INDIANAPOLIS — Acclaimed writer Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, author of Harlem Is Nowhere, will speak Sept. 4 at the University of Indianapolis.
Presented through UIndy’s Sutphin Lectures in the Humanities series, the event will begin at 4:30 p.m. in UIndy Hall A of Schwitzer Student Center, 1400 E. Hanna Ave. Admission is free.
A Texas native, Rhodes-Pitts graduated from Harvard University and was a Fulbright Scholar in the U.K. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s, Vogue, Transition, Essence and other publications. In 2009, she formed the Freedwomen’s Bureau, which undertakes independent and collaborative projects combining art and social justice.
Her lecture, “The Ground on Which We Stand: Stepping Up in the Age of ‘Stand Your Ground,’” takes its title from a quote by Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh: “My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”
Harlem is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America (Little, Brown & Co., 2011) is a personal and historical meditation on the legendary Manhattan neighborhood. It was named among 100 Notable Books of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award.
For more information, contact UIndy’s College of Arts & Sciences at (317) 788-3395.
