Last week of February, Dr. Robert F. Jefferson, Jr., came to Austria to discuss how prominent black leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Barack Obama have provided a unique window into understanding the rich complexities of the African American experience and its impact on the international stage. He talked at schools and gave a lecture at the Amerika Haus, which, for the first time, has been live-streamed on Facebook.
Dr. Jefferson is an Associate Professor of History at The University of New Mexico – UNM, and currently serving as the Fulbright Danish Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. He is the author of “Fighting for Hope: African American Troops of the 93rd Infantry Division in World War II and Postwar America” and “Black Veterans, Politics, and Civil Rights in Twentieth-Century America: Closing Ranks,” among others. Dr. Jefferson is also a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians and holds a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Michigan.