{"id":107642,"date":"2026-03-23T14:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=107642"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:15:21","slug":"keith-stokes-to-deliver-talk-at-uri-africana-studies-event-on-march-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/keith-stokes-to-deliver-talk-at-uri-africana-studies-event-on-march-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Keith Stokes to deliver talk at 溏心vlog免费B站 Africana Studies event on March 31"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 March 23, 2026 \u2013 Keith Stokes, the Rhode Island historian laureate and current director of the Rhode Island Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, will be the guest speaker during a special presentation by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Africana Studies<\/a> on Tuesday, March 31<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free public event, \u201cThe Black Founding Fathers and Mothers of America<\/a>,\u201d will take place from 5-7 p.m. in the Galanti Lounge on the third floor of the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons, 15 Lippitt Road on the Kingston Campus. Refreshments will be provided at the event and registration to attend can be made through the RSVP form<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event will celebrate the advancement of African heritage, benevolent, religious and educational organizations during the era of the American Revolution. Stokes\u2019 talk will also help showcase the profound cultural influence of African Diaspora on the evolution of Black identity in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This event continues the Africana Studies department tradition of public events that help to elevate general awareness about unique and rich aspects of African and African Diaspora political, historical and cultural contributions to the world at large,\u201d said Catherine John-Camara<\/a>, the Africana Studies department chair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stokes was named Rhode Island\u2019s historian laureate in April 2025 to deliver lectures at various special events about the state\u2019s past. He also oversees the Rhode Island DEDI office\u2014part of the Rhode Island Department of Administration\u2014which supports a diverse, inclusive culture that values and reflects changing demographics in the state by advancing business opportunities for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stokes\u2019 professional experience also includes being director of business and economic development for the city of Providence from 2021 through 2023 and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.\u2019s executive director from 2010 through 2012. For 12 years, Stokes also served as vice president of 1696 Heritage Group, a Newport-based historical consulting firm dedicated to helping people and institutions of color to increase their knowledge and access to the light of truth of their unique heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also recently co-authored a 2024 book \u201cA Matter of Truth: The Struggle for African Heritage and Indigenous People Equal Rights in Providence, Rhode Island (1620-2020)\u201d with Theresa Guzman Stokes. The work is a researched, documented account of the evolution of racial discrimination in Rhode Island that dates back to the early settlement into what is a present-day racial and equity divide found across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 溏心vlog免费B站 <\/em>Department of Africana Studies<\/em><\/a>, part of the <\/em>College of Arts and Sciences<\/em><\/a>, offers a wide range of courses exploring the history, culture, politics, and economics of people of African origin, particularly those who live in the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. For more information, contact Africana Studies Professor and Department Chair Catherine John-Camara at 401-874-4730 or <\/em>catherine_john@uri.edu<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 March 23, 2026 \u2013 Keith Stokes, the Rhode Island historian laureate and current director of the Rhode Island Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, will be the guest speaker during a special presentation by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Africana Studies on Tuesday, March 31. The free public event, \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":107643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1913,1912],"class_list":["post-107642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-public-engagement","tag-special-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107645,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107642\/revisions\/107645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}