CNN anchor Abby Phillip will headline the 23rd Eric E. Williams Memorial Lecture, delivering a keynote on “Journalism in Challenging Times.”
The lecture takes place on Friday, March 28, 2025, at 7:15 p.m. (EST) at the AT&T Conference Center, University of Texas, Austin (UT), with a reception at 6:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with a live stream available here.
Phillip, who anchors NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN, is a respected journalist known for her sharp analysis of current affairs, in-depth political reporting, and hard-hitting interviews. Of Trinidadian heritage, she has covered some of the most pivotal moments in recent history, including the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the Trump administration, and the Supreme Court. Before joining CNN, Phillip worked at The Washington Post, Politico, and ABC News, where she developed a reputation for her incisive political coverage and ability to break down complex issues for a broad audience.
“As a renowned journalist, Abby Phillip was a natural choice to give the Eric Williams Memorial Lecture,” said Dr. Jennifer Wilks, director of UT’s John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies. “Phillip’s commitment to keeping audiences informed is a testament to the public engagement tradition that Williams championed.”
Established in 1999, the Eric Williams Memorial Lecture honors the late Dr. Eric E. Williams, historian, author of Capitalism and Slavery, and first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. The lecture series, previously held at Florida International University (FIU) for 19 years, now resides at UT Austin.
Past speakers have included notable figures such as historian John Hope Franklin, Prime Ministers Mia Mottley (Barbados) and Ralph Gonsalves (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), and civil rights activist Dr. Angela Davis.
The Eric Williams Memorial Collection at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Trinidad and Tobago, was named to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1999. Books by and about Eric Williams will be available for purchase at the event.
