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Kristina García
News Officer
klg@upenn.edu
Africana Studies
Michael Hanchard on continuing injustice and the fight for equal protections
Michael Hanchard on continuing injustice and the fight for equal protections
The chair and Gustave C. Kuemmerle Professor of Africana Studies, discusses the recent wave of protests following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other unarmed Black women and men across the country.
Historian Mary Frances Berry responds to the George Floyd protests
Historian Mary Frances Berry responds to the George Floyd protests
The professor of history and Africana studies speaks with Penn Today about protesting injustice, pushing for change, and the history of African American civil rights.
Herman Beavers named faculty director of Civic House and the Civic Scholars Program
Herman Beavers named faculty director of Civic House and the Civic Scholars Program
Beavers has taught at Penn since 1989 and is a professor of English and Africana studies, a distinguished poet, and a widely published scholar of 20th-century, and is a leader in the Penn community.
When Malcolm X came to Penn
When Malcolm X came to Penn
On this Malcolm X Day, his 95th birthday, Penn Today reflects on his visit to the University in January of 1963, and his life and legacy.
Penn junior Misha McDaniel named a Beinecke Scholar
Penn junior Misha McDaniel named a Beinecke Scholar
English major Misha McDaniel has been awarded a 2020 Beinecke Scholarship to pursue graduate education. McDaniel is one of 18 Beinecke Scholars chosen from throughout the U.S., and the 13th recipient from Penn since the award was first given in 1975.
African Americans have been blocked from voting, but the Black vote is not a ‘bloc’
African Americans have been blocked from voting, but the Black vote is not a ‘bloc’
Black History Month’s theme for 2020 is African Americans and the Vote. Three Penn scholars define what the “Black vote” means when viewed through history, and what it doesn’t mean when viewed as an indivisible bloc.
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
A major exhibition and symposium organized by two Penn graduate students highlighting African American women literature is open in the Penn Libraries’ Kamin Gallery.
‘FACES’ captures, not defines, Black identity on campus
‘FACES’ captures, not defines, Black identity on campus
Sophomore Hadja Diallo and Senior Christine Olagun-Samuel published the inaugural issue of Faces of Black Penn on behalf of the Black Student League, a new magazine that features the diversity inherent in the Black campus experience.
Angela Davis ‘refuses to give up’
Angela Davis ‘refuses to give up’
Angela Davis and Gina Dent joined Margo Natalie Crawford of the Center for Africana Studies for this year’s Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice.
The 25th annual MLK symposium
The 25th annual MLK symposium
Across campus, students, faculty, and staff will gather for the 25th annual Commemorative Symposium honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. from Jan. 15 through Feb. 1.
Media Contact
In the News
The Washington Post
COVID-19 makes us face the hazy line between ‘elective’ and ‘essential’ medicine
Nitin Ahuja of the Perelman School of Medicine wrote an op-ed about medical procedures delayed due to the pandemic. On a spectrum of cosmetic to urgent treatments, “most of medicine sits in the middle, asking us to balance potential health benefits against potential costs,” he said.
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ABC News
'We feel your pain': Local experts respond to unrest in Minnesota
Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts & Sciences commented on the public response to the police killing of George Floyd. "What we are seeing is the latest incident of the perpetuation of white supremacy in this country, and it's there and everywhere for everybody to see. We should not be so angry at the people being angry because they have a reason to be angry,” she said.
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The New York Times
Where does affirmative action leave Asian-Americans?
Two studies led by Camille Z. Charles of the School of Arts and Sciences found an overrepresentation of black immigrant students at “highly selective” colleges and universities, compared to black American descendants of enslaved people. “I think there are American blacks whose families have suffered generationally who are being squeezed out,” she said.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Toni Morrison, renowned writer, Nobel laureate and Princeton University professor, dies at 88
Herman Beavers of the School of Arts and Sciences memorializes the late Toni Morrison. “She taught us how not to be guided by the white gaze. She made it okay for us to really think about how we see the world and really be central in it,” Beavers said. “She showed us that we didn’t need white people to explain what our lives meant or even acknowledge it. We could do it ourselves.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
What you need to know about reparations after the first congressional hearing convened on the topic in more than a decade
Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts and Sciences said the contemporary descendants of the enslaved Africans who demanded, but did not receive, pensions at the turn of the 20th century should be compensated today. “We have a group of people who we can identify, the descendants of those who argued for reparations, who sent stuff to Congress while they were being under surveillance and whose leaders were put in prison.”
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The Independent
Civil rights activist Mary Frances Berry visits Stark County
Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts and Sciences paid a visit to Kent State University’s Stark campus and other schools in the area in honor of Black History Month. She urged students aspiring to change society to keep up the good fight. “Movements do work,” she said. “The answer to every social problem, every injustice, every grievance is to organize.”
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