Civil Rights

Multiracial Organizing & the Ongoing Fight for Equity in America: Past, Present & Future

This event has passed.

The Central Labor Council, FCC Social Justice Center, SCFT 1533, and Professor Karla Kirk hosted a workshop exploring the history of multiracial organizing.

About the Speaker:

Karla Kirk is an instructor and lead faculty member for the historic African American Studies program at Fresno City College, the Department Chair of Ethnic and Gender Studies, and is currently serving as the President of the Fresno City College Academic Senate. She is also the Central Unified School District Trustee for Area 6.

Mrs. Kirk attended Fresno Pacific University to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in History (2007) and a Master’s Degree in World History (2010), both with an emphasis in African and African American history and culture. Mrs. Kirk began her teaching career as an adjunct instructor in the Ethnic and Gender Studies (formerly Cultural/ Women’s Studies) Department, which houses the African American Studies program in the Fall of 2010, and was hired as the lead faculty of the African American Studies program in Fall 2011. Over the past decade, Mrs. Kirk has expanded and updated the course offerings within the program, developed an online course to meet the educational needs of the 21st century student, and significantly increased the number of students majoring in African American Studies at the Associate’s level as a base educational foundation for students transferring to four-year universities, and a cultural foundation for students who live and work in the community. In 2017, Mrs. Kirk published her first book, Introduction to African American Studies: An African Centered Historiography of African American Identity and Culture (Kendall Hunt), which was specifically designed for use in teaching African American Studies online.

Mrs. Kirk has served her campus as the Academic Senate President and on many important policy and planning committees in a leadership capacity. In December 2024, Mrs. Kirk began her first term as the Area 6 Trustee for the Central Unified School District.

Mrs. Kirk, who was born and raised in Fresno, CA, holds a deep commitment to the rebuilding and strengthening her community, and strives to be a resource in achieving those goals.