 Recently, I was listening to a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson in which he discussed the intersections between education and creativity. In his talk, he identified three elements that he felt characterized human intelligence and creativity. It is diverse, it is dynamic, and it is distinct. And these three D's seem to be a pretty good place to start in talking about black studies, a vision for black studies. My approach is rooted in thinking about black studies in the 22nd century because I believe that program development begins with a vision of the future and then works backwards to see what foundation is necessary to achieve that goal. Black studies in the future should embrace the three D's. It should be diverse in its formulation, it should be dynamic in its execution, and it should be distinct in its sustainability. By diverse, I mean a black studies program that builds upon its history as a truth teller in the American Academy. But it must also extend its repertoire with new approaches, new topics, new theories, new research methods, and ideas. The war hanging behind me is a great example of the kind of diversity of which I speak. It's called PsyArt, and it tells a story of human genetics and human origins out of Africa through the medium of art. Could we imagine a PsyArt Black Studies project exciting and diverse? My vision of black studies in the future is one that is willing to embrace this kind of diversity of knowledges, methods, theories, and content. My vision of black studies in the future is one that finds new ways of telling its story and new mediums for disseminating its messages to the broadest possible audiences. Dynamic, imagine a curriculum that has fluid elements and could be responsive to emerging issues that impact the lives and experiences of people of African descent locally and globally. Now I'm not sure what form such a responsiveness might take, but given the plethora of technology that we have available to us, web-based tools, digital media, and the increasing use of social media, I'm sure we could figure something out. So for example, could you imagine a Black Studies Twitter course? Dynamic. Distinct, if Einstein's definition of insanity is true, keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Then colleges and universities are probably some of the largest insane assailants. A distinct Black Studies program can't keep doing the same thing. A distinct Black Studies program must be entrepreneurial. Its curriculum should be rooted in the development of new knowledges, new theories, and new content. And how these can be applied to real-life social issues and the analysis of social problems and social policies that impact the lives of people of African descent, no matter where they are in the world. A distinct Black Studies program must reclaim its activist roots, which are consistent with the stated mission of public universities to contribute to the public good. So an example might be having service-learning components in Black Studies' core curriculum. And this applied aspect in no way conflicts with the idea of a robust scholarly program and a faculty contributing to new theory-building and the development of knowledge production. A distinct Black Studies program might also require competencies in technology, race and oppression theory, and the use of primary documents for research. After all, the Schoenberg is your neighbor. Finally, a distinct Black Studies program would be remiss if it did not incorporate a global lens, given the interconnectedness in the experiences and the exposure to oppression that is consistent among people of African descent wherever they are in the world. Let me close by saying that my vision of Black Studies is a 3D vision. It is diverse, it is dynamic, and it is distinct. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my thoughts and my vision.