Keisha Brown is an assistant professor of history at Tennessee State University and a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. In this episode, she explains the history of Sino-Black relations, tells the story of influential African-American individuals like W. E. B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes and their ties to China, and the changing perceptions of race and identity in China.
For self-care, Keisha recommends being kind to yourself, and not allowing toxic thoughts of others to affect your own mentality. Cindy recommends therapeutic writing for yourself and outside the pressures of deadlines.
11:03: African Americans drawn to China
15:28: The performativity of race
23:42: The civil rights movement and the Chinese Communist Party
35:22: Perceptions of Africans and African Americans in China
Recommended reading
– An interview with Hu Xiangqian
– Samuel Fosso: Emperor of Africa
– Bridging the gap: Blackness and Sino-African relations
– Murals of North Nashville Now
– The North Nashville Heritage Project
– Navigating the Pacific: 20th century Afro-Asian relations