Manoel Joaquim Ricardo, A Successful Hausa Freedman in Bahia, c. 1806-1865

Event date, time, and location

April 3, 2026

12:00–1:00PM

Event description

Professor João José Reis (Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil) discusses the life of Manoel Joaquim Ricardo, a Hausa African who arrived in Bahia as a slave and died a wealthy freedman. Ricardo’s life demonstrates the limitations and possibilities for the social mobility of Africans in Brazil. Reis will also propose the concept of ladinization to understand the experience of Africans in Latin America.

Co-sponsors: Center for Global & International Studies, KU International Affairs, Kansas African Studies Center, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Hall Center for the Humanities, Department of Religious Studies, Spencer Museum of Art, Department of Film & Media Studies, KU Department of History, School of Business, Department of African and African-American Studies, KU Libraries, and Department of American Studies