On November 8, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will host a public lecture by Dr Natasha Lightfoot, a renowned Antiguan-born history professor from Columbia University.

The lecture will focus on the African Diaspora and will cover the topics of slavery, reparations, and issues in Black life across the Caribbean.

Dr Lightfoot’s address, titled “The Unfinished Afterlives of Slavery, Freedom and Reparations in the Caribbean,” will take place at the University Student Commons Theatre and is free for all attendees.

The event is sponsored by VCU’s Department of History and the Alexandrian Society, a student academic organization that emphasizes equity, inclusion, and diversity within the realm of Atlantic history.

Dr Lightfoot is a former executive board member of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, and her published works include the “Troubling Freedom: Antigua and the Aftermath of British Emancipation” (Duke University Press, 2015).

Dr Lightfoot has also been honored with awards and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Ford Foundation.

As an esteemed member of the Association of Caribbean Historians, the Conference on Latin American History, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians, Dr Lightfoot brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this highly anticipated lecture.

VCU has a long-standing tradition of hosting lectures and symposiums, and membership in the Alexandrian Society is open to all students, regardless of background or specialization.