# Event Details - **Event Name**: Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning - **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 04 Sep, 2026 at 06:00 pm – Fri, 04 Sep, 2026 at 07:00 pm (-04:00) - **Event Description**: Candis Watts Smith comes to Providence to discuss her important new book, Black Evidence! Do not miss this event!About this EventJoin us on September 4th at 6pm as we host Dr. Candis Watts Smith in conversation with Dr. Noliwe Rooks to discuss her latest book, Black Evidence: A History and a Warning. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.About the book:A fierce exposé of the resistance to believing Black people and its devastating effects throughout American history.From Reconstruction to Redemption, from the enactment of landmark civil rights legislation to the execution of the Southern strategy, from 2020’s multiracial protests to the swift elimination of policies etching out a more inclusive society, Americans regularly experience periods of racial reckoning followed by walloping retrenchment.In Black Evidence, political scientist Candis Watts Smith shows that this pattern is the result of an American habit: denying the truths about our society that Black people experience and remember. Smith then delivers a warning: the effects of this habit ripple out, dulling our ability to identify the signs of authoritarianism and heightening our tolerance for cruelty. Still, she shows how these same truths offer models to overcome our repeated predicament.Through a curation of critical moments across four centuries, Smith invites us to review the evidence that has been obscured, distorted, and denied. She rigorously investigates the practices that turn Black witnesses into liars in the court room, Black patients into superbodies that don’t feel pain in health care settings, Black people into subhumans in scientific experiments, and Black children into superpredators. She reveals what happens when Black voices are subject to exclusion—their communities are terrorized, their memories are refuted, and their resistance is pathologized.Written with compassion and tempered optimism, Black Evidence prescribes a cure and encourages readers to practice the skills needed to build a truly multiracial democracy: confront our past, acknowledge the damage of inequality in our present, and listen to the voices of those who experience the problems we wish to solve for an equitable future.About the author:Candis Watts Smith is the Robert O. Keohane Professor of Political Science at Duke University. She has authored dozens of articles and books, including Black Mosaic, Stay Woke, and Racial Stasis. Smith is a cohost of the Democracy Works podcast. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.About the moderator:Noliwe Rooks is the chair of and a professor in Africana Studies at Brown University. Her work explores how race and gender both impact and are impacted by popular culture, social history, and political life in the United States. The author of six books and numerous articles, essays, and op-eds, Rooks has received research funding from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, among others. She lectures frequently at colleges and universities around the country and is a regular contributor to popular outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Time, and NPR. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/providence/author-event-candis-watts-smiths-black-evidence-a-history-and-a-warning/100001998015926421 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, sports, health-wellness, science-fair - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 - **Event Highlights**: - Duration: 1 hour - Location: Symposium Books - Languages: English ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 35.97, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Providence - **state**: RI - **country**: United States - **location**: Symposium Books - **lat**: 41.82277029999999 - **long**: -71.4125449 - **full address**: Symposium Books, 240 Westminster Street, Providence, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/745350371a0327346222d3b050dbd9c6dd5ecdf60f3856d281ec91f6f93c2f1e-rimg-w1080-h1080-dcd86838-gmir.jpg?v=1786807154 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning being held? - **A:** Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning takes place on Fri, 04 Sep, 2026 at 06:00 pm to Fri, 04 Sep, 2026 at 07:00 pm at Symposium Books, 240 Westminster Street, Providence, United States. - **Q**: Who is organizing Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning? - **A:** Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning is organized by Symposium Books Staff. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Providence, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Author Event! Candis Watts Smith's Black Evidence: A History and a Warning", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/745350371a0327346222d3b050dbd9c6dd5ecdf60f3856d281ec91f6f93c2f1e-rimg-w1080-h1080-dcd86838-gmir.jpg?v=1786807154", "startDate": "2026-09-04T18:00:00-04:00", "endDate": "2026-09-04T19:00:00-04:00", "url": "https://allevents.in/providence/author-event-candis-watts-smiths-black-evidence-a-history-and-a-warning/100001998015926421", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Symposium Books", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "240 Westminster Street", "postalCode": "02903", "addressLocality": "Providence", "addressRegion": "RI", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "41.82277029999999", "longitude": "-71.4125449" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Candis Watts Smith comes to Providence to discuss her important new book, Black Evidence! Do not miss this event!", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-15", "availabilityEnds": "2026-09-04T19:00:00-04:00", "validFrom": "2026-08-15", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "35.97", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/providence/author-event-candis-watts-smiths-black-evidence-a-history-and-a-warning/100001998015926421" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-15", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-08-15", "url": "https://allevents.in/providence/author-event-candis-watts-smiths-black-evidence-a-history-and-a-warning/100001998015926421", "price": "35.97", "name": "General Admission w/book included" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-08-15", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-08-15", "url": "https://allevents.in/providence/author-event-candis-watts-smiths-black-evidence-a-history-and-a-warning/100001998015926421", "price": 0, "name": "General Admission w/out book included" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Symposium Books Staff", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/symposium-books-staff/24111490", "description": "Symposium Books is a small, independent bookstore located in Downtown Providence. Having a deep-standing position in the local community, we focus on lifting up local writers and other artists with our organized events. Our author talks provide a little insight into the creative process of those around us, and give the community a space to connect and be curious." } ] } ] ```