Evelyne Laurent-Perrault, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, History Department of the University of California Santa Barbara.  Earned her Ph.D. in History from New York University (2015) and holds a Licenciatura Degree in Biology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (1990).  Currently working on a book manuscript titled Claims of Dignity, Black Women's Political Imagination. Rethinking Narratives of Dispossession in Venezuela, 1730-1809.  Founder of the Annual Arturo Schomburg Symposium, held at Taller Puertorriqueño, (Philadelphia, PA), heading to its 24th year.