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Lecture series at Rutgers discussing diversity, equity features CNN analyst

Laura Coates, a legal analysis for the Cable News Network and radio show host, discussed topics such as pigeonholing, activism and taking a stand during her speech as a part of the James Dickson Carr lecture series. – Photo by Photo by Vivek Vidyarthi | The Daily Targum

On Wednesday night, the Office of Student Access and Educational Equity hosted the James Dickson Carr Lecture Series, featuring guest speaker Laura Coates, a legal analyst for CNN and radio show host.  

The lecture, which was part of the annual Access Week at the University, involved a variety of speakers. Each year, there is a different theme for the event. Sabrina Riddick, the senior program coordinator, began the lecture by introducing this year’s theme: Equity. 

She said Coates was chosen as the prime speaker on the theme because she was an attorney for the federal government, so she had experience with advocating for rights.

Jakora Holman, the director of Planning and Operations, said another reason why Coates was invited was to help students engage in activism. The office also wanted to honor the legacy of James Dickson Carr, the first Black graduate from Rutgers. 

The next speaker was James H. Whitney III, the assistant vice chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs. He said this year was the sixth annual celebration of the James Dickson Carr Lecture Series. 

“We know the history that Rutgers has been dealing with over the years as we reckon with our past dealing with slavery and the oppression and circumstances that surround that and now Rutgers is moving forward to deal with that past,” he said. 

A student speaker at the event was Javier Stirling, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore. He said it was important for people to step out of their comfort zone, and that if figures like Paul Robeson and Carr stayed in their comfort zone, then the bar for Black students would not have been raised for scholars like himself at the University. 

“We just don’t have the choice to sit on issues that matter. Paul Robeson and James Dickson Carr carried this obligation, when they were here at our very institution, at Rutgers University, that when they were enrolled,” Stirling said.

The final speaker for the series was Coates, who said during her speech that the idea of taking a stand for something and not being contained by his identity was one of the most significant accomplishments of Robeson.

“Whether I am or whether I am not, does nothing to take my constitutional rights,” she said.

She also discussed the idea of pigeonholing, which is when a person is automatically categorized. She said that when people pigeonholed another individual, it was one of the most “profound” lessons the individual could learn in their life. 

“Here are the only things you must believe, here are the only principles that you must despise and here are the only things you will champion for and there’s no way to diverge from that,” she said. 

She said Robeson’s silence was also “profound,” because his refusal to be one identity and his call to action for democracy translated into activism. 

Coates broadened this idea to apply to children, and said when they are asked what they want to be when they grow up, it is an opportunity for them to not reduce their passions but showcase what they stand for. 

“The idea to reduce your passions, activism and the core person is one thing you must reject if you truly will become a champion. A champion of all of the causes that you know defines all of you,” she said. 

Shifting to activism, she said it was not only about following a hashtag and marching for a cause. Action was needed, and could be done in terms of policies to bring about change. She also compared protests from the past and present. 

“The ideas of looking at a complex between the forms of protest that have been successful in the past and those that seem archaic and are not productive now, is a conversation that needs to take place,” Coates said.

She acknowledged though that there were many things people are focused on, each requiring time and devotion. Some areas require multiple perspectives. 

“Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that you cannot do everything, but what you’re really passionate about,” she said.


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