44th Defining Detroit Event Brings Author Herb Boyd To Marygrove College

Continuing its nearly two-decade tradition of bringing internationally-renowned authors and scholars to its campus, Marygrove College's Institute for Detroit Studies (IDS) will welcome Herb Boyd at its 44th Defining Detroit event on February 11, 2019.

Boyd will present Leadership and Self-Determination in Early Twentieth-Century Black Detroit and sign copies of his latest book, Black Detroit: A People's History of Self-Determination. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in Madame Cadillac Hall. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

"We are pleased that Professor Boyd has accepted our invitation to speak at Marygrove," says IDS co-founder Frank Rashid. "Black Detroit derives from decades of rich personal experience and thorough research into the lives of black Detroiters."

Previous Defining Detroit speaker and Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Heather Ann Thompson observes that readers of Black Detroit "not only experience the very epicenter of this nation's most important freedom struggles, but they come to know a city that has always, always, been anchored by a most powerful and determined black community."

Herb Boyd is a journalist, activist, teacher, and author or editor of twenty-three books. His articles have been published in the Black Scholar, Final Call, the Amsterdam News, Cineaste, Downbeat, the Network Journal, and the Daily Beast. A scholar for more than forty years, he teaches African American history and culture at the City College of New York in Harlem, where he lives.

Herb Boyd's appearance kicks off the 2019 Defining Detroit series, which will also feature noted journalist and author Desiree Cooper on Wednesday, March 20th, on Marygrove's campus. Ms. Cooper will read from her 2017 book Know The Mother and other works. An exhibit of the works of Northwest Detroit artists is also planned for spring 2019.

Defining Detroit is a series of Detroit-focused lectures, readings, exhibits, and performances established in 2000 by the Marygrove College Institute for Detroit Studies. Previous guests include Melba Joyce Boyd, Kevin Boyle, Jim Daniels, Toi Derricotte, Angela D. Dillard, Jeffrey Eugenides, Lolita Hernandez, Lawrence Joseph, Philip Levine, Naomi Long Madgett, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas J. Sugrue, June Manning Thomas, and Heather Ann Thompson. A complete list is at: https://www.marygrove.edu/detroit-studies.

Established in the city of Detroit in 1927, Marygrove College is an independent Catholic graduate college sponsored by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and guided by the values of human dignity; community; social justice; ecological justice; excellence; innovation; and diversity. The campus is situated on 53 wooded acres at 8425 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit, MI 48221. Visit www.marygrove.edu.