The New York University professor examines slavery and its lasting impact on the nation.
2024 MLK Commemorative Address: Rachel L. Swarns
Friday, January 19 at 6 p.m.
Feldman Ballroom, Frederick Douglass Commons
Free and open to the public.
Rachel L. Swarns, journalist, author, and associate professor of journalism at New York University, will deliver the University of Rochester’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address on Friday, January 19. Since 2001, the annual address has helped promote awareness and conversation about issues of diversity, freedom, civil rights, and social justice. This event is hosted by the Office of the Minority Student Affairs and the Office of the President.
Swarns writes about race and race relations as a contributing writer for the New York Times, where she was a full-time journalist for 22 years. As part of her work, she examines her research on slavery and its lasting impact on the United States.
Her latest book, The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church, was named one of the best books of 2023 by numerous publications, including the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, Time magazine, and the Washington Post.
Before her talk, Swarns will meet with Rochester student leaders at the Douglass Leadership House.
Previous Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative speakers include Julian Bond, Ibram X. Kendi, Symone Sanders, Jesse Jackson, Michael Eric Dyson, Maria Hinojosa, and Martin Luther King III.
