Boston University

African American Studies

Photo: A still from the movie "Sinners" with two men looking off into the distance afraid

Film & TV

In Sinners, Bluesmen and Vampires Face Off

May 5, 2025

Photo: A photo with a older Black man sitting in a recording studio with the dials and controls behind him.

Venice Biennale

Louis Chude-Sokei Brings BU, Spoken Word, and Dub Reggae Sounds to Venice Biennale

April 16, 2024

Photo: Ron DeSantis, a white man with short brown hair, speaks into a microphone in a close-up portrait. He is wearing a dark suit.

Politics

BU Historians Weigh In on Ron DeSantis’ Slavery Remarks and His Defense of Florida’s Controversial Social Studies Curriculum

July 31, 2023

Image: Black background with the word "Resistance" in bold, capital letters. The outline of the words is shown above and below the center word with a red, yellow, green gradient.

Black History Month

What “Black Resistance” Means to Me

February 15, 2023

Collage: Images from the covers and poster for various Black works. From top to bottom, left to right: "Do the Right Thing " movie poster, "Batea" by the Colombian band Bejuco album cover, "South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation" book cover, "The Woman King" and "African Queens" shows posters, Festival of Afrofuturism promotional poster, "Watchmen" show poster, "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!" album cover, "Seizing Freedom" podcast art, and "gossypiin" by Ra Malika Imhotep book cover

Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month with These Books, Films, Albums, and Podcasts

January 31, 2023

Photo of Louis Chude-Sokei, an older black man wearing a dark blur shirt and black shoes sits with hands folded in front of him on the steps of a brick building. A red sign on the building reads "Boston University College of Arts and Sciences; African American Studies Program"

New Major

African American and Black Diaspora Studies Is BU’s Newest Major

April 25, 2022

Louis Chude Sokei sits in front of a gray background in a green shirt

Race

University Lecture: Louis Chude-Sokei Aims to Challenge Conventional Narratives about Race and Technology

March 22, 2022

Photo inside the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill, it has wooden pews and a pulpit at the front, with balcony seating on the sides and a chandelier with electric lights.

Things-to-do

To Do Today: Visit the Museum of African American History

July 21, 2021

History

What Is Juneteenth?

June 15, 2021

Portrait of Louis Chude-Sokei

Books

Louis Chude-Sokei Writes of Navigating “Multiple Blacknesses” in Floating in a Most Peculiar Way

April 13, 2021

A photo of Louis Chude-Sokei giving a lecture in the classroom

Academics

African American Studies Expands Course Offerings in Response to Rising Student Demand

February 12, 2021

Portrait of Ibram X. Kendi from Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World list

Accolades

Ibram X. Kendi Named to Time100 List of Most Influential People

September 22, 2020

A photo of homemade chocolate no-churn ice cream

Weekender

The Weekender: July 30 to August 2

July 30, 2020

Portait of Ibram X. Kendi in a gray suit with his hands on a desk in front of him. Kendi is a leading historian and author of the bestselling 'How to be an Antiracist.'

Accolades

Ibram X. Kendi Awarded BU’s Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities

July 1, 2020

The sunset reflects off the Vertex Pharmaceuticals headquarters building, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 in Boston's Seaport. A sign on the building reads 'Vertex' in purple. The top dome of a building is seen in the bottom left foreground.

Center for Antiracist Research

Vertex Gives $1.5 Million to New BU Center for Antiracist Research

June 25, 2020

Photo of a computer with speakers from Boston University's Day of Collective Engagement to Reflect on American Racism, hosted on Zoom. On screen, Ibram X. Kendi, Paula Austin, Louis Chude-Sokei, and Saida Grundy as they speak during the opening plenary.

Racism

Pain, Anger, and Hope as BU Comes Together to Talk Race and Racism

June 24, 2020

Composite image of book covers of the following books: Lucy, by Jamaica Kincaid (1990), Aye, and Gomorrah, by Samuel R. Delany (1967), The Women, by Hilton Als (1996), Black No More, George S. Schuyler (1931), The Wine of Astonishment, by Earl Lovelace (1982, Corregidora, by Gayl Jones (1975)

Must-Reads by Black authors

For #BlackoutBestsellerList Movement, Six Must-Read Books

June 17, 2020

Photo of the cover of "How to Be An Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi resting on a grainy piece of dark wood.

Antiracism

“I Believe That Change Is Possible”—Q&A with Ibram X. Kendi

June 4, 2020

African American Studies

African American Studies Program Turns 50

September 16, 2019

African American Studies Program Turns 50