On Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. the Fairfield University Art Museum (FUAM) will host a virtual lecture led by Dr. Mays, assistant professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Associate Professor of English Johanna Garvey, PhD, and Professor of Philosophy Kris Sealey, PhD, are the faculty liaisons for the FUAM’s three fall 2021 exhibitions, which all address issues of racial and social justice, but are chiefly focusing on Black and Latino voices.

"In discussion with other faculty members," said Carey Mack Weber, the Frank & Clara Meditz Executive Director of the FUAM, "Dr. Peter Bayers pointed out that it is important to include Indigenous voices in the conversation as well. November is also Native American Heritage month, so it was a case of perfect timing that Kyle T. Mays was available to present [this] lecture!" 

Dr. Mays will discuss his forthcoming book, An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States which is due out next month from Beacon Press. The book will be a part of their ReVisioning American History series and argues that African enslavement and Indigenous dispossession have been central to the founding of the United States, and explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have resisted U.S. democracy from the founding of the U.S. to the present.

Dr. Mays is a transdisciplinary scholar of urban history and studies, Afro-Indigenous Studies, and contemporary popular culture. He is also the author of Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in Indigenous North America (SUNY Press, 2018). He will speak for about 40 minutes and will then take questions through the chat feature on thequickcenter.com.

Please visit thequickcenter.com to watch this event live on Nov. 3 at 5 p.m.

This talk is presented in conjunction with the FUAM exhibition Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects (Walsh Gallery), and is co-sponsored by the American Studies and Black Studies programs.