Dr. Samuel Kelton Roberts, Jr., is Director of Columbia University’s Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS), Associate Professor of History (School of Arts & Sciences) and Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences (Mailman School of Public Health). He writes, teaches, and lectures widely on African-American history, medical and public health history, urban history, issues of policing and criminal justice, and the history of social movements. His book, Infectious Fear: Politics, Disease, and the Health Effects of Segregation (UNC Press, 2009), demonstrates the historical and continuing links between legal and de facto segregation and poor health outcomes. In 2013-14, Dr. Roberts served as the Policy Director of Columbia University’s Justice Initiative, where he coordinated the efforts of several partners to bring attention to the issue of aging and the growing incarcerated elderly population. This work led to the publication of the widely-read landmark report, Aging in Prison Reducing Elder Incarceration and Promoting Public Safety (New York: Columbia University Center for Justice. November 2015).

Dr. Roberts currently is researching a book project on the history of drug addiction policy and politics from the 1950s to the present, a period which encompasses the various heroin epidemics between the 1950s and the 1980s, therapeutic communities, radical recovery movements, methadone maintenance treatment, and harm reduction approaches.

Dr. Roberts tweets from @SamuelKRoberts.

Dr. Samuel Kelton Roberts, Jr., is Director of Columbia University’s Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS), Associate Professor of History (School of Arts & Sciences) and Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences (Mailman School of Public Health). He writes, teaches, and lectures widely on African-American history, medical and public health history, urban history, issues of policing and criminal justice, and the history of social movements. His book, Infectious Fear: Politics, Disease, and the Health Effects of Segregation (UNC Press, 2009), demonstrates the historical and continuing links between legal and de facto segregation and poor health outcomes. In 2013-14, Dr. Roberts served as the Policy Director of Columbia University’s Justice Initiative, where he coordinated the efforts of several partners to bring attention to the issue of aging and the growing incarcerated elderly population. This work led to the publication of the widely-read landmark report, Aging in Prison Reducing Elder Incarceration and Promoting Public Safety (New York: Columbia University Center for Justice. November 2015).

Dr. Roberts currently is researching a book project on the history of drug addiction policy and politics from the 1950s to the present, a period which encompasses the various heroin epidemics between the 1950s and the 1980s, therapeutic communities, radical recovery movements, methadone maintenance treatment, and harm reduction approaches.

Dr. Roberts tweets from @SamuelKRoberts.

Liberation movements have received very little scholarly attention. While much of this research has focused on comparative analyses, of the French, Russian and Chinese revolutionary movements there has been very little cross-national comparative research from an interdisciplinary perspective about movements for national liberation in the black diaspora. This interdisciplinary panel explores the historical, cultural and political dynamics of movements of national liberation in the black diaspora as they have emerged in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean. The panel will highlight similarities and differences in the organizational structures, the political strategies, and how the historical legacy of these movements motivate and inspire contemporary political strategies of social movements like Black Live Matters.

Clinton Hutton is professor of Politics in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. Dr. Hutton’s research focus on Jamaican oral history, Africana culture and religions, philosophy and popular culture.  His primary interest has been the persistent legacy of African political philosophical thought and its influence on the world views of Afro-Caribbean people. His body of work is a major contributor to the fields of Caribbean political philosophy and to the study of the Haitian Revolution and the Morant Bay Rebellion.  Dr. Hutton’s book entitled: The Logic and Historical Significance of the Haitian Revolution and the Cosmological Roots of Haitian Freedom (Arawak Publications, 2005) as well as his later book entitled: Colour for Colour, Skin for Skin: Marching with the Ancestral Spirits into War Oh at Morant Bay (Ian Randle Publishers, 2015), both examine the African philosophical race-based heritage that influenced the Haitian Revolution and the later Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica.

Francis Musoni is associate Professor of African History in the Department of History at the University of kentucky. Dr. Musoni’s research focuses on migrations and cross-border mobilities, borderland communities, refugees, ethnic identities and informal economies in Africa. Dr. Musoni is the author of “Contested Illegality: Border Jumping and the Control of Mobility across the Zimbabwe-South Africa Border (Indiana University Press). His current research focus on the biography of one the founding leaders of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a nationalist movement that spearheaded the 1970s armed struggle for independence in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). His research seeks to unpack the complex interplay of local, national, regional and global forces that shaped the struggles for liberation and democracy in Zimbabwe.

Ricky L. Jones is professor and Chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville. Dr. Pack is the author of two editions of Black Haze: Violence, Sacrifice, and Manhood in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities ( SUNY Press, 2015), as well as the author of What’s Wrong with Obamamania?: Black America, Black Leadership, and the Death of Political Imagination (SUNY Press, 2008). Dr. Jones is the host of the award-winning "Ricky Jones Show" on The REAL 93.1 FM Louisville from iHeart Media.

Vanessa Holden is assistant professor of African American and Africana Studies History in the Department of History at the University of kentucky. Dr. Holden’s areas of research interest are the history of resistance and rebellion in the antebellum South.

