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Maps of the Caribbean coast in the late 18th century were crafted with political purpose but did not always represent the geopolitical reality in which residents lived.In a new book, Ernesto Bassi traces the configuration of a geographic space he calls the “transimperial Greater Caribbean,” made up of sailors, traders, revolutionaries and...
The Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University wishes to echo the sentiments of Cornell President Hunter Rawlings in expressing our support of students, faculty, staff and community members affected by the recent executive order. The full message is reproduced below. Resources and updates from Cornell can be found here. ------...
Rosa Clemente, M.P.S. ’02, (https://rosaclemente.net/), will provide a critical reflection on the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jan. 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Africana Studies and Research Center, 310 Triphammer Road.Clemente’s talk, “Continuing the Dream: The Significance of Modern Political Activism and Social Justice,” is...
The Caribbean Philosophical Association is honoring Africana Professor Carole Boyce Davies with the Frantz Fanon Lifetime Achievement Award for her globally influential work as a scholar, educator, and activist. Her spectacular book Left of Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones (2008) not only brought the importance of Claudia...
After exploring the Surrealist movement in Egypt and some of its leading proponents, the Sharjah Art Foundation this autumn moves on to examine the “Modern Art movement in Sudan and the politics surrounding it”.The co-curators for the three exhibitions exploring this theme are Shaikha Hoor Al Qasimi, director of Sharjah Art Foundation, and Dr...
Even before Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign hit full stride, guerilla artists began plastering urban bus shelters, rural telephone poles and subway rights-of-way with images and the slogans that would come to define his political rise: Hope. Change. Progress. Our time has come. Si, se puede. Go tell mama! I’m for Obama.Hip-hop artists...
Africana Professors Riche Richardson and Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò have been selected to participate in Cornell University's 2017 Public Voices Thought Leadership Fellowship Program.The goal of the program is to increase the public impact of top underrepresented thinkers in the US, and to ensure that their ideas help shape important conversations taking...
On November 25, 2016, Professor Richardson received the "Educator of the Year" award at the Grand Reunion for St. Jude Alumni & Friends. It is presented by veteran WSFA Television Art Director and artist William "Bill" Ford on behalf of St. Jude Educational Institute. Professor Richardson is a 1989 graduate of the school, historically known...
The 54 ancient and modern languages offered at Cornell — including Indonesian, Polish and Arabic — provide students with opportunities to stretch their skills beyond the typical European languages taught in most high schools.For some students, the language they choose to study is one they already know well – perhaps speaking it since birth....
Professor Oneka LaBennett recently published a brand new Oxford Bibliographies article, “Zora Neale Hurston,” on the African American anthropologist, short story writer, folklorist, and novelist best known for Their Eyes Were Watching God. This article, which includes original commentary and annotations by Professor LaBennett, will provide faculty...
Professor Oneka LaBennett was recently awarded a Humanities Research Grant from Cornell University's Society for the Humanities. The funds are provided by the Vice Provost for Research and Advanced Study for tenured and tenure-track faculty, and can be applied towards a wide range of projects. The award will support research towards Professor...
It was a meta moment. In September, a documentary film about the Willard Straight Hall takeover played at Cornell Cinema—in Willard Straight Hall.The hour-long film, Agents of Change, explores the events of April 1969, when African American students occupied the Straight—eventually arming themselves with smuggled-in guns after repelling an...
Africana Professor N’Dri Assié-Lumumba has been elected president of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) for a three-year term ending in 2019. The election was held during the XVI World Congress of Comparative Education Societies that was held on 22-26 August 2016, in Beijing (China). The theme of the Beijing Congress was...
Kanyinsola Obayan, a third year Africana Ph.D. student, was granted a 2016 pre-doctoral fellowship for 2 to 3 month’s research in Nigeria during the summer of 2016, courtesy of the West African Research Association (WARA) located at Boston University’s African Studies Center. The grant was in support of her travel to Nigeria as she pursues...
As a field, Africana Studies was founded in response to students affirming their right to respect, inclusion and safety on college campuses. Our very existence is a testament to solidarity, struggle and resolute resistance. As we near our 5th decade, we know that such founding values are as necessary on our campus today as they were in 1969. The...
Emerging filmmaker Easmanie Michel visited the Africana center on November 10, 2016 to meet with a seminar class taught by Professor Carole Boyce Davies, titled Black Women Writers: Books to Screen. The discussion centered around Michel's upcoming film project, based on Haitian-American, award-winning author Edwidge Danticat's short story,...
Martha E. Pollack, provost at University of Michigan, has been named Cornell’s 14th president. Pollack will begin her term on April 17, 2017, following the termination of her term as provost on January 31, 2017.The Board of Trustees unanimously elected Pollack Cornell’s second female president, according to Jan Rock Zubrow ’77, chair of the...
Professors across Cornell's campus weigh in on what is at stake for the 2016 election. Africana Professor Kevin Gaines, who will be teaching a class in Spring 2017 entitled "Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Race, Class and Populism in the Age of Trump," has this to say:"A Trump victory will result in political and economic chaos, shocking many...
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson reflected on “Election 2016: Who’s Up, Who’s Down and What’s Really Going On” as this year’s Reuben A. and Cheryl Casselberry Munday Distinguished Lecturer Oct. 27 in the Africana Studies and Research Center.In his lecture, Robinson discussed his columns and his experiences over the last decade....
Last night marked the opening of a must-see surreal exhibit titled When Arts Become Liberty, an important documentation of the work of Egypt’s surrealist artists in the period between 1938 and 1965. Taking place at the beautiful and culturally rich Palace of Arts, located on the Cairo Opera House grounds, this mind-blowing exhibit sheds light on a...
The Society for the Humanities fall conference, “Performing Skin,” explored the year’s focal research theme: skin. Held Oct. 21 and 22 in the A.D. White House, the interdisciplinary conference reflected on philosophical, aesthetic, political, ecological, religious, psychoanalytical and cultural understandings of skin.In his introduction, Timothy...
The Cornell Democrats hosted a discussion Thursday on the role of race and gender in a presidential election characterized by deep social tensions, highly polarized beliefs and the first female major party nominee.Prof. Siba Grovogui, Africana studies, distinguished between antipathy — which he defined as anger at something that has been taken...
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of several things, among them race. The law, however, doesn't define "race."It also doesn't say anything about hair.Which brings us to Chastity Jones.Jones was offered a job in the customer service department at Catastrophe...
You read that correctly: The newest CoverGirl is a boy.James Charles, a 17-year-old makeup artist from New York, will be the new face of the iconic cosmetics brand. James, who first earned fame through makeup tutorial videos and popular social media accounts, will be the first male ‘spokesmodel’ in CoverGirl’s 55-year history. Given the teen’s...
Come and put your name on it,” is the first line in Rihanna’s song “Birthday Cake.” She is referring to her female anatomy as she dances in a hip-centered motion, reminiscent of Caribbean movement.Across the globe, reactions to the song’s connotation and the provocative dancing varied greatly, each individual interpreting the sequence of events...