Pearl Dowe will deliver the inaugural Dean’s Distinguished Lecture for for Emory College of Arts and Sciences on Oct. 10.
— Stephen Nowland, Emory Photo/Video
When Pearl Dowe started researching a book about Black women in politics, she had no idea she’d be giving a talk about it the month before a U.S. presidential election featuring a Black woman candidate.
“I think this is a profound moment for us to be having this conversation,” says Dowe, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Political Science and African American Studies.
Hers is the inaugural talk in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series, established by Barbara Krauthamer, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. It takes place on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 5:30 p.m. at Goizueta Business School, Room W525.
Dowe, who also serves as the vice provost for faculty affairs, has a joint appointment at Oxford College and Emory College.
She will discuss her latest, award-winning book, “The Radical Imagination of Black Women: Ambition, Politics, and Power.” It explores how Black women’s political lives extend beyond traditional, formal political processes and find their roots in activism, community building and a vision for true democracy.
For an example of that community building, Dowe points to the night early in the presidential race when more than 44,000 Black women came together in a now-famous Zoom call to raise $1.5 million for Kamala Harris’s campaign. Many of those who called in were, like Harris herself, members of Black sororities.
This phone call and the idea behind it — of Black networks coming together to lend significant financial resources and mobilization to political candidates — sparked interest in the public imagination.
“I guess the secret’s out!” says Dowe, laughing good-naturedly. “But it’s not new. Black organizations, churches, community members coming together in support [of Black candidates]? That’s an ongoing phenomenon that’s only now being discussed in the mainstream.”
This grassroots support is just one thread in the fabric of community Dowe says is essential to the political lives of Black women. She will also discuss the many ways that political decisions made by Black women reflect a strategic savvy that often goes unnoticed.
“So, we're looking at Maxine Waters, at Karen Bass, Joyce Beatty or the late Sheila Jackson Lee,” Dowe says. “These are women with longstanding careers who know how to implement policy, influence discourse and advocate. They are very deliberate about utilizing their power.”
Lectures invite students to the conversation
The new Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series, designed with a higher level of engagement in mind, will host prominent speakers addressing timely and complex issues.
The series also encourages students to join the conversations in creative ways. For example, students registering for Thursday’s lecture can enter for a chance to dine with Dowe on Monday, Oct. 21, to engage in a deeper dialogue about her book, something she says she is especially looking forward to.
“The Dean's Distinguished Lecture offers the Emory community the opportunity to hear from a leading scholar on a topic that has immediate relevance to society,” notes Barbara Krauthamer. “Vice Provost Pearl Dowe is an award-winning political scientist, and her work on Black women in national politics couldn't be timelier and more important! I'm thrilled that our students will have the chance to meet her.”
The series is part of the Emory College Communities Project, whose goal is to build community among students, faculty and staff through meaningful dialogue while helping students navigate our changing world. The project is led by Krauthamer and Kevin Karnes, divisional dean for the arts, in partnership with the College Council.