Black Joy Unfiltered

Join us on February 25 for a fireside chat hosted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in collaboration with the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. Authors Michael Harriot and Michael Lens will convene members of the academic community, creatives, and community leaders for an evening of candid conversation, resilience, and joy. This event is a part of the Meyer and Renee Luskin Lecture series.

Through humor, storytelling, and research-driven insight, the conversation will explore how shifting economic and political conditions shape Black communities while also highlighting the creativity, fortitude, and enduring hope that carry us through. The evening closes Black History Month by embracing connection, reflection, and celebration in community.

Anchoring the event is a fireside chat featuring:

• Michael Harriot, author of Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
• Michael Lens, UCLA Professor of Urban Planning and author of Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods
• Safiya Umoja Noble (moderator), MacArthur Fellow, David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Information Studies, University of California-Los Angeles

Michael Harriot and Michael Lens will be signing copies of their books, and (use promo code Lens for 20% off). A limited number of copies will be available for purchase at the venue, and guests are also welcome to bring their own copies for signing.

Michael Harriot is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, celebrated poet, and public historian hailed as “one of the most eloquent writers in America.” Since its 2023 release, his New York Times bestseller, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, has been the top-selling Black history book in the country since it's. He is the 2024–2025 recipient of Harvard University’s Nyhan Prize for Public Policy Journalism and the founder of the Black journalism collective ContrabandCamp.com.

Michael Lens is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Chair of the Luskin Undergraduate Programs, and Associate Faculty Director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. Professor Lens’ research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that lead to negative outcomes for low-income families and communities of color. This research involves zoning and land use, segregation, housing subsidies, and eviction. Professor Lens regularly publishes this work in leading academic journals and his research has won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate.

Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is the Director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at UCLA. She currently serves as a Director of the UCLA DataX Initiative, leading work in critical data studies for the campus.

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Host or Publisher UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs