TANGLED ORIGINS: Race, Culture & Black Identity in the U.S.
3-part series

The ways that people of African descent in the U.S. have defined themselves have always been complex but recent demographic changes are posing new questions and new challenges. Can one become Black? Can one “migrate” into blackness? What does it mean to be Black when you aren’t African American? What are the processes that permit or discourage changes in our understanding of blackness?

“Tangled Origins: Race, Culture & Black Identity in the U.S.” is a series of three conversations at New York University that will look at the shifting notions of race and the current redefinitions of “blackness” throughout the U.S. Discussions will center on the overlapping complexities in the histories, cultures and politics among peoples of African descent.

Click here to download original flyer in PDF

PART I – “Where are you From?: Engaging Black Diversity”
Thursday, November 12, 2009, 6:00PM
Screening & Panel Discussion
“The Neo African Americans” – a film by Kobina Aidoo
(View Trailer: http://neoafricanamericans.wordpress.com/)
Panelists:
-Miriam Jiménez Román, Director of the Afro-Latin@ Forum
-James Counts Early, Director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institute
-Awam Amkpa, Director of Africana Studies at NYU

Where:
Dept. of Social & Cultural Analysis
20 Cooper Square, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10003

PART II
“Shades of Difference: Coloring Ethnicities”
Thursday, February 25, 2010, 6:00 PM
Screening and Panel Discussion
“A Question of Color” – a film by Kathe Sandler
Panelists:
Kathe Sandler, Filmmaker
Tanya Hernandez, Professor, Fordham University School of Law
Darrick Hamilton, Professor, Milano–The New School for Management and Urban Policy

Where:
Institute of African American Affairs
41 East 11th St, 7th Floor Gallery
New York, NY 10003

PART III – “Untying the Knots: Diasporic Cultural Linkages”
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:00 PM
Performance and Panel Discussion
(More details to come)

Where: Dept. of Social & Cultural Analysis
20 Cooper Square, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10003

New York University
Sponsored by Institute of African American Affairs, Afro-Latin@ Forum, Africana Studies and Latino Studies