Dr. Keisha Blain will give a public lecture, followed by a public Q&A and reception at the Sheldon Art Museum on Thursday, March 31st, 2022.

This talk highlights the crucial role Black women in the United States have played in shaping human rights history. It centers on the political work of activist Fannie Lou Hamer, an impoverished and disabled Black woman who joined the civil rights movement during the mid-1960s. By highlighting Hamer’s political activism and expansive vision of freedom, Blain places Hamer in conversation with contemporary Black women activists who are now leading the fight for human rights.

The lecture will be begin at 6:30 pm with Q&A. Following the lecture, a reception will be held at Sheldon, including refreshments, a book-signing by Dr. Blain, complete with copies of her work being available for purchase from the UNL bookstore.

Dr. Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian of the 20th century United States with broad interests and specializations in African American History, the modern African Diaspora, and Women’s and Gender Studies. She is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, the president of the African American Intellectual History Society, and a columnist for MSNBC. She is currently a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University and a member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study. She has published extensively on race, gender, and politics in both national and global perspectives. She is the author of the multi-prize-winning book Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (2018) and the #1 New York Times Bestseller Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 (2021), edited with Ibram X. Kendi.