Past Events

The long practice of ignoring Indigenous history is changing, with a new generation of scholars insisting that any full American history address the struggle, survival, and resurgence of American Indian nations. Ned Blackhawk interweaves five centuries of Native and non‑Native histories, from Spanish colonial exploration to the rise of Native American self-determination in the late 20th-century. He argues that European colonization in the 1600s was never a predetermined success; Native nations helped shape England’s crisis of empire; the first shots of the American Revolution were prompted by Indian affairs in the interior; California’s Indians targeted by federally funded militias were among the first casualties of the Civil War; the Union victory forever recalibrated Native communities across the West; and 20th-century reservation activists refashioned American law and policy. Blackhawk’s retelling of US history acknowledges the enduring power, agency, and survival of Indigenous peoples, yielding a truer account of the United States and revealing anew the varied meanings of America.

64 Americans die by firearm suicide daily — that is one death every 22 minutes - this tragic statistic segues to the subject of Cambridge Forum's final talk of the current series ,"GUNFIGHT: is healthy gun ownership ever possible?"

Join Ryan Busse, former executive at Kimber America, a major gun manufacturer and author of the book "Gunfight" on Tuesday, June 27.Busse will talk about his battle with the gun industry which he says, has radicalized America. He is a senior adviser for Giffords, a gun violence prevention group led by Gabby Giffords, former Arizona congresswoman who was a victim of a mass shooting in 2011.

Ryan Busse is joined by Dr. Mark I. Langdorf, Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. He sees emergency patients at the Level I Trauma center at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center. Langdorf speaks, consults, and teaches locally, nationally, and worldwide on optimum care of emergency patients.

### Resources
Study on the energy of riffle bullets - The Bullets He Carried https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7j5344pt
NewYork Times Articles on why people buy guns -(paywall) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/health/gun-violence-psychology.html?campaign_id=0&emc=confirmation_hh&instance_id=0&nl=system®i_id=189155058®i_id=189155058&segment_id=0&user_id=d6a49fd801884db732db1af29358c222

King mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk and accessible storytelling to forge a deeper understanding of “the leader, the preacher, the orator, the husband, the father, the martyr, the human being…in all his heroic, tragic Glory. Hallelujah!" (Ken Burns) King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Bestselling biographer Jonathan Eig gives us an intimate view, casting fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. In this remarkable account of our only modern-day founding father, we gain an MLK for our times: a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements. Join us for Eig’s presentation and discussion with Peniel Joseph, Professor and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, The University of Texas at Austin, one day after the Juneteenth holiday. This talk is brought to you by American Ancestors New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS), the Boston Public Library and the Museum of African American History.

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Suicide rates are rising at an alarming rate in America and the populations most at risk are no longer white middle-aged men, they are increasingly young people and minorities; sadly this phenonenon is not just confined to the United States. **Cambridge Forum** considers what societal ills might be fueling this and whether we can do more to recognize and remedy this tragic trend. **Clancy Martin** is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He is also a happily married father of five children. His latest book, “How Not to Kill Yourself” is a portrait of the suicidal mind - his own - and in it he provides both a personal account of the multiple attempts he had made to end his life but also the positive strategies he has devised to safeguard his own future and that of others. ** Professor Rory O'Connor** is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland and **President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. **

Gen Z Environmental Justice Educator & Founder of QueerBrownVegan Isaias Hernandez converses with Boston Public Library President David Leonard on his journey and work as a Queer Brown and Vegan person.

Join Revolutionary Spaces for the launch of Eli Merritt’s new eye-opening book, Disunion Among Ourselves: The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution. Merritt reveals the deep political divisions that almost tore the Union apart during the American Revolution, and how the founding generation succeeded in holding the young nation together by uniting for the sake of liberty and self-preservation. Disunion Among Ourselves has inevitable resonances with our present era of political hyperpolarization and serves as a touchstone for contemporary politics, reminding us that the founders overcame far tougher times than our own through commitment to ethical constitutional democracy and compromise.

“Eli Merritt deftly explores a revolutionary America rife with divisions and driven by a fear of civil wars on multiple fronts. Deeply researched, wide-ranging, and insightful, Disunion Among Ourselves persuades that our national Union began from, and still depends on, fending off the many demons of disunion.”—Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chair at the University of Virginia and author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804

“Disunion Among Ourselves tells an important story that has been missed or skipped over in nearly all histories of the Revolution. It has indeed, as promised, recovered ‘a whole area of the Revolution’ previously underappreciated, and for that is invalu­able.”—Richard Kreitner, writer and historian, author of Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union “Disunion Among Ourselves is an elegantly written and deeply researched book that challenges long-accepted myths about the origins of the American Union. Merritt shows that the seeds of the Civil War lay in the American Revolution and that the founding fathers had good cause to fear disunion and internecine conflict. The chance to build a new republic might have been fumbled away without superior statecraft––and indeed it nearly was.

This suspenseful account supplies a timely lesson for our own hyper partisan times –that the values of moderation, compromise, and the rule of law are prerequisite to the survival of democracy.” - Ian W. Toll, author of Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy Doors open at 5:30pm and is free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of The Lowell Institute. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Executive Producer and host of NPR’s “Living on Earth" Steve Curwood converses with Boston Public Library President David Leonard as part of the Boston Public Library's 2023 Lowell Lecture Series _You are Here: Climate Change and What’s Next._ Their 60-75 minute conversation is followed by an audience Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences. Steve Curwood is the executive producer and host of “Living on Earth.” He created the first pilot of “Living on Earth” in 1990 and the show has run continuously since April 1991. “Living on Earth” is currently aired on more than 250 National Public Radio/Public Radio International affiliates and XM/Sirius Satellite Radio.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in widespread charges of war crimes and calls for justice. But what exactly are war crimes? Opinions of what constitutes a war crime have evolved, as have ways to identify and punish the perpetrators. How will the war crimes committed in Ukraine be dealt with? Join WorldBoston for a timely discussion of this topic with **Dr. Michael E. O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow and Director of Research in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution**. The program will feature expert remarks from Dr. O’Hanlon, live audience Q&A, and time for networking and discussion with other globally-oriented participants.

Microbial ecosystems sustain all forms of life -including humans—in all environments. However, there are many unknowns about how these diverse and complex communities form, evolve and survive. The study of microbial ecosystems requires biology –and a lot of physics and chemistry, all combined. Dr. Cordero’s lab is a leading force in this field. Dr. Cordero explains the physics and chemistry involved in the formation of these amazing -and essential- ecosystems. This is one of the most fascinating (and demanding) areas of science today.

In recent years, Latin America has experienced a wave of changing political trends, both domestic and international. From a left-wing surge, as evidenced by recent elections, to the rise of the non-alignment stance, these developments will have a lasting impact on the region and the rest of the world. Join WorldBoston for a timely discussion of this topic featuring Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and Global Fellow at The Wilson Center. The program features expert remarks from Ambassador Heine and live audience Q&A.