America’s Third Reconstruction: Building the 21st Century Beloved Community

Peniel E. Joseph is a distinguished historian of racial justice movements. His new book, The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century (2022), examines the racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020 in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Joseph argues that Black Lives Matter marks a “Third Reconstruction” in the ongoing struggle by Black Americans that is as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. The Washington Post called Joseph's work “searingly relevant.”

Moderator

Moderated by Jennifer Burns, Ph.D, historian and lecturer in the University at Albany's Africana Studies Department

Presented by

Presented by The Justice Center of Rensselaer County with support from the New York State Writers Institute and the Center for Law and Justice.

Free Admission, Donations Welcome

While the event is free, donations to the Justice Center of Rensselaer County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, are encouraged to help secure future speakers to shed light on and bring justice to pressing social needs.

You may donate online at JCRC1.org. or by mailing a check to: The Justice Center of Rensselaer County, P.O. Box 1734, Troy, NY 12181.

About Dr. Peniel E. Joseph

Dr. Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for The Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science.

Copies of The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century will be available for purchase during the event.

About The Robert J. Doherty Memorial Lecture Series

Dr. Peniel E. Joseph's talk is the inaugural installment of The Robert J. Doherty Memorial Lecture Series, which is dedicated to the life and work of an outstanding humanitarian and public servant.

Doherty was the cofounder and first president of the Justice Center of Rensselaer County, an organization dedicated to achieving equality and to promoting a welcoming and diverse community by addressing persistent and structural prejudice in political, economic, educational, and social systems.

The intent of the Lecture Series is to call attention to vital social issues and to offer solutions to these major problems. Distinguished speakers cover such important subjects as racial discrimination, white supremacy, police reform, mass incarceration, institutional and systemic racism, environmental justice, and voting rights.