The Fifth Annual
MARIO A.J. BENNEKIN
BLACK HISTORY SYMPOSIUM
“Echoes of Resilience: Black Artistry, History and Identity”
Feb. 17-21, 2025
With Education Comes Tolerance
Each year, the Mario A.J. Bennekin Black History Symposium commits to honoring the work of those who shaped the history of black and all Americans. This year’s event will examine black empowerment movements in America (past and present) as well as the continual pursuit of equality for all individuals.
Keynote Speaker - Tim Fielder
Illustrator, Concept Designer, Cartoonist and Animator
2025 Presenter Recordings
Mr. Alvin Blount
Bridges to Spirituality and Education: How Spirituals and the Church Developed Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Yolanda J. Franklin, Ph.D
Sleight of Hand: Unlocking Genealogy in Toni Morrison’s Tetralogy
Jennie Lightweis-Goff, Ph.D
Stranger to the City: Urban Slavery and Photographic Memory
Ms. Kim Smith
Musical Composers of the African Diaspora: Classical Music in Service of Black Culture from the 18th to the 21st Century
Ms. Angela Tharpe
What’s Your Perspective on That?: Processes of Racial Reckoning in Aimé Césaire’s Notebook of a Return to the Native Land and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly
Pablo Valenzuela, Ph.D
I Ain’t Got No Quarrel with Them Vietcong: The Black Antiwar Art of Emory Douglas