2021 Events
Stay tuned for updates on upcoming Hooks Institute events!
Past Events
April 13
Systemic Racism and COVID in Memphis
Tuesday, April 13 | 6:00–7:30PM (Central Time)
The Marcus Orr Center for the Humanities, the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, the Department of Communications, the Department of History and the Community of Researchers (CoRs) Health Spaces and Technology Research Community (HSTRC) are partnering to present a Zoom panel.
Panelists:
- Dr. Letoshia Foster | Historian and Nurse Practitioner
- Tami Sawyer | Shelby County Commissioner and Department of Communications MA Student
- Dr. Irma Singarella | Associate Professor, Health Science Librarian at the University Libraries and CoRS 2021 Convener
Moderated by:
- Dr. Beverly Bond andDr. Beverly Tsacoyianis
Mar. 9
Lecture: Kelisha B. Graves, author of Nannie Helen Burroughs: A Documentary Portrait of an Early Civil Rights Pioneer, 1900-1959
Tues. Mar. 9, 6 PM | Facebook Live, Hooks Institute Facebook Page
A
lecture by Kelisha B. Graves, author of Nannie Helen Burroughs: A Documentary Portrait
of an Early Civil Rights Pioneer, 1900-1959 will be livestreamed on the Hooks Institute’s
Facebook page (facebook.com/benhooksinstitute/) on Tues. March 9 at 6 pm and will
be moderated by Hooks Institute Scholar in Residence Andre E. Johnson. It is free
and open to the public.
About Nannie Helen Burroughs: A Documentary Portrait of an Early Civil Rights Pioneer, 1900-1959
Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879–1961) is just one of the many African American intellectuals
whose work has been long excluded from the literary canon. In her time, Burroughs
was a celebrated African American (or, in her era, a "race woman") female activist,
educator, and intellectual. This book represents a landmark contribution to the African
American intellectual historical project by allowing readers to experience Burroughs
in her own words. This anthology of her works written between 1900 and 1959 encapsulates
Burroughs' work as a theologian, philosopher, activist, educator, intellectual, and
evangelist, as well as the myriad of ways that her career resisted definition. Burroughs
rubbed elbows with such African American historical icons as W. E. B. DuBois, Booker
T. Washington, Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, and Mary McLeod Bethune. These
interactions represent much of the existing, easily available literature on Burroughs'
life. This book aims to spark a conversation surrounding Burroughs' life and work
by making available her own tracts on God, sin, the intersections of church and society,
black womanhood, education, and social justice. Moreover, the book is an important
piece of the growing movement toward excavating African American intellectual and
philosophical thought and reformulating the literary canon to bring a diverse array
of voices to the table.
About Kelisha B. Graves
Kelisha B. Graves is a higher education educator, author, and speaker. She is completing
a doctorate in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education. She
is an interdisciplinary and global scholar whose research and teaching resides at
the nexus of education and the global Africana experience. Specifically, her areas
of research interests include: educational leadership and administration, teaching
and learning, culturally-responsive pedagogy and assessment, curriculum planning and
development, educational technology, socio-cultural knowledges, critical race theory,
Africana philosophy, and African American intellectual history. She also maintains
interests in global education policy and international development with a specific
focus on Africa.
About Andre E. Johnson
Andre E. Johnson is a Scholar in Residence at the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for
Social Change and an associate professor of Communication at the UofM.
Feb. 24
Inaugural Hooks Social Justice Series: No Future in This Country by Andre E. Johnson
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change hosted the Inaugural Hooks Social
Justice Series event where Hooks Scholar in Residence Andre E. Johnson will give a
lecture on his book, No Future in This Country: The Prophetic Pessimism of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner. The event was moderated by UofM Communication and Film graduate student Tom Fuerst
and took place February 24 at 1pm CST on the Hooks Institute’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/benhooksinstitute/ and is was free and open to the public.
About No Future in This Country
No Future in This Country: The Prophetic Pessimism of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner (University Press of Mississippi, 2020) draws on the copious amount of material from
Bishop Henry McNeal Turner’s speeches, editorial, and open and private letters to
tell the story of how Turner provided rhetorical leadership during a period in which
America defaulted on many of the rights and privileges gained for African Americans
during Reconstruction. Unlike many of his contemporaries during this period, Turner
did not opt to proclaim an optimistic view of race relations. Instead, Johnson argues
that Turner adopted a prophetic persona of a pessimistic prophet who not only spoke
truth to power but, in so doing, also challenged and pushed African Americans to believe
in themselves.
At this time in his life, Turner had no confidence in American institutions or that
the American people would live up to the promises outlined in their sacred documents.
While he argued that emigration was the only way for African Americans to retain their
“personhood” status, he would also believe that African Americans would never emigrate
to Africa. He argued that many African Americans were so oppressed and so stripped
of agency because continued negative assessments of their personhood surrounded them
that belief in emigration was not possible. Turner’s position limited his rhetorical
options, but by adopting a pessimistic prophetic voice that bore witness to the atrocities
African Americans faced, Turner found space for his oratory, which reflected itself
within the lament tradition of prophecy.
About Andre E. Johnson (Left in Photo)
Andre E. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Communication and the Scholar in Residence
at the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis.
About Tom Fuerst (Right in Photo)
Thomas M. Fuerst is a graduate student in the Department of Communication & Film at
the University of Memphis studying religious and prophetic rhetoric. He is currently
examining the role of prophetic rhetoric in the call narratives of African American
preachers in the 19th century.
Stay tuned for news about upcoming Hooks events!