In light of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, community and police leaders as well as University of Alabama at Birmingham experts will participate in a discussion on police and minority relations in Birmingham. The town hall, hosted by the UAB Department of Social Work and co-sponsored by the African American Studies Program, the Department of Anthropology, and the College of Arts and Sciences, will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South.
The panel discussion, moderated by Distinguished Professor David E. Pollio, Ph.D., chair of Social Work, will feature Priscilla Hancock-Cooper, interim president and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham City Police Deputy Chief Jamal McCaskey, and public information officer Lt. Sean Edwards, as well as Kathryn Morgan, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Justice Sciences, and Douglas P. Fry, Ph.D., chair of Anthropology, who will offer closing remarks. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert E. Palazzo, Ph.D., will offer opening remarks.
“The University of Alabama at Birmingham views itself as an integral member of the Birmingham community, with a commitment to promoting diversity,” Pollio said. “The Department of Social Work has a core value of promoting social justice. Along with our partners in African American Studies and Anthropology, we believe that the events in Ferguson represent a call to openly and honestly discuss issues of race and ethnicity, and specifically the relationship of these issues with those of interactions with the police. We offer this town hall to participate in discussion and dialogue, hopefully promoting solutions to this longstanding issue. We honor the police department for its participation, and look forward to listening and learning together.”