Nationally renowned scholar, bestselling author and media commentator Eddie Glaude Jr. will deliver the Constitution Day lecture, “America at 250,” Friday, Oct. 23, at Rhodes College.
The annual event commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and aims to reflect on the role and function of government, along with American citizens’ liberties and obligations.
Constitution Day, which is observed on Sept. 17, launches the yearly period when federal agencies and federally funded organizations are required to offer educational programs about the country’s founding documents. For its part, the liberal arts college’s Barret Library is displaying a framed copy of the U.S. Constitution, related books and written works by Glaude in anticipation of his guest appearance.
Glaude is the author of “We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For” and The New York Times bestseller “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.”
His new book, “America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries,” released this year, explores the country’s milestone celebrations of freedom and its denial of freedom to many of its citizens through a variety of voices, including W.E.B. DuBois, John Dos Passos, Herman Melville and Martin Luther King Jr.
Glaude holds a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University and currently serves as the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at the Ivy League institution.
Glaude’s lecture is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at McNeill Concert Hall, 2000 N. Parkway, at Rhodes College. It is free and open to the public. All attendees must preregister using this link: https://fs22.formsite.com/webmanagerrhodesedu/udvfen0iot/index
