Civic Indifference and Black Suffering: A Fireside Chat with Frank Wilderson III
This fireside chat, held on February 25, 2025, at Santa Clara University, brings together leading and emerging voices in Black Studies and Philosophy. Dr. Justin Clardy (Assistant Professor of Philosophy) moderates a conversation with Frank B. Wilderson III (Chancellor’s Professor of African American Studies, UC Irvine) and Kevin Morris (doctoral candidate, UMass Amherst).
Together, the speakers explore Afropessimism, historical narratives, civic indifference, Black Lives Matter, familial structures, and more.
💬 Join the conversation! Share your thoughts in the comments.
Hosted by the Center for the Arts and Humanities at Santa Clara University, this event was made possible through the generous support of:
🟠 SCU Departments: Philosophy, Political Science, Religious Studies, Sociology, Ethnic Studies, English, and Gender & Sexuality Studies.
🟠 Institutional Partners: The Division of Inclusive Excellence, The Office of Multicultural Learning, The Black Justice Studies Collaborative, Santa Clara Presents, and the Center for the Arts and Humanities.
People & Ideas Mentioned:
Saidiya Hartman
Jared Sexton
Frantz Fanon
David Marriott
Georg Hegel
Toni Morrison
James Baldwin
Recommended Reads (Available at the PAGES TRG online library):
📚 Afropessimism – Frank Wilderson
📚 Incognegro – Frank Wilderson
📚 Red, White, and Black – Frank Wilderson
📚 Scenes of Subjection – Saidiya Hartman
📚 The Case of Blackness – Fred Moten
📚 Beloved – Toni Morrison
📚 If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin
📚 Ill-Fated Portrayals of Black Non-Monogamy (and Their Harmful Consequences) – Justin Clardy
📚 The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
📚 Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe – Hortense Spillers
📚 In the Wake – Christina Sharpe
📚 The Paranoid Chronotope – Frida Beckman
