On behalf of the Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD) at Columbia University and its partners – the Department of Music, the Institute for Research in African American Studies and the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department, it gives us great pleasure to invite you to In Defiance. 

In Defiance is an arts and culture celebration of resistance in the face of state-sanctioned oppression, inspired by the legacy of Malcolm X and held in honor of the centennial of his birth. The celebration, which will take place at the Shabazz Center on September 12 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm, includes a screening and reflections by Dr. Sohail Daulatzai (Professor at UC Irvine and author of Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom Beyond America) and a musical performance by Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer from their new album Defiant Life. A tour of the Shabazz Center and reception will precede the event and begin at 5:30 pm.  

In Defiance kicks off a yearlong CSSD-led program Countering the Carceral State, which explores interconnections between the crises of disciplinary enforcement central to American power at home and abroad. Adopting Malcolm X’s internationalist insights, program events will probe continuities between policing, racial profiling, and police militarization; the prison industrial complex; immigrant detention; forever wars in the Middle East and Central Asia; and the transformation of war zones like Gaza into technological testbeds.

We hope you will be able to join us on September 12! We are encouraging all invitees to RSVP if they can attend as well as to circulate the invite among colleagues and friends as the event is free and open to all. Kindly note that admission and seating is on a first come first served basis however and as such we are also encouraging everyone to arrive early. Keep an eye out on the CSSD website for further Countering the Carceral State event announcements.