African American History is American History: How Struggles for African American Liberty Earned All Americans their Civil Rights

October 04, 2012

A panel discussion on African American history as it has shaped the history of America from Colonial Days to the present. In conjunction with the exhibit Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, panelists trace the history using the works of Kadir Nelson as reference.

PANELISTS

Howard, J.D., Ph.D., State University of New York Distinguished Service Professor and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Purchase College, will serve as the panel moderator who will introduce our interactive discussion theme/format, panelists’ biographies and lay the groundwork for understanding the 14th Amendment and 1964 Civil Rights Act, both of which insured all Americans their civil rights regardless of race, gender, religion and national origin, in relation to Mr. Nelson’s book.

Lois Brown, Ph.D, Wesleyan University Professor of English and African American Studies, will link images from Heart and Soul to compelling pieces of African American literature and discuss ways in which these texts enrich Mr. Nelson’s personal historical narrative.

Christopher P. Moore, Schomburg Center Historian/Curator, will interconnect Mr. Nelson’s colonial-era slave images to the powerful illustrations and important story of unearthing the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. He will utilize slide images from the Schomburg Center Collection.

Author/Illustrator Kadir Nelson will speak about writing and illustrating his book using ten selected illustrations.