The Sale of CI | A talk by Gabrielle Spennacchio-Parker

570 High Street Northeast,Christiansburg VA 24073

11 August, 2022

Description

At its peak, Christiansburg Industrial Institute educated hundreds of students annually at an 185-acre campus with twenty-five academic, industrial, and trades buildings. Today, only 4.4 acres and the Edgar A. Long Building remain. So what happened? Recent Radford University graduate Gabrielle Spennachhio-Parker scoured local land records, piecing together the fragmented historical record to better understand how a once vibrant African American campus was publicly auctioned and transformed into housing and shopping developments. Collaborative Learning | Affirmations & Accountability: Our Approach to Education (Learning, Knowing, and Doing) is intentionally collaborative, participatory, and honest. We affirm that knowledge and wisdom is experienced universally; across many races, cultures, and civilizations. We affirm and celebrate that collaborative, community-based participatory learning is an educational model, disrupter of institutional power, and community organizing strategy. We affirm that accountability in practice requires truth-telling and our collaborations are more powerful when anchored in accountability. We affirm the truth that the honest telling and education of African American history, culture, and experiences in the United States is a paramount objective for all. We affirm that all knowledge and study must address social inequities, community needs, and facilitate meaningful action that leads to social transformation.