Dr. Peniel Joseph Visits Winsor During East Coast Book Tour

Thursday, September 29 — In between events at Boston University and Harvard Book Store, Dr. Peniel Joseph joined faculty, staff, and students at The Winsor School for Assembly. On tour for his latest book, The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggles for Racial Justice in the Twenty-first Century, this is Dr. Joseph’s third visit to Winsor. “He is an amazing historian, a dynamic speaker, and we totally lucked out getting him to come speak with us in the middle of an east coast tour,” shared Director of Community and Inclusion Julian Braxton.

During his first visit in 2008, Dr. Joseph conducted a workshop on race, politics, and the 2008 election — which resulted in Barack Obama becoming the nation's first Black president. Today was particularly special because it was Dr. Joseph’s first all-school Assembly at Winsor. Additionally, Mr. Braxton invited Boston Latin School History Teachers Brian A. Smith and Cherie Pinchem to participate. Nearly 40 Boston Latin School students — all enrolled in an African American Studies course — attended the Assembly lecture and subsequent discussion in the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater.

Dr. Joseph introduced himself as a proud son of Haitian immigrants and spoke about where and how he grew up. “I say that as a preface because this third book is my most personal book,” he shared, “I was on my first picket line in elementary school outside Mount Sinai hospital.”

Looking at the period after the Civil War as the First Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s as the Second Reconstruction, Dr. Joseph framed his presentation on the themes of democracy, citizenship, social justice that led to the Third Reconstruction — the election of former President Barack Obama as the first Black president of the U.S., the first Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, the rise of “Make America Great Again” and the election of former President Donald Trump, the pandemic in 2020, which highlighted racial disparities and inequities, and the second Black Lives Matter movement, the single largest multigenerational and multiracial social movement in U.S. history.

He describes our history as “a story we need to hear, not necessarily the story we want to hear” noting that our history “has both beautiful and bitter elements.” 

In western tradition, there is a great respect for writing things down. “Be true to what you put on paper,” said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Joseph went as far as to say, “the stories that we tell ourselves are the most important thing we have,” explaining that oral traditions are sometimes more important than written traditions. The reason they are so important is because they create the society and the reality that we’re in. “We are all storytellers,” he shared, and “the stories we tell ourselves are what create the laws and policies around us. We have a huge opportunity to tell ourselves about what it means to be an American, to tell ourselves about this country, and to tell ourselves about its values.” He asked us all to consider, “What is the story we’re going to tell to future Americans about being an American citizen?” 

“We have reconstructionists or redemptionists telling us two different stories,” he said, “I consider myself a reconstructionist. Those who want to build, and not destroy.”

After his presentation, Dr. Joseph sat down with four Winsor students who asked hard-hitting questions and guided a discussion. 

Thanking Dr. Joseph for his “powerful remarks and reflection,” Ariana Rowe ’24 shared, “One of the issues during the Reconstruction was much of society’s inability to adhere to some of Congress’ attempts at achieving equality.” She asked, “In a political climate that is so divided, how do you think political and social change should coexist so that a change in presidency does not threaten values surrounding race and equality?”

Sophie Lim ’24 went on to add, “The First and Second Reconstruction movements produced some rightful civil liberties to those wrongfully deprived, these were instances where activism was able to turn into legislation.” And then asked, “Have we seen the same effective progress during this Reconstruction? How do we ensure this Reconstruction will have an enduring impact beyond what the First and Second Reconstruction were able to achieve?”

Noting Dr. Peniel’s career focal point on “Black Power Studies,” Gwen Castro ’24 asked, “I’m curious, what is your definition of ‘Black Power’?”

In reply, Dr. Peniel shared, “I would describe Black power as a struggle for radical Black dignity. Dignity is recognizing your own worth in a world or an environment that may not recognize your worth. When you don’t have people recognizing your worth there are all kinds of things that can happen to you.” He elaborated, “Black Power is that search for dignity.”

Thinking about censorship laws that ban the education of certain subjects like Critical Race Theory or race in general in public schools, Natalie Cooper ’24 shared, “Officials say the goal of these laws is to ‘to prevent teachers from making students feel guilt or shame about their race because of historical events,’ but why are uncomfortable conversations important? What are the dangers of censorship in education?” 

“The story we’ve told ourselves about America is distorted,” said Dr. Joseph. “We can tell a story about those who have tried to build that ‘beloved community’ that Dr. King talks about, and we can tell that story alongside the bitter stories of our history.” 

“The stories we tell are hugely important and the reason people don’t want us to do that truth teaching, it’s not about white kids feeling bad, or Black kids feeling bad, or hispanic kids feeling bad, or AAPI kids feeling bad, it’s about having different outcomes.”

“What happens when we talk about both sides of the story, when we talk about the Tuskegee Study and the Black women who are fighting for reproductive justice?” he wondered to the gathered crowd. “We’re going to change the country.” 

He reminded students that the first Black Lives Matter movement in 2013 didn’t stick, but in 2020 suddenly other countries, corporations, and even the National Football League came out in support. The lesson? “Your story matters the most when it’s the unpopular opinion,” he said, “you can’t wait until most people agree with you to take a stand.”
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