Name: First Person: Writing Black Activist Lives from the Inside
Start: 2025-02-06T18:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-02-06T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture - New York Public Library

First Person: Writing Black Activist Lives from the Inside

Conversations in Black Freedom Studies online focuses on the lives of activists in the movement and their personal histories.
About this Event

ONLINE

Join us online for the first Conversation in Black Freedom Studies program of 2025!

Four life-long activists will discuss their lives in the movement and the process and politics of writing personal histories of Black freedom struggles. Millicent Brown will present on Another Sojourner Looking for Truth, illuminating her long life in the movement beyond her role in the desegregation of schools in South Carolina. Mike Africa, Jr., will discuss On A Move: Philadelphia's Notorious Bombing and a Native Son's Lifelong Battle for Justice , a story of ongoing resistance in the face of extreme state violence. David J. Dennis, Jr., and David J. Dennis, Sr., will share about their intergenerational legacy in the movement from Freedom Summer to the Algebra Project, which they write about in The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride.

This event is online only. A link will be posted in the coming days. Please still register for the online event to note your interest in attending.

PANELISTS

Milicent Brown received her Doctor of Philosophy in History from Florida State University. She is an educator and activist and one of the first people to racially integrate public schools in Charleston, South Carolina in 1963. Her book, Another Sojourner Looking for Truth: My Journey from Civil rights to Black Power and Beyond, is published by University of South Carolina Press.

Mike Africa, Jr., is an author and revolutionary dedicated to preserving the historical legacy of the MOVE organization. His new book, On A Move: Philadelphia's Notorious Bombing and a Native Son's Lifelong Battle for Justice, gives a first-person account of his survival and life after the state violence. The book is published by Mariner Books.

David J. Dennis, Jr., writer, sports jounalist, and educator, collaborated with his father, civil rights activist David J. Dennis, Sr., on an engaging historical narrative, The Movement Made Us, A Father, A Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride, published by Harper Paperbacks.

ABOUT CONVERSATIONS IN BLACK FREEDOM STUDIES

The founding curators of this series, Professors Jeanne Theoharis (Brooklyn College/CUNY) and Komozi Woodard (Sarah Lawrence College), introduced a new paradigm that challenged the older geography, leadership, ideology, culture and chronology of Civil Rights historiography. Jeanne Theoharis continues in her role and is joined by Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine (Wayne State University) ) as co-curator. Komozi Woodard continues to advise the series from an emeritus position. Discussions take place on the first Thursday of each month.

Learn more: http://www.blackfreedomstudies.org

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

ACCESSIBILITY | Live captioning is available for streaming programs. ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing [email protected].

PRESS | Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected]. Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is supported by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. Additional support provided by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.