UCL IoE, and, additionally, she worked as a Lecturer in Sociology at Kingston University London.

Her book British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End: The Changing Landscape of Dress and Language is due to be published later this year by Manchester University Press.

Please contact the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre at slrc@dmu.ac.uk if you have any questions about this event.

We look forward to welcoming you to the event!

Photography and filming at this event:

There may be photography and/or filming taking place at this event*. By attending this event you are agreeing that you can be photographed and/or filmed by De Montfort University.

Please notify a member of staff when you register on the day if you would like to opt out of this consent.

*Images and footage may be used by The Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and De Montfort University on social media, for future campaigns via print and electronically and on the De Montfort University website.