Migration and pan african and radical black International Movements and the new negro renaissance and of course, experiences of africanamerican soldiers and veterans and the war was a moment of profound disjuncture, trauma, and possibility. And i believe that is in seeing the war as a moment of a possibility that we can begin to truly appreciate what the war meant for africanamericans and what it can mean for us today. President Woodrow Wilson framed americas participation in the war as a crusade to make the world safe for democracy. Africanamericans seized upon this to transform the war into a battle to make demeanocracy a reality for their everyday lives. Black people did not need the war to remind them that they were indeed citizens worthy of democracy. However, the war created the conditions and provided the opportunities for black people to mobilize their citizenship and democratic consciousness and demand that america be true to its promise and potential. They faced considerable resistance as the virulence of White Supremacy stands as one of the wars most defining features. Nevertheless, in ways large and small, subtle and spectacular, africanamerican men and women determined that after the war things would never be the same. We are fortunate to have with us this afternoon a remarkable collection of historians whose work individually and collectively has advanced our knowledge of what world war i meant for africanamericans and people of african descent, specifically related to issues such as the origins of the war and its connection to africa and african diaspora, the war and the long civil rights movement, global racial violence and the very meaning of war itself and the battles over memory, com mem raising and historical, rash you are. So it is my great pleasure to introduce our panelists for this session. Our first panelist perhaps needs no introduction, but he is always more than worthy of one. Of course, the challenge for me is to keep it succinct because we could be here for quite some time. David avery lewis is the University Professor and professor of history emeritus at new york university. I hope you dont mind me saying this, but i cover him to be one of the greatest historians this country has ever produced and thats not hyperbole. [ applause ] i wouldnt mind that at all. Sorry to embarrass you like that. Hes authored and edited over a dozen books covering a wide span of United States, european, african and middle eastern history. His twovolume biography of deb du bois, hes received numerous other awards over his career including the National Humanities medal and he shows know signs of slowing down. His most recent book, the businessman who saved the Republican Party and his country and conceded a northerly direction world order has been published by w. W. Norton, and feel free to correct me if im wrong, and he plans to follow this up on a book on slavery and the making of america, hopefully. Our next panel list is associate professor at history at Duke University she holds secondary appointments in africanamerican studies and gender, sexuality and feminist studies. She specializes in africanamerican histories and histories of the United States and the world. Her 2009 book won the award from the black caucus of the American Library association. Shes on work on a new project. Our next panelist is associate professor of history at the university of minnesota and specializes in 20th century american and africanamerican history with an emphasis on immigration, war, race, globalization, social movements and political resistance. Professor matthew is the author of the 2bo