Springfield College Hosts Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor For Presentation on The Pain and Power of the N-Word
On the panel were, from top left, Director of Multicultural Affairs Felicia R. Lundquist, Dereck Webb '21, Colby Wilson '23, Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, Brianna D'Haiti '22, Luther Wade '22, Coordinator of Student-Athlete Leadership Development and Sports Communications Assistant Adaeze Alaeze-Dinma, Student Trustee Kris Rhim '21, and Student Trustee-Elect Sabrina Williams '22.
The Springfield College Office of Multicultural Affairs, Men of Excellence, and Department of Athletics collaborated to host Smith College Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, PhD on Thursday, April 8, for a presentation on The Pain and Power of the N-Word. This event was free and open to the Springfield College community and the public.
On the panel with Pryor were Director of Multicultural Affairs Felicia R. Lundquist, Coordinator of Student-Athlete Leadership Development and Sports Communications Assistant Adaeze Alaeze-Dinma, Student Trustee Kris Rhim '21, Student Trustee-Elect Sabrina Williams '22, Brianna D'Haiti '22, Dereck Webb '21, Luther Wade '22, and Colby Wilson '23.
During the panel discussion, participants were challenged to examine their personal and professional histories with the N-word, the historical and cultural connection to the word, and the feelings and consequences associated with casual or uniformed usage of such a painful and powerful word. Pryor’s research focuses specifically on African American activism in the 19th century and how historical ideologies on race inform contemporary discourse. It also centers on the etymology of the N-word and the complicated and corrosive idea behind it.
At Smith College, Pryor specializes in 19th-century U.S. history and race. She is interested in questions of citizenship, race, and racism and the history of U.S. slavery, including exploring how enslaved people's histories are remembered and who remembers them. Pryor is author of an award-winning article, “The Etymology of [N-Word]: Resistance, Language and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North.” Pryor is the daughter of the late influential comedian-actor-writer Richard Pryor.
