The Annual Black History Month Lecture: Howard W. French on The Second Emancipation
When and Where
Speakers
Description
The Department of History presents the annual Black History Month lecture. This keynote lecture will explore French's argument that Africa had a pivotal role in shaping world history according to his groundbreaking recent book, The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide (Penguin Random House, 2025). The title—referring to a brief period beginning in 1957 when dozens of African colonies gained their freedom—positions this liberation at the center of a “movement of global Blackness,” with one charismatic leader, Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972), at its head.
Schedule of Events
3:30 p.m. – Doors open
4:00 p.m. – Lecture
6:00 p.m. – Book signing
Books will be available for purchase from Another Story Bookshop. Dr. French will sign copies of his book following the lecture.
Biography
Howard W. French is a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a former foreign correspondent and senior writer for The New York Times, having worked as a bureau chief in China, Japan, West and Central Africa and Central America and the Caribbean.
Howard is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a global affairs columnist at Foreign Policy. He frequently contributes to the New York Review of Books. Read Howard W. French's full biography.
