ArtBreak at AAMP with Dr. P. Gabrielle Foreman (From Juneteenth to July 4th: A National Invitation)
Channel: African American Musuem in Philadelphia
Date: 2021-07-04

On Thursday, June 17, 2021, in commemoration of the Juneteenth and July 4th holidays, the African American Museum in Philadelphia presented this special lecture and dialogue featuring Dr. Gabrielle Foreman of the Pennsylvania State University and the Colored Conventions Project. Dr. Foreman’s presentation centered on the historical and contemporary resonance of the Juneteenth and July 4th holidays through the lens of her research and the work of noted visual artist Glenn Ligon. Following her presentation, Dr. Foreman was joined in dialogue by Ivan Henderson, Vice President of Programming at AAMP.

Dr. Gabrielle Foreman is the founding faculty director of the award-winning Colored Conventions Project which brings seven decades of early Black organizing to digital life. She is the author of four books and collections including The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century, the first edited collection to address this little-known precursor to the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter movement. Dr. Foreman is also known for curating the widely-adopted guide “Writing about Slavery? Teaching about Slavery? This May Help” and for her attention to creating and supporting leaders who further diversify universities, libraries, and cultural institutions. She has served as a consultant for universities focused on recruiting and retaining scholars of color and as an advisor and mentor for hundreds of scholars. Dr. Foreman holds the Paterno Family Chair of Liberal Arts and is Professor of English, African American Studies, and History at Penn State University where she is the founding co-director of the Center for Black Digital Research, also called #DigBlk. You can follow her on twitter at @profgabrielle.

More on Juneteenth: Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, dating back to June 19, 1865. The Freedom March began on January 1, 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation; and ended when Union soldiers -- including many African Americans from the Philadelphia area -- read General Order #3 to enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, thereby enforcing President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and emancipating the last enslaved Africans in Texas on June 19th, 1865. This was two years, five months and eighteen days after President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The Freedom Day celebration was given the name Juneteenth because USCT’s of the 25th Corps freed all enslaved Africans on Texan plantations in the days leading up to June 19th.

This event was presented in partnership with the 2021 Wawa Welcome America Festival and Visit Philly, and generously supported by RCM&D.