Join us at Bird in Hand to hear Christina Proenza-Coles discuss her new book American Founders.

American Founders gives us the American origin story as we have never seen it, defined by the struggles and triumphs of African-descended explorers, soldiers, sailors, lawyers, litigants, artists, activists, translators, teachers, doctors, nurses, mathematicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, priests, and presidents. Christina Proenza-Coles’s groundbreaking book defies and dissolves conventional divisions in American history—black/white, free/slave, North/South—and replaces them with a deeper, richer understanding that highlights our common roots and sheds light on our shared future. 

Christina Proenza-Coles holds a dual doctorate in sociology and history from the New School for Social Research. She has been a lifelong student of American culture and history in Miami, New York, Havana, and Charlottesville as well as an assistant professor of the Atlantic World/African Diaspora at Virginia State University from 2004 to 2011. Her ancestors include Daughters of the American Revolution, Portuguese conversos, Cuban pirates, a Confederate sergeant, and a governor of Alabama.

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