In The Third Reconstruction, distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol.America’s first and second Reconstructions fell tragically short of their grand aims. Our Third Reconstruction offers a new chance to achieve Black dignity and citizenship at last—an opportunity to choose hope over fear.
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.
Parking will be available on the SMU campus. FREE passes will be emailed to registered guests before the event. Seating is limited, and not guaranteed. This event will NOT be live-streamed, but will be recorded and available for viewing on our website (smu.edu/cph) about a week after the event date. Joseph's publication of the same title will be available for signing after the event.
TEACHERS ONLY -- Please sign in at the registration table to receive continuing education credit.
We hope you can make it!
Center for Presidential History
This event is cosponsored with the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute’s Scott Hawkins Lecture Fund and the Dallas Literary Festival.
The Dallas Literary Festival is an annual festival that brings together the literary community by helping people see the world from a new perpective through books. The festival hosts various authors to speak as a part of the many panels that make up the festival.
