An interdisciplinary humanist and multigenre writer, Dr. Shana L. Redmond (Columbia University) thinks and creates at the intersection of music, identity, and power. She has written extensively about the Black anthems that serve as both a repository for collective memory and mobilizing agent for social and political change, as well as about the iconic people who compose those soundtracks. With the protection and celebration of Black living at its center, “No Weapon” discusses the suspended state(s) of Black survival, anti-Black violence, and the music that informs and exceeds each.

Join for a reception following the event, hosted by the Department of American Studies and the David Noble Lecture.

Image credit: New York Public Library via Unsplash. Singer James Brown being greeted by fans upon his arrival at Kaduna Airport, 1970.