Liberation movements have received very little scholarly attention. While much of this research has focused on comparative analyses, of the French, Russian and Chinese revolutionary movements there has been very little cross-national comparative research from an interdisciplinary perspective about movements for national liberation in the black diaspora. This interdisciplinary panel explores the historical, cultural and political dynamics of movements of national liberation in the black diaspora as they have emerged in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean. The panel will highlight similarities and differences in the organizational structures, the political strategies, and how the historical legacy of these movements motivate and inspire contemporary political strategies of social movements like Black Live Matters.

Clinton Hutton is professor of Politics in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. Dr. Hutton’s research focus on Jamaican oral history, Africana culture and religions, philosophy and popular culture.  His primary interest has been the persistent legacy of African political philosophical thought and its influence on the world views of Afro-Caribbean people. His body of work is a major contributor to the fields of Caribbean political philosophy and to the study of the Haitian Revolution and the Morant Bay Rebellion.  Dr. Hutton’s book entitled: The Logic and Historical Significance of the Haitian Revolution and the Cosmological Roots of Haitian Freedom (Arawak Publications, 2005) as well as his later book entitled: Colour for Colour, Skin for Skin: Marching with the Ancestral Spirits into War Oh at Morant Bay (Ian Randle Publishers, 2015), both examine the African philosophical race-based heritage that influenced the Haitian Revolution and the later Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica.

Francis Musoni is associate Professor of African History in the Department of History at the University of kentucky. Dr. Musoni’s research focuses on migrations and cross-border mobilities, borderland communities, refugees, ethnic identities and informal economies in Africa. Dr. Musoni is the author of “Contested Illegality: Border Jumping and the Control of Mobility across the Zimbabwe-South Africa Border (Indiana University Press). His current research focus on the biography of one the founding leaders of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a nationalist movement that spearheaded the 1970s armed struggle for independence in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). His research seeks to unpack the complex interplay of local, national, regional and global forces that shaped the struggles for liberation and democracy in Zimbabwe.

Ricky L. Jones is professor and Chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville. Dr. Pack is the author of two editions of Black Haze: Violence, Sacrifice, and Manhood in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities ( SUNY Press, 2015), as well as the author of What’s Wrong with Obamamania?: Black America, Black Leadership, and the Death of Political Imagination (SUNY Press, 2008). Dr. Jones is the host of the award-winning "Ricky Jones Show" on The REAL 93.1 FM Louisville from iHeart Media.

Vanessa Holden is assistant professor of African American and Africana Studies History in the Department of History at the University of kentucky. Dr. Holden’s areas of research interest are the history of resistance and rebellion in the antebellum South.

Join the UK Office for Intuitional Diversity and the UK Office of Student and Academic Life for a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Theodore Berry. Mr. Berry will lead Dr. Blanche Hughes, Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University, and Dr. George Wright, former President of Prairie View A&M University and current visiting scholar at the University of Kentucky, in a discussion about growing up in Lexington, Kentucky in the 1960s and 1970s. They will discuss how their early experiences in Lexington shaped them and ultimately led them to distinguished career paths in higher education.

Dr. Blanche Hughes received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and both a Master’s of Education degree in Student Affairs and a doctorate in Sociology from Colorado State University.  She is currently in her 13th year as the Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU.  She is also  Lead Administrator of the Race Bias and Equity Initiative under CSU President Joyce McConnell. Before becoming Vice President, Dr. Hughes spent six years as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, eleven years as the Director of Black Student Services, and chaired the Sociology Department at Pikes Peak Community College.

UK alumnus and former president of Prairie View A&M University George Wright is a distinguished visiting professor at UK for the 2019-2020 academic year. A Lexington native, Wright received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UK in history and his doctoral degree in history from Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UK and was later inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2005.

Join the UK Office for Intuitional Diversity and the UK Office of Student and Academic Life for a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Theodore Berry. Mr. Berry will lead Dr. Blanche Hughes, Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University, and Dr. George Wright, former President of Prairie View A&M University and current visiting scholar at the University of Kentucky, in a discussion about growing up in Lexington, Kentucky in the 1960s and 1970s. They will discuss how their early experiences in Lexington shaped them and ultimately led them to distinguished career paths in higher education.

Dr. Blanche Hughes received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and both a Master’s of Education degree in Student Affairs and a doctorate in Sociology from Colorado State University.  She is currently in her 13th year as the Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU.  She is also  Lead Administrator of the Race Bias and Equity Initiative under CSU President Joyce McConnell. Before becoming Vice President, Dr. Hughes spent six years as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, eleven years as the Director of Black Student Services, and chaired the Sociology Department at Pikes Peak Community College.

UK alumnus and former president of Prairie View A&M University George Wright is a distinguished visiting professor at UK for the 2019-2020 academic year. A Lexington native, Wright received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UK in history and his doctoral degree in history from Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UK and was later inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2005.

This event features a lecture on the historic Tuskegee Airmen. Note: panel on the topic of women in the military has been rescheduled to April 16, time and location TBD.

Ron Spriggs, a Lexington-based historian and curator of a traveling exhibit on the Tuskegee Airmen, will present. The Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American military pilots and their support personnel who fought in World War II, were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. armed forces. Spriggs focuses on two main areas that parallel the national Tuskegee Airmen organization: sustaining the legacy and history of the airmen through student lectures, speaking engagements and exhibitions; and creating programs and experiences for students to develop their knowledge about careers in aviation or their general academic studies.