LS GLOBAL LECTURE SERIES | December 3, 2020 | 5:00pm
Liberal Studies, in collaboration with the NYU BeTogether Global Scholars & Innovators Series, is thrilled to welcome NYU students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, the public and other members of the NYU community to the latest installment of the Global Lecture Series, which each year brings an internationally renowned speaker to Washington Square Campus. This year’s lecture is part of the LS NYUWomXn100 and Black Lives in Global Contexts series. Historian, author, and professor Keisha N. Blain will speak on The Struggle for Black Lives: Global Visions and Historical Legacies. This lecture will be introduced by NYU Liberal Studies Professors Dean Julie Mostov and Suzanne Maria Menghraj, in discussion with Dr. Karen Jackson-Weaver, Associate Vice President of Global Faculty Engagement and Innovation Advancement.
In this talk, historian Keisha N. Blain discusses the international dimensions of the Black freedom struggle from the early twentieth century to the present. Drawing on a wealth of historical examples, including the organizing efforts of Black women and working-poor activists, Blain’s talk highlights how internationalism has shaped—and continues to shape—Black politics in the United States. African American activists, of all walks of life, have worked to build alliances with other people of color around the globe, linking the fight for civil rights with a vision of international human rights. This understanding of Black internationalism helps to connect the current wave of Black Lives Matter (BLM) uprisings to the political ideas and activism of historical figures such as Madam C.J. Walker, Mittie Maude Lena Gordon, Pearl Sherrod, and many others. The international support for the wave of US protests in 2020 underscores the vitality of these transnational bonds.
Dr. Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian of the 20th century United States with broad interests and specializations in African American History, the modern African Diaspora, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research interests include internationalism, radical politics, and global feminisms. She is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh and the president of the African American Intellectual History Society. She is currently a 2020-2021 fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. She also serves as an editor for the Washington Post’s ‘Made by History’ section. Blain is the author of the multi-prize-winning book Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (2018) and the co-editor of four books: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America; New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition; To Turn the Whole World Over: Black Women and Internationalism; and Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence. Her next book, Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Vision of America, will be published by Beacon Press in 2021.
Follow her on Twitter @KeishaBlain and on Instagram @KeishaNBlain.
This event is free and open to the public. Participants will receive a Zoom link upon registration.
Note on Accessibility: This virtual event requires an internet connection and computer or smartphone. All audio will be Closed Captioned. It is a priority to make our events INCLUSIVE & ACCESSIBLE. For any questions or to notify us of additional accommodation requests, please email: globalinclusion@nyu.edu at least 72 hours prior to the event.
