Celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Ph.D. (FAN ’20, ’24), presents a groundbreaking analysis of the vicious cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature, especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth.

America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries, deliberately formulated and beautifully written, details a heart-wrenching exploration of America’s legacy. It is a magnificently complex combination of lessons and voices, from W.E.B. DuBois and John Dos Passos to Herman Melville and Martin Luther King, Jr., that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Glaude’s is a powerful voice of conscience in our tumultuous world. He pulls no punches, calling on us to interrogate our conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present.

Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we must reckon with a grim past to strive for the better angels of our future.

Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of New York Times bestselling Begin Again and We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe and Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays.

He will be in conversation with Imani Perry, JD, Ph.D., the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Perry is the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller South to America which received the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. She is a 2023 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim and Pew Foundations.

Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of America, U.S.A. to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.

This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.