UofM's Hooks Institute Will Host National Book Award Lecture Oct. 19
October 4, 2017 - The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University
of Memphis will host its annual National Book Award lecture and book signing on Oct.
19 in the University Center River Room (300). The event will begin with a reception
at 11:30 a.m., followed at noon by a lecture and book signing by Russell Rickford,
2016 Hooks Institute National Book Award winner for We Are an African People: Independent Education, Black Power and the Radical Imagination.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Zach Curlin
Street garage.
Rickford will discuss his award-winning book which examines the emergence of a handful
of Pan-African nationalist independent black schools that emerged in the 1970s as
an alternative mechanism for African-American uplift. We Are an African People examines the ideas and motivations behind these autonomous black institutions and
places them within a broader discussion about how best to achieve liberation for the
next generation of African-Americans. Rickford's work expands upon the understanding
of a very specific topic within the quest for the intellectual liberation of African-Americans
and grapples with very broad questions about education, freedom and the diversity
of viewpoints during the civil rights era.
The event is co-sponsored by the UofM African and African-American Studies Program,
College of Education, Department of History and Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities.
Throughout the year, the University of Memphis and the Hooks Institute hold a series
of events designed to bring students, faculty and staff from the University together
with members of the Memphis community to address issues of social justice and change.
For more information about these events, visit Ben Hooks 2018 Events.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Nathaniel C. Ball
901.678.3655