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2022 Events

Upcoming Events

Stay tuned for news and updates on upcoming Hooks Institute events!

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise stated. 

September 26

Making Black America Promotional PhotoSpecial Preview of “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine”

Monday, September 26 at 6 PM
The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Meeting Room A
3030 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38111

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at University of Memphis and WKNO-TV (Memphis) will host a special preview of the upcoming four-part Henry Louis Gates Jr. PBS documentary series “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine."

The screening will feature select scenes from each episode before the series premiere on WKNO on October 4. The event is free and open to the public.

About “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine”
“Making Black America: Through the Grapevine,” hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people—beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Professor Gates sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today.

Past Events

September 12

Daphene McFerren on Poster/Flyer for Speaking eventJourney of the Hooks Institute's Documentary on Ida B. Wells 
Lynching Sites Project of Memphis Meeting

Mon. Sept. 12, 6 PM | Barth House on UofM Campus, 409 Patterson Ave, Memphis, TN

The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis   hosted a Community Meeting on Monday 9/12/22 at the Barth House on the University of Memphis campus (409 Patterson Ave.). The featured speaker was Daphene McFerren, the executive producer of The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change documentary on Ida B. Wells.


July 21 and 28

Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells

Facing Down Storms Malco Screening Invite

Malco Studio on the Square
2105 Court Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
7 pm, Thursday, July 21, and 7 pm, Thursday, July 28


July 18

Daphene McFerren leads teachers in inservice about the Fayette County Civil Rights MovementIn Service Teacher Training on Fayette County Civil Rights Movement

University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business
Thursday, July 14 | 9 am

The inservice included teachers from across the nation and was sponsored by the University of Tennessee Knoxville Department of Geography & Sustainability pursuant to a grant awarded to it by National Endowment for the Humanities.


April 19

National Premiere
Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells

A Feature Length Documentary on Civil Rights Activist Ida B. Well (1862-1931)

April 19 | 5:30 PM Reception | 7 PM Program & Screening
Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education
225 S Main St, Memphis, TN 38103

Facing Down Storms Poster

About the Documentary
Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells explores how the unique cultural and social atmosphere of late 19th century Memphis, Tenn. indelibly shaped Ida B. Wells as a journalist and activist. The 1892 lynchings of three men, including a dear friend of Wells, fueled her zealous efforts to combat the widespread acceptance of the lynching of African Americans in the United States. Wells used the power of journalism to expose to international audiences the injustices of the rising practice of lynching: a form of extralegal execution often taking the form of mob violence against African Americans. 

Cocktail Attire
Masks strongly recommended.

Premiere proceeds support the programs  of the Hooks Institute.

Parking
Paid parking is available at the public parking garage, the MLGW Garage, 234 S. Front Street. By car, guests enter from S. Front Street and exit by foot through the Main Street exit and walk next door to the Halloran Centre, 225 S. Main St.


Feb. 28

Five members of the Memphis 13 stand next to photos of their younger selves.The Hooks Institute and the Memphis 13 Foundation held a  a film screening and panel discussion on "The Memphis 13," a documentary on the 13 children who integrated Memphis City Schools featuring members of the Memphis 13. 

In October 1961, thirteen African American first graders took courageous steps to enter four formerly all-white elementary schools to break the practice of segregation in Memphis City Schools. A half-century later, the stories of these pioneering children form the foundation of the documentary, The Memphis 13 (2011).
The film uncovers a hidden story of the Civil Rights Movement and honors the children who lived it while raising contemporary questions about children breaking barriers.

The film, which was initiated thanks to a faculty research grant from the Hooks Institute, features interviews with all thirteen pioneering families, as well as with white students, a teacher and local civil rights leaders.


Feb. 8

Hooks National Book Award Presentation "Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America” by Marcia Chatelain

Tues. Feb 8, 6 p.m. CST | Facebook Live, Hooks Institute Facebook Page

Book cover of "Franchise" (left) and Marcia Chatelain (right).

Lecture by Marcia Chatelain on her 2020 Hooks National Book Award winning work "Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America."

“Franchise” investigates the untold history of the cooperation among fast-food companies, politicians, civil rights leaders and black entrepreneurs in the years following the 1960s civil rights movement. This untold history looks at how the prevalence of fast-food restaurants in Black communities today resulted from a push by these groups for what they saw as an economical solution to racial disparities in America's Black communities — the franchising of fast-food restaurants in black neighborhoods by Black people. “Franchise” illuminates the power of Black-owned franchises in a larger freedom struggle while also explaining how corporations such as McDonald's have deprived genuine wealth in Black urban communities.

Watch the full lecture on our YouTube page:

Watch the "Franchise" Lecture >

This event was co-sponsored by  the following University of Memphis partners:
African and African American Studies Program, Department of English, Department of History, and the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities.