Mississippi Humanities Council

Black History Month Talk at IMMC
2025-02-27 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | International Museum of Muslim Cultures, 201 East Pascagoula Street, Jackson, MS, 39201
Join the International Museum of Muslim Cultures for their first Gallery Talk of the year with special guests: Debora Heard, Prof of Anthropology, Nubian Archaeology and Egyptian History at the University of Chicago, Dr. Rico Chapman, Jackson State University Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of History, Daniel Heboe, Tougaloo College Prof of French

Thursday February 27th, 2025 at 6pm in the Museum Atrium
Mississippi Arts Center
201 E Pascagoula St
Jackson MS
Sign Up at Link in Bio

A Centennial Conversation: The Legacy of Medgar Evers, 100 years Later
2025-02-27 17:30 - 20:00 | Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center, 528 Bloom St., Jackson, MS, 39202
In honor of the centennial birthday of Medgar W. Evers, the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument will co-host a program titled A Centennial Conversation: The Legacy of Medgar Evers, 100 years Later.
The program will consist of a conversation between Dr. Miranda Freeman, Dean of Humanities at Tougaloo College and Dr. Michael V. Williams, Chair of the African American Studies department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and also the author of Medgar Evers: Mississippi Martyr. This program will take place at the Smith Robertson Museum in Jackson February 27th from 6:30 to 8 pm, with reception at 5:30 pm.

Speakers Bureau: “A Look at Mande (West African) Culture Through Traditional Music”
2025-02-27 17:00 - 18:30 | Jackson Hinds Library System, 605 E Northside Dr, Clinton, MS, 39056-3456, United States
This presentation, by Jerry Jenkins, will give the listener a glimpse of the Mande Culture of West Africa. In the tradition of the Mande, the history and culture is orally preserved in the minds and through the music of the Djeli (oral librarian/mandenka hereditary professional musicians). The establishment of the Mali Empire can be recalled and retold in the musical piece of the legendary Densoba (great warrior) Sunjata. This discussion explores the function of the Mande music and musical instruments, Mande class system, songs, ceremonies and stories. The discussion also examines the influence of West Africa on American culture and why the djembe was outlawed during slavery. Participants will learn about the djembe, its introduction by drummers like Babatunde Olatunji in 1950 and Ladji Camara from Guinea, and how it spread throughout America.

HTA Lecture: Educators Perceive Biliteracy as a Resource for Students in Mississippi
2025-02-27 16:00 - 17:30 | Blue Mountain Christian University, 201 W Main St, Blue Mountain, MS, 38610
Rosalynn Rutland is Blue Mountain Christian University’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Rutland’s lecture, Educators Perceive Biliteracy as a Resource for Students in Mississippi, will be presented 2/27/25 at 4:00 pm on the college’s campus in the Paschal Student Union Building. This is a presentation of portions of a qualitative study, “Listening to the Voices of Educators in the Implementation of the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy,” conducted in two Mississippi schools whose educators expressed their perceptions of biliteracy as a resource for students. The participants in this study are educators from one school that has adopted the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy and one school that has not adopted the seal. Regardless of the adoption of the seal, all educators perceived English plus another language as a beneficial educational policy.
Rutland will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Speaker Series: Paula C. Johnson
2025-02-25 17:30 - 19:00 | Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St., Natchez, MS, United States
The 2024-2025 season is an annual program of the Natchez Historical Society, consisting of 8 regular monthly presentations by expert speakers on humanities topics pertinent to the history of the Natchez area. Scheduled for February 25, 2025:
Paula C. Johnson, Professor, Syracuse University College of Law; Co-Founder and Director of the Syracuse University College of Law Cold Case Justice Initiative: Memory Lessons: Meeting the Imperative for Racial Justice Through Memory, Memorials, Knowledge, and Empowerment

Speakers Bureau: "The Mississippi Plan and the Rise of Jim Crow"
2025-02-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Margaret Walker Alexander Library, 2525 Robinson St, Jackson, MS, 39209
Dr. Robbie Luckett presents: “The Mississippi Plan and the Rise of Jim Crow”
After the Civil War, African Americans in the South, newly freed, expressed a tangible optimism that led to the reuniting of families, the development of social institutions like the black church, the rise of cultural expressions like the Blues and jazz, the establishment of black-owned businesses and other economic endeavors, and the wielding of significant political power. On the other hand, as Dr. Luckett explains in this talk, most white southerners, especially in Mississippi, saw this rise of black social, economic and political power as a direct threat to their hegemony, which had been so well established during the era of slavery, and whites sought to “redeem” their place in the southern hierarchy through violent extra-legal measures like lynching and through the realm of law. The invention of Jim Crow and what became known as the “Mississippi Plan” became the models for the rest of the South. The Mississippi Plan and Jim Crow stood on the shoulders of black disfranchisement, segregation and sharecropping to guarantee white power as well as second-class citizenship for African Americans throughout the South, a status black southerners have fought ever since.

Annie Devine Freedom Trail Marker Unveiling
2025-02-25 10:00 - 13:00 | Canton High School, 634 Finney Rd, Canton, MS, 39046, United States
The Mississippi Humanities Council, in partnership with the Visit Mississippi, will unveil a Freedom Trail marker February 25th at Canton High School 10 am in Canton to honor the extraordinary work of Annie Devine, one of the first three Black women to stand on the floor of the House of Representative in Washington, she demanded that the House deny membership to the representatives-elect because African Americans were still denied the right to vote.

Speakers Bureau: "Pushing Forward: Hezekiah Watkins and the Youth Movement of Mississippi"
2025-02-24 13:00 - 15:00 | Hines Hall Auditorium, 101 Cunningham Blvd., Booneville, MS, 38829
In 1961, young Hezekiah Watkins was arrested at the Greyhound Bus Station in Jackson, Mississippi at the age of 13 where he was sent in a paddy wagon to Mississippi’s State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Penitentiary, and placed on Death Row. His crime? Allegedly participating with a group known as the Freedom Riders who had embarked on a journey from Washington D.C. to New Orleans to push for equal rights for African-Americans, while also desegregating bus terminals throughout the south. After spending five days at Parchman, Hezekiah’s life would forever be changed. He would continue his involvement in Mississippi’s fight for equality, resulting with him being arrested over 100 times more in the years to follow. These experiences guided him along a path to focus on improving the quality of life for African-Americans everywhere, eventuallly resulting in Hezekiah’s recognition by the 112th Congress of the United States for his service to Mississippi and to mankind. Pushing forward tells the story of a young man who became a grown up overnight, and whose life continues to focus on serving a much greater cause

HTA Lecture: An Act of Hope: Teaching Research-Based Academic Writing Through the Literature of Octavia E. Butler
2025-02-21 11:00 - 12:30 | Northwest Mississippi Community College, 4975 Hwy 51 N, Senatobia, 38668
Ramona Brawner is Northwest Mississippi Community College‘s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Brawner’s lecture, An Act of Hope: Teaching Research-Based Academic Writing Through the Literature of Octavia E. Butler, will be presented 2/21/25 at 11:00 am on the college’s campus.
Brawner will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

HTA Lecture: Stories That Save Us: Teaching Elie Wiesel and the Holocaust
2025-02-21 09:30 - 10:30 | Meridian Community College, 910 Hwy 19 N, Meridian, MS, 39307
Amanda Thompson is Meridian Community College’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Thompson’s lecture, Stories That Save Us: Teaching Elie Wiesel and the Holocaust, will be presented 2/21/25 at 9:30 am on the college’s campus in the McCain Theatre.
Thompson will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

The Evolution from Traditional Blues to Southern Soul
2025-02-20 18:00 - 20:00 | BB King Museum, 400 Second Street, Indianola, MS, 38751, United States
B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center and Mississippi Humanities Council is hosting two programs for Black History Month to celebrate special stories and initiatives. Join us for this free program moderated by Jimmie Lee, Jr with panelists Willie Clayton, Chris Ivy, J’Cenae and Dr. Alphonso Sande

HTA Lecture: The Paradox of Narrating Violence
2025-02-20 15:00 - 16:30 | Mississippi State University, Bost Theater, Starkville, MS
Dr. Sol Peláez is Mississippi State University’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Dr. Peláez’ lecture, The Paradox of Narrating Violence, will be presented 2/20/25 at 3:00 pm on the college’s campus in the Grisham Room, Mitchell Memorial Library.
Dr. Peláez will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

HTA Lecture: Service to Others: A Christian Perspective on Social Work Values
2025-02-20 12:30 - 14:00 | Alcorn State University, 1000 ASU Drive, Lorman, MS, 39096
Valtreasa Tolliver-Cook is Alcorn State University’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Tolliver-Cook’s lecture, Service to Others: A Christian Perspective on Social Work Values, will be presented 2/20/25 at 12:30 pm on the college’s campus in Dumas Hall Lecture Room 107. The presentation explores the alignment between Christian teachings and the core values of the social work profession by focusing on the theme of service to others. Attendees will gain insights on how to apply these values to create meaningful, positive impacts in their communities.
Tolliver-Cook will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

HTA Lecture: Elevated: The Influence of Vernacular Music on American Art Music
2025-02-18 18:00 - 19:30 | Aven Hall, 200 Capitol Street, Clinton, MS, 39056
Dr. Renee Wilson is Mississippi College’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Dr. Wilson’s lecture, Elevated: The Influence of Vernacular Music on American Art Music, will be presented 2/18/25 at 6:00 pm on the college’s campus in Jean Pittman Recital Hall, Aven Hall Rm 202. The presentation explores vernacular music as music of the people. Lovingly passed along within and among culture groups, it both preserves and shares the culture(s) among us. It includes folk music and, in the United States, it includes styles such as jazz and blues. This presentation calls attention to masterworks for band, choir, and orchestra which have been clearly influenced by folk music, jazz, and blues.
Dr. Wilson will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

