THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Mar 29, 2023 7:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Mar 29, 2023 7:00 pm
14th & V
Author Peniel E. Joseph's book THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION navigates the through-lines that connect these three watershed moments in U.S. history. The Reconstruction Era in the wake of the American Civil War was defined by battles between reconstructionist supporters of a multiracial democracy and redemptionist advocates of white supremacy who papered over racial, class, and gender hierarchies. These dueling ideologies remain, manifesting in today’s all too familiar racial violence, political division, and narrative wars. The Civil Rights movement, our second reconstruction, was a time of intense hope and pain that saw both the end of enforced segregation in schools with Brown v. Board of Education as well as the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While it’s celebrated as a time of racial progress, the failures of the Civil Rights era are all too apparent in de facto segregated schools across America, including in Joseph’s own schooling in Queens, NY.
Weaving together history, memoir, and cultural criticism, and emphasizing the leading role of Black women as political organizers and activists, THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION reveals the clashing reconstructionist and redemptionist impulses that have shaped our nation since its origin. While America’s first and second Reconstructions failed to achieve their greatest aims, our Third Reconstruction, Joseph writes, offers a once-in-a-generation chance to achieve Black dignity and citizenship at last.
Peniel Joseph is joining us on the Busboys stage to draw on his remarkable breadth of knowledge to tell a powerful and interwoven story about three watershed moments in American history. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Joseph will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, and Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of award-winning books on African American history, including The Sword and the Shield and Stokely: A Life. He lives in Austin, Texas.
