[PAST EVENT] Africana First Friday with April Manalang

April 1, 2016
12pm - 1pm
Location
Boswell Hall (formerly Morton Hall)
100 Ukrop Way
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
The Virginia 9th and 10th Buffalo Soldier Cavalry, who were based and partly trained in Virginia, were instruments of the American Expansionism in the late 1800?s. The Buffalo Soldiers were ex-slaves who joined the United States military after the Civil War. In particular, the U.S. Army used these men to fight the remnants of the great Native American tribes in the west and to protect the construction of railroads. Moreover, some chose to re-enlist in four major regiments that only included black men; the 10th, 12th, 24th and 25th regiments were among those sent to west. Overseas, they were used to combat the crumbling Spanish Empire in the Spanish American War, and consequently, the Philippine American War. Although the Buffalo Soldiers were recruited by the United States military to serve in the Philippine American War, it was not without ambivalence: National black newspapers questioned the United States? colonial presence in the Philippines. Initial research suggests that many Buffalo Soldiers felt a strong sense of solidarity among the Filipinos in the Philippines. While serving there, a number of Buffalo Soldiers actually crafted communities; some had even interracially married Filipinas, while others made the Philippines their home, thus allying themselves with a mutually oppressed and marginalized ethnic/minority community. Little research has explored this shared history of the Buffalo Soldiers and the Filipinos during this time period. This talk intends to advance analysis of the shared history of the Buffalo Soldiers and the Philippines.

Trained in both the Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. April Manalang earned her Master of Arts in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.?Recipient of the Outstanding Teaching and Distinguished Dissertation award,?Dr. Manalang completed her doctoral fellowship in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, with a specialization in Politics and Religion, Citizenship, Globalization, and Race and Ethnicity.?

Lunch will be available. All are welcome!