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Join Arizona Arts Live and the Office of the Provost for a lecture exploring community building as a collective practice with Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Presented live in Centennial Hall.
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and journalist Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an acclaimed cultural critic and institution builder. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Among his dozens of books are recent New York Times bestsellers Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow and The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. He has also produced and hosted an array of documentary films. The Black Church (PBS) and Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO), which he executive produced, received Emmy nominations. Finding Your Roots, Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series is now in its tenth season on PBS.
Professor Gates has received countless awards and honors, including a George Polk Award for his social commentary in The New York Times, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Chicago Tribune Literary Award for lifetime achievement, and the prestigious Gold Medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences, among many others. His filmmaking has received Emmy, Peabody, and NAACP Image Awards and an Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award. Recently, he received the coveted Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Professor Gates serves on the boards of many notable institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Aspen Institute, and the Brookings Institution, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Free Community Conversation
The Black Box: Writing the Race – Conversation at BLAC
Join Arizona Arts Live, the UA Office of the Provost, and Blue Lotus Artists’ Collective for a moderated discussion on The Black Box: Writing the Race–a story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. This event will explore the themes of race, identity, and storytelling in Gates’ latest work. Light refreshments will be provided.
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Venue: Blue Lotus Artists’ Collective, 15 E Pennington St, Tucson, AZ 85701
BLAC is a non-profit gallery space dedicated to uplifting Black artists. Located in downtown Tucson’s historic Pioneer Building, our gallery provides a space for the community to engage with and celebrate Black art and creativity. Inspired by the resilience of the Blue Lotus—a water lily that flourished in even the harshest conditions of ancient Egypt—BLAC is committed to fostering artistic expression and cultural dialogue. For questions, contact Blue Lotus at (520) 400-4701 or info@bluelotusartistscollective.org.
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