The Fourth Annual
MARIO A.J. BENNEKIN
BLACK HISTORY SYMPOSIUM
“The Challenges and Triumphs of the Black Working Class in America”
Feb. 19-23, 2024
With Education Comes Tolerance
Keynote Speaker - Daniel Black, Ph.D.
Clark Atlanta University
Feb. 19 – 10 a.m. – Dunwoody Campus Auditorium
Presenters
“Blacks in the Labor Movement: The Efforts to Recruit Blacks and Minority Organizers and Workers During the Mid-1990s””
Learn About Dr. Aisha Haynes Belizaire
“The Rise of the Black Middle Class: A Focus on Atlanta”
”The Rise of the Black Middle Class: A Focus on Atlanta”
“We Will Shoot Back: Armed Self Defense in the Mississippi Freedom Movement”
“My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer”
Learn About Ms. Ms. Maria Clark
”The Rise of the Black Middle Class: A Focus on Atlanta”
“My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer”
“Fighting for Freedom: Labor and Civil Rights in the American South”
“Fighting for Freedom: Labor and Civil Rights in the American South”
“My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer”
“Financial Abuse in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Sweat’ and in the Lives of Contemporary Black Women”
Learn About Dr. Valerie Matthews
“My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer”
Learn About Ms. Njema Amirah Ali Williams
“My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer”
“Connecting the History of Africans and African Americans in Mathematics to the World Today”
Musical Tribute
“Broken Promises in Promise Land”
Schedule
Georgia State University students will need to provide class and instructor information upon presentation login, if they are seeking class credit.
MONDAY
In-person and Virtual
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Daniel Black, Ph.D., Acclaimed novelist and professor of African American Studies, Clark Atlanta University: “The Challenges and Triumphs of the Black Working Class in America”
MUSICAL TRIBUTE
Ms. Elycia Woodham
Music Student
Spelman College ‘24
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Dunwoody Campus – NC 1100
2101 Womack Road
Dunwoody, Georgia
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
In-person and Virtual
Akinyele Umoja, Ph.D., professor and former chair of Africana Studies, Georgia State University: “We Will Shoot Back: Armed Self Defense in the Mississippi Freedom Movement””
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Clarkston Campus – CN 2220
555 N. Indian Creek
Clarkston, Georgia
TUESDAY
In-person and Virtual
Ms. Lisa Vallen, Southern Labor Archivist and Instruction Coordinator, Georgia State University Special Collections & Archives; Ms. Meg Fancher, professor and Ph.D. candidate, English, Georgia State University: “Fighting for Freedom: Labor and Civil Rights in the American South”
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Clarkston Campus – CN 2220
555 N. Indian Creek
Clarkston, Georgia
1 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
In-person and Virtual
Rosamond C. Rodman, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious studies, Perimeter College: “Broken Promises in Promise Land”
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Dunwoody Campus – NB 2100/2101
2101 Womack Road
Dunwoody, Georgia
WEDNESDAY
IN-PERSON ONLY
In conjunction with the Perimeter College Daffodil Festival
Valerie Matthews, Ph.D., professor of English, Perimeter College: “Financial Abuse in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Sweat’ and in the Lives of Contemporary Black Women”
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Newton Campus – 2N 1100
239 Cedar Lane
Covington, Georgia
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
In-person and Virtual
Ms. Maria Clark, vocalist and senior lecturer, vocal studies, Spelman College, voice instructor, Emory University; Marcia Cross, actress and educator; Ms. Eileen Menefee, Perimeter College retiree, theatrical performer; Monica Lee Weatherly, Ph.D., poet, writer, professor of English, Perimeter College; Ms. Njema Amirah Ali Williams, dancer, Agnes Scott graduate ’22: “My Mind Stayed on Freedom: The Revolutionary Voice of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer” — debut performance
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Decatur Campus – SB 1190
3251 Panthersville Road
Decatur, Georgia
THURSDAY
In-person and Virtual
Aisha Haynes Belizaire, Ph.D., founder, Power Dynamics 4 Life, LLC: “Blacks in the Labor Movement: The Efforts to Recruit Blacks and Minority Organizers and Workers During the Mid-1990s”
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Decatur Campus – SF 2100
3251 Panthersville Road
Decatur, Georgia
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
In-person and Virtual
Fasil Cherenet, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, Perimeter College; William Simson, Ph.D., professor of American history, Perimeter College; Pablo Valenzuela, Ph.D., “radical blackness”scholar, Georgia State University graduate ‘22: “The Rise of the Black Middle Class: A Focus on Atlanta”
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Alpharetta Campus – AB 105
3775 Brookside Parkway
Alpharetta, Georgia
FRIDAY
VIRTUAL ONLY
Nikita Patterson, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics, Perimeter College:
“Connecting the History of Africans and African Americans in Mathematics to the World Today”
12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
IN-PERSON ONLY
Sharon J. Willis, Ph.D., founder, AmeriColor Opera Alliance: AmeriColor Opera Alliance special performance of ‘The African American Working Class Artists’
IN-PERSON
Georgia State University
Clarkston Campus Cole Auditorium
3759-3773 Memorial College Avenue
Clarkston, Georgia