Dr. Prithi Kanakamedala has been awarded a Mellon/ ACLS Community College Faculty Fellowship. Her project includes a book manuscript, revision of HIS 37 African American History (a course that she teaches at BCC), and a public program series.
Brooklyn’s small but growing free Black community — ordinary people from all walks of life including educators, laborers, homeowners, writers, church leaders, journalists, and businesswomen — sought to shape their streets and neighborhoods in a radical anti-slavery vision,” Dr. Kanakamedala says on the ACLS website. “They agitated for social justice in areas such as housing, employment, voting and education and pursued a radical vision of democracy in the United States.”
You can read more about the project at the ACLS website, and as featured on our college website.
Dr. Kanakamedala is an active public historian and works with a variety of cultural organizations here in the city. Her research looks at Brooklyn and New York’s free Black communities in the 19th century, material culture, and archives. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Sussex in Britain.