Join in for a conversation with scholars around the state as we discuss the history of Black migration to Nevada, including the growth of the Comstock mine in northern Nevada and the development of the historic Westside community in Las Vegas. Learn more
Featuring:
Dr. Javon Johnson is an Assistant Professor and Director of African American and African Diaspora studies and holds an appointment in Gender and Sexuality Studies in the Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the author of Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities (2017) and the co-edited book The End of Chiraq: A Literary Mixtape (Northwestern University Press (2018), and is an award-winning spoken word poet who has appeared on HBO, BET, and TVOne.
Dr. Sam Lackey is in his third year of teaching English at Great Basin College's Winnemucca Center. He received his PhD in English from the University of South Carolina with an emphasis on 19th-century American literature and the writings of the 19th-century West. He has published articles in The Journal of Basic Writing, The Simms Review, and Arizona Quarterly. He also co-wrote a chapter in a forthcoming book from MLA entitled Teaching Literature in the Online Classroom.
Dr. Albert Lee is in his ninth year on the voice faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Lee’s most recent performances include the tenor solo in Handel’s Messiah with the National Chorale, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Jackson Symphony, appearances with Opera Las Vegas in a tribute concerts to African American Opera Legends, a feature role in the world premiere of Douglas Buchanan’s opera Bessie and Ma, and engagements with the British classical crossover quartet Vox Fortura. He can be heard in George Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning work Lilacs for Tenor and Orchestra with Ian Hobson and Sinfonia di Camera on Albany Records. He is a contributing author to the book Prejudice, Stigma, Privilege, and Oppression: A Behavioral Health Handbook with a chapter entitled “All You Have Gotten is Tokenism,” released in the summer 2020 and, as a speaker, his TedTalk When I Sing the Anthem shares his unique perspective on patriotism and protest.
Dr. Tyler D. Parry obtained his BA in History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), in 2008. After graduating from UNLV, he completed his PhD in History from the University of South Carolina (2014). Parry is an Assistant Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at UNLV. His research examines slavery, the African diaspora, and the historical memory of slavery in the United States. Parry is the author of Jumping the Broom: The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual, published with the University of North Carolina Press in November 2020. His work appears in various peer-reviewed academic journals and popular magazines and newspapers, including the Journal of African American History, American Studies, The Washington Post, and Jacobin, among others. Additionally, he serves as the Senior Editor of the award-winning blog Black Perspectives, and he is Vice President of the African American Intellectual History Society.
Claytee D. White is the inaugural director of the Oral History Research Center for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries. She collects the history of Las Vegas and the surrounding area by gathering memories of events and experiences from longtime residents. Her projects include early health care in the city, history of the John S. Park Neighborhood, The Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project, and a study of musicians who played with some of the greats in the entertainment field. As one of five founders of the Las Vegas Black Historical Society Inc., she chronicles the history of the Las Vegas Black community that was established in 1905. Her published writings on the subject include a book chapter, encyclopedia entries, and several articles. White received her bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles, master's degree in history from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has completed work toward a doctorate at the College of William & Mary. White currently serves on the Board of Women of Diversity, the UNLV Presidential Debate Planning Committee, and the Historic Preservation Commission. White has also served on the Historic Preservation Commission for the city of Las Vegas, Nevada Humanities executive board, and is the past president of the Southwest Oral History Association.
Dr. A.B. Wilkinson is an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, completed the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago, and earned his PhD in History at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in studies of mixed-heritage peoples and ideas regarding ethnoracial mixture in colonial America and the United States. His recent book: Blurring the Lines of Race and Freedom: Mulattoes and Mixed Bloods in English Colonial America was published by the University of North Carolina Press last year in 2020. Currently at UNLV, Dr. Wilkinson teaches courses on Colonial North America and United States History. He also has research and teaching interests in African American history, Native American history, Ethnic Studies, decolonial theory, and critical race theory in the wider Americas and Caribbean.
