Julius Fleming delivered this year’s Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture. Fleming, an Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, gave the audience a glimpse into his current project, “Empire After Civil Rights: Race, Outer Space, and the New Geographies of Colonialism.”
Visiting Duke to deliver the Tennenhouse-Armstrong lecture was certainly the highlight of my semester. This was the first time I’ve shared work from my new book project. And what a treat to have done so with such an engaged and brilliant audience whose feedback will certainly be key to the project’s development. - Associate Professor Julius B. Fleming, University of Washington at St. Louis
Duke English Professor Jarvis McInnis introduced Professor Fleming and gave the audience some background information on Fleming and his area of expertise. Fleming began his lecture by sharing that during his research for his first book, Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation, winner of 2024 College Language Association Book Prize and the 2022 Hooks National Book, he came across a photo that is one of the catalysts for his current book project. This photo which was a focal point of his presentation features Reverend Ralph Abernathy, one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s allies during the Civil Rights Movement, and 500 activists at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, protesting the launch of the NASA’s Apollo 11 space flight and the funds that the U.S. was investing in the space program instead of aiding those affected by the economic insecurities of the period.
Fleming’s presentation delved into the financial ramifications of the U.S. and other nations’ investing in space instead of its people and their needs here on earth. He takes a close look at how this affects and influences the “haves” and “have-nots.” The goal of this project is to address questions in Black and American history about the effects of Astro capitalism, the desire to be a global empire, and the challenges of fighting to colonize the moon and space before other nations to control the potential resources they may have to offer, including potential military and technological opportunities.
Julius’ talk had us all together engaged, and it has really stayed with me for many reasons--not only for the sharp critique of how U.S. imperialism has spread to outer space but also how the talk juxtaposed forms of resistance, including civil rights protests at the Apollo launch, on the cultural front to “Whitey on the Moon.” The first Pan-African festival in newly independent Algeria happened the same year as the moon landing, and the ‘freedom’ represented by outer space, under-shadowed by the fact that Cape Canaveral lies on a former plantation, was another juxtaposition in Julius’ fascinating talk showing the importance of the need for material change ‘on the ground.’ - Jay Butler, English PhD Candidate
During the Q&A session that followed his lecture, attendees asked Professor Fleming questions about his work and shared some of their thoughts and suggestions for consideration as he continues his research and the completion of his book. Fleming encouraged the open discussion and sought constructive feedback to examine as this project evolves into a finished book. The audience was intrigued by his presentation and sought to learn more as this project seemed to open many eyes to unconceived issues.
The day following his lecture, Professor Fleming met with a group of Duke English PhD candidates to workshop a couple of pieces of his work: “[N]ot Altogether One of Them’: Blackness, Diaspora, and the Limits of the Transnationalism in Claude McKay’s Fiction” (work-in-progress) and “Shattering Black Flesh: Black Intellectual Writing in the Age of Ferguson.” Trivius Caldwell, an English PhD candidate, was the student leader for this workshop, which was an informal discussion about the basis of Fleming’s lecture and two pieces provided for the workshop. During the workshop, students spoke about how art and music of the ‘60s and ‘70s possessed elements that often touch on the concept of space, Afro-futurism and the speculative nature of it all. They also continued to discuss Fleming’s lecture and ask questions.
The Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture honors professor emeriti Leonard Tennenhouse and Nancy Armstrong for their contributions to the field of English and the Duke English Department.