A Conversation with Michael Harriot and Michael Lens; Moderated by Safiya Noble
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Join us for a fireside chat hosted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in collaboration with the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.
Authors Michael Harriot and Michael Lens will convene members of the academic community, creatives, and community leaders for an evening of candid conversation, resilience, and joy. This event is a part of the Meyer and Renee Luskin Lecture series.
Through humor, storytelling, and research-driven insight, the conversation will explore how shifting economic and political conditions shape Black communities while also highlighting the creativity, fortitude, and enduring hope that carry us through. The evening closes Black History Month by embracing connection, reflection, and celebration in community.
Book Signing
Michael Harriot and Michael Lens will be signing copies of their books, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America and Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods (use promo code Lens for 20% off). A limited number of copies will be available for purchase at the venue, and guests are also welcome to bring their own copies for signing.
About the Speakers
Michael Harriot is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, celebrated poet, and public historian hailed as “one of the most eloquent writers in America.” Since its 2023 release, his New York Times bestseller, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, has been the top-selling Black history book in the country. He is the 2024–2025 recipient of Harvard University’s Nyhan Prize for Public Policy Journalism and the founder of the Black journalism collective ContrabandCamp.com.
Michael Lens is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Chair of the Luskin Undergraduate Programs, and Associate Faculty Director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. Professor Lens’ research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that lead to negative outcomes for low-income families and communities of color. This research involves zoning and land use, segregation, housing subsidies, and eviction. Professor Lens regularly publishes this work in leading academic journals and his research has won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate.
Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is the Director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at UCLA. She currently serves as a Director of the UCLA DataX Initiative, leading work in critical data studies for the campus.
Professor Noble is the author of the best-selling book on algorithmic harm in commercial search engines, entitled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press), which has been widely-reviewed in scholarly and popular publications. In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her ground-breaking work on algorithmic discrimination.
DISCLAIMER
The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker’s views or opinions.
TONGVA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.
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