Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Prof. Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey explores the dimensions of the 1919 racial awakening for Black self-determination in the Atlantic World.
In the early 1900s, white mobs attacked African Americans throughout the United States, lynching and terrorizing hundreds per year. Without citizenship rights and state protections against anti-Black terror, even after shouldering arms for the Allies in World War One, Black people in the United States and Canada yearned for a leader—a deliverer of sorts—who would help redeem the “race.” The year 1919 marked a highpoint in anti-Black violence and Black resistance. In their yearnings, the Black masses, and some leaders, too, embraced a mystical and messianic form of Pan-Africanism.
Hosted by ROAAr, McGill Library.
Recorded February 10, 2022.
01:56 - Opening Comments, Prof. Nathalie Cooke, McGill University
04:47 - Introducing the Roy States collection - Christopher Lyons, McGill University
12:52 - Christopher Lyons introduces Prof. Adjetey
14:48 - Prof. Adjetey's Talk
51:53 - Question and Answer Period
Prof. Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey explores the dimensions of the 1919 racial awakening for Black self-determination in the Atlantic World.
In the early 1900s, white mobs attacked African Americans throughout the United States, lynching and terrorizing hundreds per year. Without citizenship rights and state protections against anti-Black terror, even after shouldering arms for the Allies in World War One, Black people in the United States and Canada yearned for a leader—a deliverer of sorts—who would help redeem the “race.” The year 1919 marked a highpoint in anti-Black violence and Black resistance. In their yearnings, the Black masses, and some leaders, too, embraced a mystical and messianic form of Pan-Africanism.
Hosted by ROAAr, McGill Library.
Recorded February 10, 2022.
01:56 - Opening Comments, Prof. Nathalie Cooke, McGill University
04:47 - Introducing the Roy States collection - Christopher Lyons, McGill University
12:52 - Christopher Lyons introduces Prof. Adjetey
14:48 - Prof. Adjetey's Talk
51:53 - Question and Answer Period
