UMass Amherst Afro-Am Studies Professors Attend Historic Presidential Inauguration in Colombia
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AMHERST, Mass. — UMass Amherst's Amilcar Shabazz, professor and graduate program director of Afro-American studies, and Agustin Lao-Montes, professor of Sociology and Afro-American studies, as well as director of the African Diaspora graduate certificate program, attended the historic inauguration ceremony for the newly-named Colombian president Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego and vice president Francia Márquez Mina on Aug. 7. The invitation was the result of their nearly two decades of research in Colombia, and a longtime camaraderie with Márquez.
That it’s the first time in history that Colombia has elected progressive leaders underscores the significance of this moment, Lao-Montes explains.
“I see this election as a pivotal moment for Colombia,” he wrote in a recent article for The Conversation.
The inauguration, held in Bogotá, Colombia, was preceded by an Aug. 6 meeting of the international reparations conference, for which Shabazz and Lao-Montes will be members. The conference united international scholars, activists and political figures to establish a program and fund for reparations in Colombia. If developed, the fund would be the first of its kind and serve as a model for other countries.
Shabazz says it was “the honor of a lifetime to attend these important events in person.”
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Amilcar Shabazz
Professor
Amilcar Shabazz has been a professor of history and Africana studies in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies since 2007.
