Africana Studies | Penn Today

Screenshot of four people in a grid form, top left is Mary Frances Berry, top right is Margo Natalie Crawford, bottom left is Guthrie Ramsey, bottom right is Dagmawi Woubshet

What happens to a dream deferred? 60-Second Lectures on racial injustice

In an effort to amplify the messages of the recent protests against racist violence, Penn Arts & Sciences created a special series: What Happens to a Dream Deferred? 60-Second Lectures on Racial Injustice.

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.

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.

portrait of woman with cropped hair and glasses

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.

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.

Professor of English and Africana studies Herman Beavers seated in a chair in a university hallway.

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.

Gesturing with his hand, Malcolm X speaks at Irvine Auditorium in January of 1963.

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.

Student standing in front of an outdoor fountain.

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 American person tearing off an I Voted Today sticker

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.

Two grad students and library curator looking at Joanna Banks Exhibit

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.

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