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Sankofa Lecture Series Hosts Poetry Showcase, Lecture in April
April 2016
The Sanfoka Lecture Series hosted the 11th Annual Worcester Poetry Showcase, and open mic and poetry reading event. The QCC and Worcester Community were invited to share their poetry and personal stories on April 22.
On April 29, the group hosted “Wrestling With an American Classic: W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk,” a lecture with Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed. Dr. Jones-Sneed is a professor of history at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. She has taught and researched local history for more than 25 years.
She was a 2008 NEH Summer Fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University and is currently working on a monograph about five African Americans in rural New England and editing the autobiography of the Rev. Samuel Harrison.
Dr. Jones-Sneed argues that the concepts and themes in The Souls of Black Folk are still relevant in contemporary society. The second chapter in the book illustrates the successes and failures of the federal government to prepare ex-slaves for the lives of true freedom and full citizenship in the United States after the Civil War. Fast forward to 2016, and Du Bois’ analysis still resonates in today’s society with economic inequality. Comparing the text of this chapter to the headlines of today provides a contemporary meaning to this 122-year-old classic. The event was free and open to the public, and sponsored by the Diversity Caucus.
The Sankofa Lecture Series is sponsored by ALANA, Americans of African, Latino, Asian and Native American descent. ALANA is a civic engagement student organization, with a special interest in history and expressive culture.
ALANA collaborates with the School of Humanities and Education and the Worcester Country Poetry Association to sponsor these events. This distinctive contribution makes ALANA unique among student clubs at QCC and in the network of ALANA clubs in Worcester.
