Learn about Afro Brazilian culture and civil rights at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the Gallagher Room in the Rollins Center building on the Newtown Campus of Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown, or online via Zoom.
The event is free. To register for the Zoom link, visit https://bit.ly/BlackBrazil.
The keynote speaker, João Victor Nery Fiocchi Rodrigues, is a sociology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the anti-colonial struggles of the Black diaspora across the Atlantic.
His dissertation work analyzes the relationship between race and citizenship in the process of state formation of Brazil, former Gran Colombia, and the U.S. during slavery and colonialism. Rodrigues earned his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. He also studied at the University of Porto, Portugal, as a Santander Luso-Brazilian scholar.
The program aims to start a dialogue between the two largest African Diaspora populations.
“There are more Afro Brazilians in Brazil than African Americans in the United States,” said Kevin Antoine, J.D., associate vice president of community and government relations and chief diversity officer at the college. “The language barrier – Portuguese versus English – has prevented a dialogue between the two groups, but both have had similar civil rights movements to overcome discrimination.”
To that end, the public is invited to learn more through the African Diaspora collection at the Bucks County Community College Library. The collection boasts more than 200 curated items, from books to DVDs, donated by Diedre H. Crumbley, a sociocultural anthropologist and retired professor of Africana studies at North Carolina State University.
Hispanic Heritage Month events are among several educational forums at Bucks County Community College to encourage dialogue on issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. To learn more, visit bucks.edu/diversity or contact diversity@bucks.edu.
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