Description:

Join Rachel Jamison Webster, Professor of Creative Writing at Northwestern University, as she shares the story of her book, Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family. In 2016, Webster learned about several generations of African American ancestry that had been hidden in her family. This line traced back to the sister of Benjamin Banneker—the first Black man of science. Banneker was a free man living in the Revolutionary era. He helped survey Washington D.C., he compiled and published bestselling almanacs, and he corresponded with Jefferson about the heinous injustice of slavery.

Webster will be in conversation with Melissa Blount, an artist, writer, and licensed clinical psychologist practicing her craft in Evanston, IL. Her textile pieces explore notions of Black womanhood, trauma, and white supremacy in America.