The Blog of the APA considers diversity and inclusion vital to our society and profession. The recent protests sweeping the USA and the globe are a testament to the widespread belief in that principle and the importance of taking active steps to remove impediments to it.
The recent deaths of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the violent attacks on protestors voicing their views on the issue of police brutality, show that we as a society have to do more to address systemic racism.
To contribute to that project, the APA Blog has collected multiple pieces it has published on the topic of race. We encourage readers wanting to learn about the intersection of philosophy and race to visit the collection, entitled Valuing Black Lives.
Our ongoing series, Black Issues in Philosophy, edited by Lewis Gordon, is also such a resource. It will continue to deal with the issues of race and philosophy.
This collection seeks to be a contribution to the discussion, not an end to it. Readers are encouraged to share their thoughts on how society–including those of us at the APA Blog–can more effectively challenge racism and support underrepresented groups. APA members who wish to pitch an idea to the Black Issues series or to the Blog are welcome to contact us here.
Lewis Gordon
Lewis R. Gordon is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Global Affairs and Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Connecticut and Distinguished Scholar at The Most Honourable PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy at The University of the West Indies, Mona. His recent books include Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization (Routledge, 2021); Fear of Black Consciousness (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and Penguin Books, 2022); Black Existentialism and Decolonizing Knowledge: Writings of Lewis R. Gordon (Bloomsbury, 2023); and “Not Bad for an N—, No?”/ «Pas mal pour un N—, n'est-ce pas? » (Daraja Press, 2023). Thirtieth Anniversary editions of his books Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism (Humanity Classics) and Fanon and the Crisis of European Man (Routledge) are forthcoming 2025.
Nathan Eckstrand
Nathan Eckstrand is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University. He was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor at Fort Hays State University and Marian University, and before that a Merton Teaching Fellow at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA. Nathan previously served as editor-in-chief of the APA Blog, where he has worked since 2017. His dissertation, written under Fred Evans and defended in September 2014, is called “The Event of Revolution: Theorizing the Relationship between the State and Radical Change” and studies concepts of revolution from the Early Modern period to the present day. Nathan is also co-editor of Philosophy and the Return of Violence: Essays from this Widening Gyre, and has published articles on Deleuze, Foucault, Fanon, and Said. His most recent book, Liberating Revolution: Emancipating Radical Change from the State, is now available from SUNY Press.
