From Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela: The Global Vocabulary of Black Liberation

Join us on Monday, Feb. 21, 12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. for “From Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela: The Global Vocabulary of Black Liberation” with guest speaker Dr. Garrey Dennie. Register here to receive Zoom access information.

Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela stand as iconic figures in the struggle against racial oppression. This lecture examines the histories and mythologies which surround both men, the processes through which they became the symbols of Black struggles not only within the USA and South Africa but across the entire universe of Black people everywhere, and the ways in which their rhetoric of liberation became the bearers of the path through which all people, regardless of race, could contemplate and participate in the struggle for a universal human dignity. As a speechwriter for Nelson Mandela, Dr. Garrey Michael Dennie has a privileged point from which we can examine the similarities and differences between these two towering figures who changed the world around them.

Dr. Garrey Dennie is an Associate Professor of History and the Coordinator of the African and African Diaspora Studies program at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He teaches courses on African, African American, and Caribbean history. After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in English and History with Highest Honors from the University of the West Indies, Dr. Dennie went on to earn a PhD in History at Johns Hopkins University.  His key publications include, "One King, Two Burials: The Politics of Funerals in South Africa," "Flames of Race, Ashes of Death: the Re-invention of Cremation in Johannesburg,” "The Standard of Dying:  Race, Indigence and the Disposal of the Dead Body in South Africa," and "Sacred Places, Racial Homilies: the Genesis of Segregation in Johannesburg in South Africa.' In February 1990 as apartheid entered its final days in South Africa, Dr. Dennie achieved the signal honor of his life, becoming a speech writer for Nelson Mandela in the fight to end racial oppression in South Africa. Dr. Dennie has taught at universities and colleges in Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA.

Questions? Contact Christine Grant, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement (cgrant@hartford.edu; 860-768-4220) and/or Lisa Coté, Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (licote@hartford.edu; 860-768-4932).