NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ The persuasive arguments for racial equality made by Haitian author and diplomat Antenor Firmin in his book L’Egalite des Races Humaines were roundly dismissed or ignored when he published it in 1885.
Firmin, who went on to serve as minister of finance, commerce and foreign relations in Haiti, made a lucid argument now judged by critics to have been decades ahead of its time.
At noon on Friday, Nov. 12, in Room 337 of Calhoun Hall on the Vanderbilt University campus, Firmin’s life and work will be reviewed by the scholar who wrote the introduction to the English translation of Firmin’s race treatise, The Equality of the Human Races.
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban is professor of anthropology and director of general education at Rhode Island College. As part of the Smoke, Lilies and Jade Lecture Series sponsored by the African American Studies program at Vanderbilt, Fluehr-Lobban will speak on “Antenor Firmin: Haitian Pioneer of Anthropology, Negritude and Pan-Africanism.”
The lecture is free and open to the public.
“The Smoke, Lilies and Jade Lecture Series was named after Harlem Renaissance writer Richard Bruce Nugent’s short story on gender, race and sexuality,” said Tracy Sharpley-Whiting, director of the African American Studies program at Vanderbilt. “The Harlem Renaissance movement, often referred to as the New Negro movement in the 1920s and 1930s, delved into issues of race, race consciousness and identity through visual and literary arts and philosophical debates.
“Considered a ‘gay rebel’ of that era, Nugent boldly addressed the issue of same-sex relationships ñ a highly charged issue for that day and even ours. In that vein, the series reflects the diversity, intersection and complexity of subjects undertaken by scholars, writers, artists and community activists in the discipline of African American Studies. The series also serves as an outreach to greater Nashville and Vanderbilt,” said Sharpley-Whiting.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu