Lisa and Heinrich Arnhold Lecture

Black Radical Histories

Throughout modern history, Black thinkers in Central Europe—from the Trinidadian George Padmore to African Americans Shirley Graham Du Bois and Ollie Harrington to Black German May Ayim— have pursued radical projects pointing out the lack of basic human rights of marginalized communities. In this talk, Tiffany N. Florvil argues that these individuals and others have drawn upon their cross-cultural experiences to highlight how the intersecting oppressions of racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism have persisted throughout the twentieth century. Traversing geographical and aesthetic boundaries, these activists, cartoonists, and intellectuals advocated for civil, social, and political change in their respective countries and beyond, advancing a cosmopolitan ethos that allowed them to offer new forms of knowledge and instigate change. Florvil contends that these Black radical actors advanced politics on their own terms while at the same time showing that Germany was a key site for the transnational Black diaspora.

This lecture will be in English with simultaneous translation and an online broadcast.

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Eine Kooperation der American Academy in Berlin und der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden