CFP: 10th Anniversary of Black Perspectives Celebration

Black Perspectives, the award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), is celebrating its 10th Anniversary! In 2014, Christopher Cameron met with blogger Lauren Kientz Anderson to discuss the founding of the AAIHS blog with the goal to “provide a space for scholars in disparate fields to discuss the many aspects of teaching and researching Black intellectual history.” Cameron later collaborated with nearly twenty scholars to research, write, and publish articles for the AAIHS blog that later became a non-profit organization in 2015. Among the early contributors to the blog were Brandon Byrd, Kami Fletcher, Christopher Bonner, Lauren Kientz-Anderson, Emily Owens, Marcia Watson, Chernoh Sesay Jr., Janell Hobson, Greg Childs, Noelle Trent, Brian Purnell, Kellie Carter-Jackson, Keisha N. Blain, Ashley D. Farmer, and Patrick Rael.

In 2017, Keisha N. Blain, the blog’s first senior editor and Ibram X. Kendi, associate editor, officially rebranded the blog as Black Perspectives. Since then, Black Perspectives has expanded its collection of articles, roundtables, and forums beyond the standard African American History narrative to cover topics on race, class, gender, sexuality, globalism, religion, social activism, culture, education, and more on the African Diaspora and Black experience in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Today, the blog has a roster of over 50 regular contributors and guest authors along with a global readership of nearly 50,000. In honor of the 10^th Anniversary of the founding of the blog, the editors of Black Perspectives invite submissions from scholars interested in sharing their thoughts, memories, and appreciation for the grassroots organization dedicated to “cutting-edge research that is accessible to the public and is oriented towards advancing the lives of people of African descent and humanity.” These essays should consider, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• The blog’s impact on your learning and teaching of new historical scholarship
• How the blog has transformed you as a student, researcher, and or educator
• A reflection about an article or author whose historical content fascinates you
• How the blog has enhanced your methodology in researching History

Submissions should be between 750 and 1500 words. They must be submitted to the senior editors no later than Friday, May 31st at 11:59 pm Eastern time. With your submission, please provide your bio (250-300 words) and a headshot (for use if your essay is accepted).

All submissions will undergo a peer review process before they are accepted. Please click here for more details on the blog’s submission guidelines as well as information regarding format and citations.