Event Description
In this lecture, Aurora Vergara-Figueroa reflects on the historical and contemporary struggles for recognition and equity among Afro-Colombian communities. Drawing on her sociological research and public service experience, she traces the evolution of Afro-Colombian thought from enslavement and resistance to present-day movements for dignity and inclusion. Through stories of education, collective memory, and leadership, she explores the transformative power of reading, writing, and community action. The talk situates Afro-Colombian Studies within broader dialogues across the African Diaspora, emphasizing how scholarship can inspire social transformation.Speaker
Aurora Vergara-Figueroa served as Minister of National Education in Colombia, the first Afro-Colombian to hold that office. She was previously the Deputy Minister of Higher Education. In both roles she has advanced equity and access in higher education while shaping national policy. She is the founder of the Center for Afrodiasporic Studies (CEAF) at Universidad Icesi and author of Afrodescendant Resistance to Deracination in Colombia. She has also co-edited I Demand My Freedom with Carmen Cosme Puntiel and the five-volume series Estudios Afrocolombianos: Lecturas Esenciales with Alejandro de la Fuente and Angélica Sánchez Barona.
Recognized by Forbes in 2024 as one of Colombia’s most powerful women, Vergara-Figueroa is widely regarded as a leading voice in Afro-diasporic scholarship. Her recent work continues to foreground Afro-Colombian histories and knowledge production, advancing critical conversations on race, equity, and social justice in Latin America.
Vergara-Figueroa is the 2025-2026 Mark Mamolen Fellow at the Harvard University Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Her fellowship project builds on the seminal Estudios Afrocolombianos: Lecturas Esenciales series, highlighting the epistemic agency of Afro-Colombian scholars in contesting dominant narratives of citizenship, land rights, and cultural autonomy — particularly in the context of Colombia’s 1991 Constitution and Law 70 of 1993.
Co-sponsorship
Presented in collaboration with the Center for African Studies.