Black Arts Minnesota: An Autoethnographic Approach 

This talk demonstrates how archival research and artistic practices bear witness to a Black presence in Minnesota dating as far back as the 1860s.

A North Minneapolis native and fifth-generation Minnesotan, Davu Underwood Seru currently serves as the Curator of the Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life at the University of Minnesota. Formerly, Davu was an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of English at Hamline University where he taught courses in research, writing and literature, for which received the prestigious Dr. Colleen S. Bell Outstanding Faculty Award. Additionally, he is co-author of the book Sights, Sounds, Soul: The Twin Cities Through the Lens of Charles Chamblis (MNHS Press 2017) and is an award-winning, internationally recognized drummer and composer.