The Hedgeman Center invites you to participate in this year’s Emmett Till Social Justice Symposium.
Annually, the Social Justice Symposium offers members of the University community opportunities to learn about social justice issues that affect our campus, local, and national communities. The symposium examines the intersections and commonalities between different social justice issues. In addition, the symposium highlights and celebrates the life and accomplishments of a different social justice activist, movement or organization. This year, the Symposium honors the tragic death and social justice legacy of the murdered teenager Emmett Louis Till whose heinous 1955 murder sparked international outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement with new intensity, leadership and momentum.
KeynoteAddress/ MLK Memorial Lecture
In the Shadow of Emmett Till:
Lynching, Racial Violence and the Struggle for Black Equality
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
112 Anderson Center
11:30 AM-12:40 PM
In this presentation, Dr. Yohuru Williams (University of St. Thomas) will explore the history of lynching and racial violence in the struggle for Black Equality from the murder of Emmett Till to the present. Dr. Williams is Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas. having received his Ph.D. from Howard University, Dr. Williams is the author of: Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights Black Power and Black Panthers in New Haven (Blackwell, 2006), Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement (Routledge, 2015) and Teaching beyond the Textbook: Six Investigative Strategies (Corwin Press, 2008).
