Memphis, TN, Jan. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – The National Civil Rights Museum brings award-winning authors Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Dr. Keisha N. Blain, editor of the anticipated anthology Four Hundred Souls: A Community, together History of African America, 1619-2019, in his book and writer series on Friday, February 5. The book is due out February 2nd and consists of 90 voices telling one of the great epic stories in history.
Four Hundred Souls fundamentally breaks down the idea that Africans in America are a monolith by sharing a wide range of experiences that have always been in the black community. This is a story that sheds light on the past and offers new ways of thinking about the future, written by the most important and important voices of the present.
The editors, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times’ award-winning bestseller, How to Be a Antiracist, and Dr. Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire, have compiled 90 brilliant writers. Each of them occupies a five-year period of 400 years. The authors explore their periods using a variety of techniques: historical essays, short stories, personal vignettes, and fiery polemics. You approach history from different perspectives – through the eyes of towering historical icons or the untold stories of ordinary people and through places, laws and objects.
Dr. Kendi writes in the introduction: “Most of the pieces in this volume were written in 2019. We wanted the community to write in the 400th year. We wanted four hundred souls to write history in order to be history. Readers of this community diary will forever know what black Americans thought of the past and present when African America symbolically turned four hundred years old. “
Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University and founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a writer for The Atlantic and a correspondent for CBS News. He is the author of many books and Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2020.
Dr. Keisha N. Blaine is currently Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, President of the African American Intellectual History Society, and Editor of the Made by History section of the Washington Post. Her writing has been published in popular branches such as The Atlantic, The Guardian, Politico, and Time.
“Four Hundred Souls is a groundbreaking piece of work. We are pleased to both Dr. Kendi and Blain and the panelists will be attending this event, said Dr. Noelle Trent, director of interpretation, collections and education at the museum. “This work provides a much-needed discourse about the black experience.”
During the book event, three editors will meet with the editors: journalist and author Charles Cobb, Jr .; Princeton Professor of African American Studies Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor; and economic and social policy expert Heather McGee. Panelists will speak on the civil rights movement, property and Bacon’s rebellion.
Charles Cobb Jr. was Secretary of State for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi from 1962 to 1967. He was a reporter for NPR, Frontline, and was the first black employee of National Geographic magazine. In 2018 he received a Carnegie grant to enable his latest book project, which analyzes today’s young movement for black life.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is the author of several award-winning books on Black Lives Matter, Black Feminism, and LGBTQ non-fiction. Taylor is a contributing writer and columnist for The New Yorker.
Heather McGee is the former president of the inequality think tank Demos and now heads the board of directors of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. She regularly contributes to news programs, including NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
A signed copy of Four Hundred Souls is available in the museum’s online shop. The virtual event of the Book & Author Series takes place at 6:00 p.m. in the headquarters and is free of charge and open to the public. Registration is required to receive the livestream link. More information is available at Civilrightsmuseum.org.
Via the National Civil Rights Museum
The NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM in the historic Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated provides a comprehensive overview of the American civil rights movement from slavery to the present day. Since the museum opened in 1991, millions of visitors have come from around the world, including more than 90,000 students annually. The museum serves as a new public space and is determined to mark the site of Dr. To honor and preserve Martin Luther King Jr. It records the American civil rights movement and tells the story of the ongoing struggle for human rights. It acts as a catalyst to stimulate action to create positive social change. The museum is a Smithsonian subsidiary and an internationally recognized cultural institution. It is recognized as the National Medal Award 2019 by the Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the highest national award for museums and libraries. It’s a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Top 5% US Museum, USA Today’s Top 10 Best American Cult Attractions; Top 10 Best Historic Places in the US by TLC’s Family Travel; Must be seen by Budget Travel and Kids by age 15; Top 10 American Treasures from USA Today; and best Memphis attraction from The Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Business Journal.
Connie Dyson National Civil Rights Museum 901-331-5460 [email protected]
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