Vanishing Acts: Black Labor, Social Absence, & Civil Rights Reform, a Lecture by Visiting Mellon Scholar Dr. GerShun Avilez '02

In this talk, Dr. Avilez '02 explores how literary culture takes up the question of civil rights reform in the 1960s, which sought to integrate Black citizens more fully into the social and working world. Avilez argues that literature can help us to recognize the gap between advancements in civil rights policy and the actual lived experiences of target populations. Specifically, he demonstrates how limited employment opportunities reflect impediments to Black civic equality even in the context of legislative reform. He shows how representations of Black labor reveal the unsteady state of Black citizenship.

Reception to follow. 

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