Department of Africana Studies at Rutgers-Newark

Reshare •The JCFPL Curious Pint is back, and this one is going to be unforgettable.✨ We are beyond proud to partner with LSC After Dark at Liberty Science Center for an extraordinary evening under the stars! 🌌 

Join us for a night out at one of Jersey City’s crown jewels, a world-class museum with the largest planetarium in the country. The perspective will genuinely take your breath away.🪐 

This June, step into an evening of literature, music, and magic with the incredible Dr. Melanie R. Hill, scholar, author, and violinist. Dr. Hill will be signing copies of her new book “Colored Women Sittin’ on High: Womanist Sermonic Practice in Literature and Music,” delivering a powerful book talk, and performing live on violin. From Zora Neale Hurston to Aretha Franklin, from Toni Morrison to Ms. Lauryn Hill, this is a celebration of Black women as the virtuosic alchemists of our time. ✍️ 📖 🎻  

And of course, it’s The Curious Pint, so drinks & refreshments will be available for sale all night. 🍹 

🔞 This is a 21+ event, please have your ID ready! 
🚌 The JCFPL Bookmobile will also make an appearance, come check it out! 
🎟️ JCFPL Library Card holders that attend will unlock discounts to come back to future LSC After Dark events. 
💛 Every ticket purchased supports both JCFPL & Liberty Science Center and their missions. This is more than a night out. It’s community, culture, and curiosity all in one place. Don’t miss it.

🌟 🔗 Grab your tickets now, link in bio !

Today’s spotlight is on our Merit Award recipient, Chiamaka Nwanoro, an Africana Studies major with a concentration in Pre-health, whose seminar paper explored how governance mechanisms and community engagement practices moderate the impact of corruption and infrastructure constraints on service delivery outcomes in Nigeria's public primary-healthcare sector.

Chiamaka’s advice to future Africana students: "Your dreams are valid. Never be afraid of failure, because it is through our greatest challenges that we grow the strongest. And above all, find a good community — people who believe in you, support you, and inspire you to keep rising."

Congratulations, Chiamaka! We are all so proud of your achievements.

Our second Wendell A. Jean-Pierre Award recipient is Kai Imani Joy McCall, a recent winter graduate of Rutgers University–Newark, where they earned a dual degree in Social Work and Africana Studies with a minor in Social Justice and were an Honors Living-Learning Community Scholar. Kai's favorite classes were Afrofuturism with Professor Lacey Hunter and Introduction to Caribbean Studies with Professor Hyacinth Miller.

Kai’s advice to future Africana students: "Take your time and really engage with the material. Africana Studies is not just about learning history; it is about understanding how that history lives in the present. Ask questions, challenge what you’re learning, and connect it to your own experiences. Also, build relationships with your professors and classmates because those conversations will shape your perspective just as much as the readings... [A]lways remember that history is often written by the victor. One of my favorite quotes, and something I think everyone should carry with them, is: 'Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.' It is important that we continue to question the system and tell the stories of those who have often gone unheard, recognizing that our role is not always to speak for others, but to learn from them and help honor and uplift the power within their stories with care and intention."

Congratulations, Kai! We are all so proud of your achievements.

Today’s spotlight is on our Wendell A. Jean-Pierre Award recipients, James Macon Evans III and Kai Imani Joy McCall.

Up first is James Macon Evans III, a 72-year-old undergraduate student majoring in Africana Studies and minoring in History, who attributes his knowledge of African American History to his family and the Black community of Montclair, where he was raised. His favorite Africana Studies classes were Reading James Baldwin with Professor John Keene, African-American Community with Professor Wendell Holbrook, and History of Hip Hop with Professor Lacey Hunter.

James offers the following advice to incoming Africana students: “Buckle down and grasp as much as you can. Be prepared to fight for your education in Africana Studies because there are forces trying to erase it."

Congratulations again, James! We are so proud of all of your achievements.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026 and a special shout out to our Africana Studies students James Macon Evans III and Kai Imani Joy McCall on receiving the Wendell Jean-Pierre Award and Chiamaka P. Nwanoro on receiving the Merit Award!

We hope to see all our Africana Studies graduates at the Class of 2026 celebration parade this afternoon! ❤️🖤 Stay tuned for more about our award recipients.

Good luck on your finals! Need a study break? Make sure to take advantage of tonight's special Destress Fest event, Clovis Lane: Film Screening and Conversation!

Join us at 6 pm in Express Newark, Lecture Hall 213, for a film screening and conversation with artist (and alum) Shane 'ByHaze' Fuller, exploring the intersection of creative expression, emotional regulation, and sustainable performance through sound healing and dialogue. The film "Clovis Lane" is a visual reclamation of self that honors not only ByHaze’s journey, but the universal story of loss, love, and healing.

Following the conversation, we will enjoy dinner and toast our Class of 2026.

RSVP at https://go.rutgers.edu/clovislane

Join us on May 7 at 6pm for a film screening and conversation with artist Shane ‘ByHaze’ Fuller. This special event will explore the intersection of creative expression, emotional regulation, and sustainable performance through sound healing and dialogue.

The film Clovis Lane is a visual reclamation of self that honors not only ByHaze’s journey, but the universal story of loss, love, and healing. This is a film for ByHaze, for his mother, and for all of us: a cinematic exploration of how pain can become purposeful and how creativity can restore our shared humanity.

🔗 Register at link in bio
go.rutgers.edu/clovislane

Congratulations to Dr. Melissa M. Valle on her promotion to Associate Professor with tenure!

Her current book project, Calidad: Race, Worth, and Urban Change on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, is under contract with Oxford University Press (Global and Comparative Ethnography Series). It is an ethnography exploring how people determine who is worthy of occupying contested space in a gentrifying neighborhood in Cartagena, Colombia. She demonstrates how race, ethnicity, gender, and class are encoded in the value of urban spaces through analyses of micro-level meaning-making practices and structures.

¡Felicidades, Professor Valle! ✨

According to alum Lateefah Townes, "It's essential to explore the diverse aspects of the African diaspora, recognizing both the challenges and the triumphs. By delving into various facets of African history, such as advancements in agriculture, industrial achievements, and the founding of historically Black colleges, students can understand our shared heritage better, realizing that our experiences are not merely stereotypes and tropes."

Support student internships, conference presentations, and study abroad experiences because Black Studies is local and global. 🌍

https://go.rutgers.edu/AfricanaGiving26

Rutgers Giving Day is a time to show that Rutgers is more than a university—it’s a place where people and ideas flourish, and where remarkable achievements begin.

Make these achievements possible by supporting student internships, conference presentations, and study abroad experiences because Black Studies is local and global. 🌍

https://go.rutgers.edu/AfricanaGiving26