Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University

MARCH 26, 2025, 6:30PM
AAADS/ IRAAS BOOK DISCUSSION

WE'RE ALONE with author EDWIDGE DANTICAT

Location:
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism School -
2950 Broadway, 3rd floor , New York, NY 10027
Guest without Columbia ID must RSVP to receive a required entrance QR code .

WE MUST RECEIVE YOUR RSVP BY 3/23.
https://bit.ly/3DgO0XI


*Discussants*

EDWIDGE DANTICAT
Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities,
Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies- Columbia University

FARAH JASMINE GRIFFIN
William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies.
Professor of African American Studies and African Diaspora Studies- Columbia University

ZOË L. HENRY
Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature- Columbia University


*BOOK SYNOPSIS *
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat’s childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We’re Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding themes: environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.

From hurricanes to political violence, from her days as a new student at a Brooklyn elementary school knowing little English to her account of a shooting hoax at a Miami mall, Danticat has an extraordinary ability to move from the personal to the global and back again. Throughout, literature and art prove to be her reliable companions and guides through both tragedies and triumphs.

Danticat is an irresistible presence on the page: full of heart, outrage, humor, clear thinking, and moral questioning, while reminding us of the possibilities of community. We’re Alone is a book that asks us to think through some of the world’s intractable problems while deepening our understanding of one of the most significant novelists at work today.

*EVENT COLLABORATORS*
African American & African Diaspora Studies Department - Columbia University (AAADS)
Institute for Research in African-American Studies -Columbia University (IRAAS)
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy - Columbia University (ISERP)

AAADS chair, Dr. Mabel O. Wilson to Deliver the Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts at the National Gallery.

Mabel O. Wilson to Deliver the Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts at the National Gallery | African American and African Diaspora Studies Department News Mabel O. Wilson to Deliver the Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts at the National Gallery March 04, 2025 The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has selected Mabel O. Wilson to deliver the 74th A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts this month on “America’s Architecture of Freedom and...

Great start to Women's History Month w/ our annual Zora Neale Hurston Lecture; outstanding scholarship given by our own brillant , eloquent Dr. Mignon R. Moore Opening remarks by one of our fearless leaders Dr. Jafari Sinclaire Allen at the beautiful Shabazz Center. The lecture will be available on our YouTube channel after editing.
Stay tuned. Subscribe & check out some of our past events . Link to channel https://youtube.com/?feature=shared
Thank you to our collaboration & media partners
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP),
Barnard Africana Studies, Barnard & Columbia Sociology , Center for Ethnicity & Race (CSER) & the Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender (ISSG)

🎶 Jazz is a gloriously American art form and has driven our country’s culture for generations.

Passed from elders to new artists, decade by decade since it was first sparked among enslaved Black communities, jazz evokes our collective history and excites our collective imagination.

On Thursday, March 20, join Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation, for a conversation with Farah Jasmine Griffin, author and professor, Columbia University; Terri Lyne Carrington, founder and artistic director, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice; and artist, musician, and composer Esperanza Spalding.

The discussion will rejoice in the American innovation of jazz—and the cultural creativity it has never ceased to generate throughout the nation and around the world.

🔗 Register for the free, virtual Mellon Event at on.mellon.org/4ifC479

Registration- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-conversation-filmmaker-zeinabu-irene-davis-tickets-1245438001589

"L.A. Rebellion filmmaker Zeinabu irene Davis joins Professor Racquel Gates for an intimate conversation about art, care, and community.

In anticipation of the restoration of her groundbreaking film, Compensation (1999), and its long-awaited theatrical release, L.A. Rebellion filmmaker Zeinabu Irene Davis joins Professor Racquel Gates for an intimate conversation about art, care, and community. Davis will screen and discuss a selection of her short films, and offer insight on the joys and challenges of making independent film over her expansive career.

Zeinabu irene Davis is an independent filmmaker and Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. She is comfortable working in narrative, experimental, and documentary genres. Her work is passionately concerned with the depiction of women of African descent. A selection of her award-winning works includes a drama about a young enslaved girl, Mother of the River (1996); a love story set in Afro-Ohio, A Powerful Thang (1991), and an experimental psycho-spiritual journey of a woman with Cycles (1989). Her dramatic film Compensation (1999) features two interrelated love stories that offer a view of Black Deaf culture. The film was selected for the dramatic competition at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. New Yorker critic Richard Brody named it one of the best American independent films of the 20th century. The film had its world premiere restoration at the 2024 New York Film Festival and, after 25 years, will have a theatrical run with Janus Films in February 2025, followed by a Blue Ray release by Criterion in August 2025. The film has been inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in December 2024. "

THE OCTOBER FILES: DAVID HAMMONS-
A CONVERSATION
March 5th, 2025 at 6: 30pm

Registration is Required via EventBrite:

"October Files- David Hammons published by MIT Press is a collection of essays on one of the most important living Black artists of our time.
Documenting five decades of visual practice from 1982 to the present, the book features contributions from scholars, artists, and cultural workers, and includes numerous images of the artist and his work that are not widely available.

