Hooks Institute Will Host Open House and Panel Discussion Oct. 5
September 26, 2017 - The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University
of Memphis will lead a community conversation about defending diversity, social justice
and human rights in today's America at its annual open house on Oct. 5. At the event,
the Hooks Institute will release the 2017 Hooks Institute Policy Papers Bending the Arc Toward Justice: Including the Excluded. The open house will be held in the University Center Bluff Room (304). A reception
will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed at 6 p.m. by a panel discussion led by the authors
of the Policy Papers.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking will be available in the Zach Curlin
Street garage.
The 2017 Hooks Institute Policy Papers use national conversations about critical civil
and human rights issues as a starting point to discuss, and propose solutions to,
contemporary issues of race, class, public policy and social justice. "Immigrants
in Small Cities: Opportunities and Challenges" by Michael R. Duke (UofM Department
of Anthropology) looks at the challenges and opportunities of immigrants from diverse
countries who have settled in the small city of Springdale, Ark. "Welfare Dependency
and Extractive Economies: Lessons Learned from Pine Ridge" by Peter A. Kindle (Department
of Social Work, University of South Dakota) examines how intergenerational poverty
and reliance on welfare by the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is rooted in historical
discrimination and bad government policies.
"Prioritizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Lives in the Era of Resistance
and Prejudicial Rhetoric" by Idia B. Thurston (UofM Department of Psychology) examines
both the legal, social and policy advancements made by the LGBT community, the aggressive
challenges underway to undermine these gains, and proposes initiatives to sustain
and support this community. Finally, "Memphis and Islam: Integrating Muslims and Islam
into the Community Fabric" by Nabil A. Bayakly (UofM Department of World Language
and Literature) provides an in-depth overview of Islam, which embraces peace and love
of one's neighbor. He explores how Islam has been distorted both by terrorist acts
and by a lack of understanding in many communities about Islam and Muslims.
About the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
In 1996, University of Memphis officials received approval from the Tennessee Board
of Regents to create the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change in the College
of Arts & Sciences. The mission of the Institute is teaching, studying and promoting
civil rights and social change. The Hooks Institute archives, housed in the Mississippi
Valley Collection in the University's McWherter Library, include Hooks' personal papers.
To learn more about the Hooks Institute, visit memphis.edu/benhooks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact: Nathaniel C. Ball
ncball@memphis.edu