Africana Studies at Penn

10/21/2026

On December 22, 1984, in a graffiti-covered New York City subway car, passengers looked on in horror as a white loner named Bernhard Goetz shot four Black teens, Darrell Cabey, Barry Allen, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur, at point-blank range. He then disappeared into a dark tunnel. After an intense manhunt, and his eventual surrender in New Hampshire, the man the tabloid media had dubbed the “Death Wish Vigilante” would become a celebrity and a hero to countless ordinary Americans who had been frustrated with the economic fallout of the Reagan 80s. Overnight, Goetz’s young victims would become villains.

Out of this dramatic moment would emerge an angry nation, in which Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and later Fox News Network stoked the fear and the fury of a stunning number of Americans.

Drawing from never-before-seen archival materials, legal files, and more, Dr. Heather Ann Thompson narrates the Bernie Goetz Subway shootings and their decades-long reverberations, while deftly recovering the lives of the boys whom too many decided didn’t matter. "Fear and Fury" is the remarkable account and a searing indictment of a crucial turning point in American history.

She joins us on October 28, 2026, for a presentation on this book, register today!

🗓️ October 28, 2026
🕠 5:30pm
📍 Penn Bookstore, 2nd Flr.
3601 Walnut Street
University of Pennsylvania

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of History and the Political Science Department. Register today!

10/19/2026

This Wednesday, October 21st, and next Wednesday, October 28th, at 8 pm ET each night, Donald Bogle, who teaches classes for Africana Studies at Penn, will be hosting “Hollywood and the Black Athlete” alongside Ben Mankiewicz. This is a series Bogle developed for Turner Classic Movies, and each night he will be introducing four films. - learn more from https://www.tcm.com/articles/now-playing-newsletter/60297/hollywood-and-the-black-athlete

10/19/2026

Don't miss a free screening of ward-winning filmmaker Rita Coburn’s documentary W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause on Thursday, October 22, 2026. The film is part of PBS’s American Masters series and will give attendees an opportunity to learn more about Du Bois’s life and legacy as a writer, historian, and civil rights activist. Provost John L. Jackson will provide opening remarks, which will be followed by a 40-minute excerpt from the film and subsequent Q&A session. Open to the public.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/47sGYdY

Tags: University of Pennsylvania, Africana Studies at Penn

10/16/2026

Roberto Clemente gave his life helping people he'd never even met. Born in 1934 in Puerto Rico, Clemente became the number one pick in the 1954 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he spent his entire 18 year career as a right fielder. He was a 12 time All-Star, won 12 Gold Gloves, took home four National League batting titles, and was named National League MVP in 1966 and World Series MVP in 1971. On September 30, 1972, he recorded his 3,000th career hit, and it turned out to be his last.

Off the field, Clemente was known just as much for his generosity. He held free baseball clinics for kids in Puerto Rico and regularly gave his time and money to people in need. When a devastating earthquake struck Managua, Nicaragua in December 1972, he organized relief efforts himself, working 14 hour days to raise over $150,000 in donations and collect 26 tons of food, clothing, and medicine. When he learned corrupt officials were intercepting the aid, he decided to accompany the next relief flight personally to make sure it reached the people who needed it. That plane crashed shortly after takeoff on December 31, 1972, killing Clemente and everyone on board. He was 38. In 1973, the Baseball Hall of Fame waived its usual five year waiting period to induct him, making him the first Latin American player ever enshrined.

10/15/2026

We are pleased to share information about an upcoming screening of award-winning filmmaker Rita Coburn’s documentary "W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause" on Thursday, October 22, 2026. The film, which is part of PBS’s American Masters series, speaks to themes that resonate across many parts of the Penn community. Penn faculty experts were consulted during the production, two Penn students served as interns, and research for the film was conducted in the University Archives.

Register Today! https://web.cvent.com/event/253506d9-ae45-4891-8228-c6636d0dde68/register

Provost Jackson will provide opening remarks, which will be followed by a 40-minute or so excerpt from the film and a moderated conversation with Ms. Coburn.

The program will be followed by a reception.

10/15/2026

NEW LOCATION: Dr. Marcia Chatelain [] is the Penn Presidential Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. An acclaimed scholar, she is a 2019 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, and was named a Top Influencer in Higher Education by the Chronicle of Higher Education for curating the . Her previous book, “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America,” won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for History and a 2022 James Beard Foundation Book Award. She joins us to discuss her highly anticipated new book, “How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women who Made the March on Washington. https://tinyurl.com/brightpath-penn26

🗓️ October 19, 2026
🕠 5:30pm
📍 Max Kade Room, 329-A
3401 Walnut Street
University of Pennsylvania

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of History at Penn, and the Penn Women’s Center [].

10/15/2026

Get ready for the 2027 Summer Institute, one of Penn’s premier Pre-First Year Student programs! Registration opens March 15, 2027, but you can join the waitlist now! https://africana.sas.upenn.edu/center/academics/summer-institute

10/12/2026

By digitizing written records from a prominent Philadelphia abolitionist and employing modern mapping technology, a group of researchers at Temple University were able to trace the routes on parts of the Underground Railroad that were used by nearly 1,000 people to reach Philadelphia. - learn more from PhillyVoice

The team digitized the writings of abolitionist William Still and used technology to create a map of travel routes.

10/12/2026

Rest in Power, Eusi Kwayana (1925–2026)

The Black freedom struggle has lost a giant. Eusi Kwayana, the legendary Guyanese Pan-Africanist, educator, and revolutionary, has passed away at 101.

A lifelong champion of independence, democracy, and social justice, Kwayana was a co-founder of the Working People’s Alliance and a close friend and political comrade of revolutionary scholar Walter Rodney. Together, they challenged authoritarianism and championed multiracial working-class solidarity.

Kwayana belonged to a generation of Caribbean revolutionaries who understood that political independence without economic justice and genuine liberation was an unfinished struggle.

His life reminds us that the struggle for freedom is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a lifelong commitment to the people.

Eusi Kwayana, founding WPA member, former minister, parliamentarian, educator and political thinker, has died at age 101 in Atlanta.

10/12/2026

A reminder for some on Columbus Day: You don’t "discover" a home that belongs to millions of other people.

When Columbus arrived in 1492, the Americas were already thriving with diverse cultures, complex political systems, and rich histories. Were these societies perfect? No. But human rights and sovereignty don’t require moral perfection.

Columbus didn’t just explore; he enslaved, instituted forced labor, and unleashed devastating violence. Stripping away this truth to celebrate him as a hero turns human tragedy into a historical footnote.

Today, we honor the truth, the history, and the enduring sovereignty of Indigenous peoples.