Leon Jett Memorial Lecture with Dr. Kyle T. Mays

500 West Washington Street,Indianapolis IN 46204

16 February, 2023

Description

Join Dr. Kyle T. Mays for an important discussion about how Indigenous hip-hop artists assert their sovereignty and challenge settler colonialism through this music genre. Dr. Kyle T. Mays (he/his) is an Afro-Indigenous (Saginaw Chippewa) writer and scholar of US history, urban studies, race relations, and contemporary popular culture. He is an Associate Professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in Indigenous North America (SUNY Press, 2018), An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States (Beacon Press, 2021), and City of Dispossessions: Indigenous Peoples, African Americans, and the Creation of Modern Detroit (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022). Dr. Mays' work broadly explores three questions: What is the relationship between blackness and indigeneity? How does dispossession in cities shape the lives of Black and Indigenous peoples? And finally, how can we imagine and put into praxis a world in the aftermath of settler colonialism and white supremacy? In honor of former Public Programs manager Leon Jett, admission to this program has been discounted. Leon Jett sought to elevate multicultural programming at the museum, and this series was created to continue his mission. The Leon Jett Memorial is presented by Buckingham Foundation and sponsored by Raymond James and One America. Special thanks to an anonymous donor and our corporate partners for their generous support. Doors open at 6pm, and the event begins at 6:30pm. A cash bar will be available, along with light hors d'oeuvres. One drink ticket is included with purchase.