Participants include:

Kellie E. Jones (Columbia University) - Moderator

Sampada Aranke (The Ohio State University)

Abbe Schriber (University of South Carolina)

Coreen Simpson renowned photographer & designer (NY)

Tobias Wofford (Virginia Commonwealth University)

Location: The Cooper Union- Frederick P. Rose Auditorium

41 Cooper Sq, New York, NY 10008

Directions to the location : https://cooper.edu/admissions/visit/location-and-directions



Book will be available for purchase onsite with Printed Matter, Inc. booksellers . They will also available for pre-order to be picked up onsite , day of event via
https://www.printedmatter.org/

Event Collaborators: The Mellon Arts Project at Columbia University; The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art; African American & African Diaspora Studies Department (AAADS)-Columbia University; Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS)-Columbia University

America did not have to tell us who we were to this country; we told them. America did not have to tell us that we built this country, our fingerprints are etched into the stone. America does not have to proclaim Black History Month, we proclaim it.

Read our official statement on the attack on Black history, delivered by our 30th president, Dr. Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead. Available on ASALH.ORG

The Mellon Arts Project with the African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University is pleased to announce the 2025/2026 Post-Doctoral Fellowship award. This opportunity invites applications in the broad area and related fields of African and African Diaspora studies. It is a one-year appointment with the possibility of a second year being considered.

The Fellowship provides a competitive stipend geared towards supporting independent postdoctoral research, which helps establish the fellow in a leadership position. The fellow will participate in various aspects of the Department's research and educational initiatives.
Eligibility:
● Applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent degree
● Citizens, nationals and permanent residents of the United States
● A track record of publications in the eld.Submit recommendations to: Tumelo Mosaka ([email protected]).

The AAADS/IRAAS offices will be on a holiday break working remotely. Staff will be available via email & phone on non university holiday dates.

[email protected] for academic program & departmental questions

[email protected] for public programming, research projects, and Souls Journal questions.

We will resume in person hours on Monday, January 6.

Happy Holidays and New Year 🎊🎊🎊

AAADS/IRAAS ALUM EVENT

"Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words"

When: Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 6:30pm at The Museum of the City of New York
Tickets: https://www.mcny.org/event/shirley-chisholm-her-own-words

This image shows three elements: a portrait of a woman with curly hair in colorful attire, the cover of the book "Shirley Chisholm In Her Own Words," and a second woman standing in front of bookshelves wearing a white shirt and patterned skirt.
Left: Dr. Zinga A. Fraser, Right: Dr. Farah J. Griffin
Join us for a discussion celebrating Dr. Zinga A. Fraser's new book Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words. The collection of speeches and writings highlights Chisholm’s contributions to politics, feminism and activism, Dr. Fraser will be in conversation with Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin to discuss how Chisholm’s trailblazing legacy and intellectualism continues to influence movements for racial and gender justice today.

Co-presented by The Shirley Chisholm Project and Columbia University's African American and African Diaspora Studies Department, Institute for Research in African American Studies, and Institute for Social and Economic Research & Policy.

***************
About the Speakers:

Dr. Zinga A. Fraser is an author, lecturer, historical consultant and philanthropist. She is the Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism. Most recently she served as the historical consultant on the Netflix feature “Shirley,” written and Directed by John Ridley and starred and produced by Regina King. Dr. Fraser is currently an Assistant Professor in the Africana Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College. Dr. Fraser is a foremost expert on Shirley Chisholm and Black Congressional Women and Black feminist politics. Her book Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings (2024) was published by the University of California Press and she is currently completing her book manuscript titled, Sister Insider/ Sister Outsider: Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan, Black Women’s Politics in the Post- Civil Rights Era.
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Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin is the William B. Ransford Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and African-American Studies at Columbia University, where she also chaired the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department (2019-2021). A 2021 Guggenheim Fellow and program director for The Schomburg Center's Scholars-in-Residence Program, she has written extensively on race, gender, feminism, and cultural politics. Some of her notable books include Who Set You Flowin'?, Harlem Nocturne along with several other titles as author and co-author. Griffin has collaborated on theater projects that premiered at the Apollo Theater and Kennedy Center. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Harper's Bazaar. She is a frequent radio commentator on political and cultural issues, focusing her activism on education, poverty, and gender equity. Currently, she serves on the board of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, supporting youth in Central Harlem.

** Important Event Logistics **

Please contact [email protected] with any questions or ticketing issues.

All sales are final; refunds not permitted. Exchanges and credit for future programs only.
Programs and dates may be subject to change.
General Admission $15 | Members $10

IRAAS director , Dr. Jafari Allen speaks in a town hall discussion
Wednesday 10/16 at 6:30pm est. at Union Theological Seminary's James Chapel
Registraion https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blkqueer-decision-247365-tickets-1025018376557

The Department Of Africana Studies At Barnard College
Presents a Book Talk: "Survival Is A Promise: The Eternal Life Of Audre Lorde" with Alexis Pauline Gumbs ’04

October 21, 2024; 6:00-8:00 PM
Location Barnard College- Event Oval
In-Person

All guests, including BC/Columbia ID holders, are required to register.
Guests will not be allowed on campus if not registered.

Registration ends Tuesday, October 16th.
Guests will not be allowed on campus if not registered.
REGISTRATION
https://bit.ly/4eRKsZ5

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a Q***r Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational favorite cousin to all life. Her work in this lifetime is to facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice. Alexis’s books are portable textual ceremonies. Her most recent book "Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde" revolutionizes the scale of life writing. Her award-winning meditation "Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals " offers the critical interspecies love song we need at this urgent stage of our collective evolution. Alexis is also currently working her next book in honor of June Jordan and Fannie Lou Hamer, "A Homemade Field of Love" (forthcoming from Yale University Press).

Any additional questions can be directed to Africana Studies At Barnard College
Phone: 212-851-9242 | Email: [email protected]

Event Cosponsors
American Studies; Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies;
Women’s Gender Sexuality Studies; Greater Caribbean Studies, Columbia
University, African American & African Diaspora Studies Department- Columbia University,
Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University,
Institute of Latin American Studies- Columbia University'
Center for Research on Women

Another great convening down in the books. James Baldwin👑🎊🎊🎊
2-DAY CONVENING "HOW TO BUILD A FIRE: JAMES BALDWIN CENTENNIAL CONVENING"

In 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at The New York Public Library, acquired the personal archive of literary icon and social critic, James Baldwin. The Baldwin archive is a rich trove of manuscripts, typescripts, and audio tapes, the breadth and depth of which make it indispensable to understanding fully the significance of Baldwin’s career as a writer and as an engaged public man of letters.

As we celebrate the centennial birth of James “Jimmy” Baldwin, our Great Bard of Harlem, the Schomburg Center in collaboration with the Institute for Research in African American Studies and Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University, are honored to host this two-day convening, How To Build A Fire, October 4-5, 2024.

We gather not only in response to a world in turmoil (again), but also to invite and engage in conversations about being ourselves, doing our work, and lighting our own fires this time/in our own time. Rather than building and burnishing an unusable icon, How To Build A Fire lovingly and critically reflects on the blackprints James Baldwin wrote for his time, toward building and making our own interventions in the present.

Live stream- 10/5 , 2024. Day 2 of centennial James Baldwin convening at the Schomburg Center

How To Build A Fire: James Baldwin 2-Day Convening (Day 2) About this eventAs we celebrate the centennial birth of James “Jimmy” Baldwin, our Great Bard of Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture i...

Today's Livestream

How To Build A Fire: James Baldwin 2-Day Convening (Day 1) About this eventAs we celebrate the centennial birth of James “Jimmy” Baldwin, our Great Bard of Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture i...

I have always loved dear brother La Marr Jurelle Bruce ‘s thoughtful and lyrical writing. I’m so honored by the depth and beauty of this essay about Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. Here is “Promise Kept” La Marr’s latest for

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/1604564/promise-kept

La Marr you are my brother both through our shared commitment and our shared teachers. Cherished Farah Jasmine Griffin, divine Cheryll Greene, dear Steven Gregory and so many more. We are the children of Shay Byrd-Harris and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies-Columbia University.

And. The name ringing in my heart this morning is Marcellus. Because our unforgettable professor Marcellus Blount taught us that if we attend to the grammar of an utterance we will learn about the state of being it requires, produces and perpetuates. And now on the poem of this day we mourn another Marcellus. Marcellus Williams, innocent man whose state-sanctioned and state-fulfilled murder tells us everything we need to know about the state we are in. In a nation-state fluent only in the grammar of death and domination, in a nation-state that cannot speak justice, compassion or care we understand that the country that carried out an unjust death sentence against Marcellus writes its name in the same grammar when at Barnard and Columbia the very campuses where we studied, the administration engages fascist suppression of student protest. This is the grammar of a nation-state that supports genocide because genocide is its origin story. Its mother tongue.

This country cannot support anything other than a deadly formation without fundamentally changing the grammar of its own existence.

This is what Audre Lorde meant when she said “we were never meant to survive.” That we have “learned to be afraid with our mother’s milk.” She elucidated the repetitive grammars of fear so we could defy them.

This instant. This triumph.

It is better to speak.

And by “speak” she means we must all become poets forsaking the grammar of death that has taught us to be afraid. By “speak” she is saying that in this very moment we must generate a lexicon of revolutionary love. For every Marcellus. For all of us.

La Marr, I am grateful that you are my brother in this work. May we all keep the promise of our breathing.