“African Liberation and Black Power”

The University of Pittsburgh World History Center hosted the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora’s (ASWAD) 6th Biennial Conference, titled “African Liberation and Black Power: The Challenges of Diasporic Encounters Across Time, Space, and Imagination.” The four-day event was held Nov. 3-6 in Pitt’s University Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. Conference presenters and panelists examined the Diasporic dimensions of Black Power with special emphasis on Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia.

1. From left, ASWAD conference cochair Patrick Manning, Pitt’s Andrew W. Mellon Professor of World History and director of the Pitt World History Center; ASWAD director Abena Busia, associate professor in the Departments of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers University; ASWAD conference plenary speaker Micere Githae Mugo, Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence Professor of African American Studies, Syracuse University; and conference cochair Brenda Berrian, Pitt professor of Africana Studies.

2. One of the conference’s panels, “Pittsburgh and the African Diaspora,” explored topics ranging from the persistence of slavery and indentured servitude in Pittsburgh to the social history of Black Pittsburgh. From left are panel members Joe Trotter, Giant Eagle Professor of History and Social Justice at Carnegie Mellon University; Robert Hill, Pitt vice chancellor for public affairs; James T. Johnson, founder and executive director of the Afro-American Music Institute, Inc.; and Laurence Glasco, a Pitt history professor.

3. Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg attended the “Pittsburgh and the African Diaspora” panel discussion. The chancellor and Hill each hosted receptions for conference attendees.