Lyon College will continue its series of Black History Month events Thursday at 7 p.m. with a presentation titled “Anti-Racism: Cuba, the United States and the Pursuit of Racial Equality” by Lyon College Assistant Professor of History Dr. Alexis Baldacci (pictured).
The free lecture will be open to the public and presented in the Nucor Auditorium of the Lyon Business and Economics Building on the Lyon College campus, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville, Ark..
“At times allies and at others enemies, the histories of Cuba and the United States have been deeply entwined since the 19th century,” said Dr. Baldacci. “This talk explores connection points in the pursuit of racial equality in these two countries from the 1890s to the 2020s.”
Beginning with U.S. intervention in the Cuban independence struggle in 1898, the presentation will explore the different approaches each place took to ending racism in the 1960s and 1970s, and end with a look at the role of race and injustice in recent protest movements in both places.
Dr. Baldacci is a historian specializing in Latin America’s Cold War. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2018, and she has published and presented nationally on Cuban youth, food, and consumer culture. She is preparing her book manuscript, “I, The Revolution: Austerity, Identity and Desire in Cuba, 1971-1991,” for publication, and she teaches courses on Latin American and World History at Lyon College.
Additional Black History Month events in February at Lyon College include the following:
Black Student Association 50th Anniversary Gala
Saturday, Feb. 11
7 p.m. at Patterson Dining Hall, Edwards Commons
Lyon College, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville
Tickets are available here: https://alumni.lyon.edu/events/bsa-50th-anniversary-celebration/tickets
Open Mic Night
Monday, Feb. 13
7 p.m. at Maxfield Room, Edwards Commons
Lyon College, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville
Lecture: “African Americans and the American Revolution”
Speaker: Dr. Kieran J. O’Keefe, Visiting Assistant Professor of History
Thursday, Feb. 16
7 p.m. at Nucor Auditorium, Lyon Building
Lyon College, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville
Movie Night
Monday, Feb. 20
7 p.m. at Maxfield Room, Edwards Commons
Lyon College, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville
Men’s Alumni Panel
Thursday, Feb. 23
7 p.m. at Maxfield Room, Edwards Commons
Lyon College, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville
Image and information provided by Lyon College
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