Such topics as "Willie Brown as a Metaphor for the Black West at the End of the 20th Century" and "Black Pioneers in the Westward Movement and Black Cowboys" will be explored at a conference examining the contributions to the West by people of African descent to be held Thursday, Sept. 28, through Saturday, Sept. 30, at UC Davis. Titled "The Black Route West," the conference was developed by a group of scholars nationwide and is the initial event in a planned series on the history and contemporary life of people of African descent in the Western United States. Charles H. Long, director of the Center for Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara, will give the keynote address, "The Notion of the West in American Civilization." Among other topics to be discussed are black artists and black women in the West, and California gold and the origins of Sacramento's black communities. Conference sponsors include the UC Davis African American and African Studies program, UC Irvine Humanities Research Institute, UC African and African American Studies Consortium and the California State Department of Parks and Recreation.