By Sophia Sewpersad
The third annual James Baldwin Distinguished Lecture on Literary and Social Criticism, “On James Baldwin, Moral Leadership, and the Lost Art of Eloquent Speech” was held on November 3rd, 2025, headlined by Dr. Maurice Wallace, PhD, professor and associate chair of English at Rutgers University. Hosted by the newly-established Department of African, Black, and Caribbean Studies, the focus of the lecture highlighted the diminishing power of eloquent speech which Wallace believes is the key to getting people to fulfill a call to action. Throughout the lecture held in the University Center, Dr. Wallace elucidated the idea that the most influential movements of the 20th century, namely the Civil Rights Movement, took place and were successful due to leaders such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X having the power of being eloquent speakers.
As Dr. Wallace elaborated, eloquent speakers have the power to motivate and empower a crowd, bringing them to a call to action that will stick with them and lead to real change, not just a performative kind. Junior English major Kate Johnson found the lecture very informative and interesting, saying, “As someone who hadn’t heard of James Baldwin beforehand, I left the event knowing a lot about him. Dr. Wallace was very passionate about the topic of the lecture, which made the lecture more interesting.”
Dr. Wallace, author of works such as “Constructing the Black Masculine: Identity and Ideality in African American Men’s Literature and Culture, 1775–1995” and “King’s Vibrato: Modernism, Blackness, and the Sonic Life of Martin Luther King Jr.,” implored the audience to focus on the “idea that a fractured society divided by race, religion or party or earnings, can only remain fractured and unmore morally from our national inheritance,” emphasizing the necessity of eloquent speakers in our current societal framework.
Sophomore computer science major Christian Thyme was moved by the event. He said, “The lecture was so profoundly surreal as the words of eloquence matched the works I’ve tried to create for a change in our world through education.”
Chair of the African, Black, and Caribbean Studies Department Dr. Patricia Lespinasse found meaning in Dr. Wallace’s words. She said, “It was an honor to welcome Dr. Maurice Wallace as our 2025 James Baldwin Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Wallace challenged us to crucially engage with the eloquent speeches of James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr., not only as the language of a historical moment but as a powerful call to action for our present time. The language urges us to imagine and create a more inclusive and humane world.”
As the Spring semester continues, the Department of African, Black and Caribbean Studies invites students to their other events namely:
- February 23, 2026, UC 113-115 – John Hope Franklin Distinguished Lecture, “A Home Away from Home: Early 20th Century Caribbean Immigration to New York” with Tyesha Maddox, PhD, Associate Professor, Fordham University.
March 24, 2026, UC 113-115 – Inaugural Sojourner Truth Distinguished Lecture, “Sojourner Truth, Central Park, and Legacies of Feminisms” with Margaret Washington, PhD, Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Emerita, Cornell University.
Featured image courtesy of Toni Burden of the Department of African, Black and Caribbean Studies
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