The annual Ida B. Wells Lecture brings to Villanova’s campus leading scholars, writers, and public intellectuals to share their insights with the University community.

The 2024 Ida B. Wells lecture will be given by Dr. Yaba Blay on Wed., April 17, at 5 p.m. in Falvey Library’s Speakers’ Corner. Dr. Blay’s research explores the interconnected nuances of skin color politics and Black racial identity and challenges narrow perceptions of Blackness as both an identity and lived reality.

This event, sponsored by Africana Studies and co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Global Interdisciplinary Studies, the Department of Sociology and Criminology, the Department of Communication, and Falvey Library, is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Dig deeper and explore some of Dr. Blay’s work:

• One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race (Blay, 2021) *eBook
• Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities (Spellers, R. E., & Moffitt, K. R., et al., 2010)
• Professional Black Girl (YouTube)
• Dr. Yaba Blay (official website)