Colonels On Campus - It Was a Good Day: Black Optimistic Realism and Law in the United States

Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 6:00 PM until 8:00 PMEastern Standard Time UTC -05:00

Wilkes University Henry Student Center
236 S River St
Wilkes Barre, PA 18702
United States

Colonels on Campus is a special visit experience designed exclusively for admitted Fall 2026 students at Wilkes University. This program offers admitted seniors the opportunity to participate in a variety of events hosted by our on-campus partners, giving you a deeper look at life as a Wilkes student.

Through interactive programs, campus activities, and meaningful connections, Colonels on Campus allows you to experience Wilkes alongside our vibrant campus community. It’s a chance to explore academic interests, engage with student life, and envision yourself as part of the Colonel family before your first day on campus. This Colonels on Campus event is hosted by our Africana Studies Program. Details about this event are below.

It Was A Good Day: Black Optimistic Realism And Law In The United States

Date: Feb 24
Time: 6 - 8 PM
Location: Wilkes University, Henry Student Center

A Black History Month talk by Scott Hancock, Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College.

In 1992, artist Ice Cube released the video “It Was a Good Day.” The video ends with Ice Cube, who has apparently done nothing wrong, at least on this particular day, surrounded by an overwhelming show of force by armed police outside his South Central L.A. home. The video, in some respects, can be read as an expression of the lack of faith many Black Americans had in the system and philosophy that supposedly undergirds the Great Experiment—the foundation and continued existence of the United States of America.

That existence has never been threatened as it was during the American Civil War. And yet, many African Americans, from the country’s founding, through the Civil War, and into the 21st century, have attempted to use law as a primary driver for fundamental legal change. This talk, starting with stories of two women who escaped slavery, and carrying through to a contemporary Black writer, wrestles with the question of whether African Americans have been, and continue to be, bamboozled or buttressed by having any optimism in law in the United States.

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