This talk will address the history of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a New Orleans based parade krewe and community organization. Dr. McQueeney will discuss the organization's evolution from its founding as the city's first African American Mardi Gras krewe in 1909 through the struggles of Hurricane Katrina and COVID19. In particular, the talk will focus on two significant events, the "Blackout," a Civil Rights boycott of Mardi Gras in the 1960s; and controversy over a planned trip to South Africa during apartheid in 1986.

Dr. Kevin McQueeney is an Assistant Professor of History and the Coordinator of the Black Studies Certificate Program at Nicholls State University. He received his doctorate in History from Georgetown University and a master's degree in history at the University of New Orleans. Kevin specializes in African American History; History of New Orleans; and the History of Medicine. The University of North Carolina Press will publish his book A City without Care: 300 Years of Racism, Health Disparities, and Healthcare Activism in New Orleans in Spring 2023.

This event is made possible by funding from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for 2021 Rebirth grants has been administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) and provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.