HTA Lecture: “Women Directing Humanity: Models of Women’s Leadership in Creative Approaches to Social Change”
2025-02-18 17:30 - 19:00 | Gonzales Auditorium, 1999 Pearl St, Hattiesburg, MS, 39401, United States
Dr. Candice Salyers is the University of Southern Mississippi’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Salyers’ lecture, “Women Directing Humanity: Models of Women’s Leadership in Creative Approaches to Social Change,” will be presented 2/18/25 at 5:30 pm on the college’s campus in Gonzales Auditorium in the Liberal Arts Building on the Southern Miss (LAB room 108) Hattiesburg campus.
Salyers’ will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Speakers Bureau: "Mississippi Foodways"
2025-02-18 17:00 - 18:30 | Walthall County Library, 707 Union RD, Tylertown, MS, 39667-2261
This presentation, by Malcolm White, offers observations by a longtime connoisseur of Southern food and culture on topics ranging from the history of Comeback Dressing to how the tamale came to Mississippi to the evolution of dining out in Mississippi.

Speakers Bureau: "Robert Johnson at the Crossroads"
2025-02-18 15:30 - 17:00 | Boys and Girls Club of North Mississippi, 1242 S Green St, Tupelo, MS, 38804, United States
Since 1920 the number of farmers in America has been dropping, yet the place of farming — and of rural life generally — in the American mind is stronger than ever. The images we encounter in country songs, labels at the grocery store and in country-fried restaurants tell us that to live the rural life is to live the most American of lives: to work honestly, for long hours and for mostly internal rewards. Our culture presents farmers as nothing short of heroes. But this was not always the case. This talk, by Wendy Garrison, charts the rise, fall and rise again of the American farmer and rural life in the American consciousness with images from music videos, snippets of song lyrics, Cracker Barrel billboards and even some Congressional testimony. It seeks to answer the questions, why does this particular image of the farmer hold such sway, and what do the changes in that image over time tell us about Americans’ insecure relationship with its history?

Speakers Bureau: Ida B. Wells: The Mother of the American Human Rights Movement
2025-02-18 11:00 - 12:30 | Jackson Association of Black Journalists, 4412 Will O Run Dr, Jackson, MS, 39212, United States
C Sade Turnipseed presents a lecture: “Ida B. Wells: The Mother of the American Human Rights Movement.”
Ida B. Wells’s life has intriguing ties to Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, President William McKinley, Booker T. Washington, Duke of Argyll and Sir John Gorst. She was a journalist who wrote about human rights and had a clear understanding about her rights as a woman. This presentation highlights her fearless campaign to realize the most significant contribution to the investigation and avocation against human lynchings. Yet, she is unknown to most people of this generation.

HTA Lecture: Building A Community of Learners: Fostering Community
2025-02-18 11:00 - 12:30 | Mississippi Delta Community College, Hwy 3 & Cherry St., Moorhead, MS, 38761, United States
Brandi Pillow is Mississippi Delta Community College’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Pillow’s lecture, Building A Community of Learners: Fostering Community, will be presented 2/18/25 at 11:00 am on the college’s Moorhead campus in the Fine Arts Auditorium.
Pillow will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Short Film Showcase
2025-02-16 14:00 - 16:00 | TWO MISSISSIPPI MUSEUMS, 222 NORTH STREET , JACKSON, MS, United States
At 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16, the MHC will present a free showcase of “Hotaru,” “(I’m Not) Your Negroni,” and “Our Rebellious Hearts.” All three short films explore themes of identity, change, and resilience. Following the screening will be a panel featuring filmmakers from each film. This program is in partnership with the Mississippi Humanities Council, Two Mississippi Museums, the Mississippi Film Office, and the Mississippi Film Society.

Mississippi Philosophical Association 2025: Keynote: 'AI, Art, and Artists: What They Are, What They Could Be, What They Should Be'
2025-02-14 16:30 - 18:00 | Gonzales Auditorium, 1999 Pearl St, Hattiesburg, MS, 39401, United States
The University of Southern Mississippi is hosting the 2025 annual conference of the Mississippi Philosophical Association (MPA). The MPA is the premier venue for philosophical work in the state of Mississippi and aims to provide space for faculty and students to present rigorous academic work with other philosophers in the state and the broader community.
This year’s MPA: keynote address from Dominic McIver Lopes (University Killam Professor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia), one of the most prominent currently active philosophers of art in the English-speaking world. His address is titled “AI, Art, and Artists: What They Are, What They Could Be, What They Should Be,” will take place Friday (2/14), at 4:30 pm in LAB 108, Gonzales Auditorium, on USM’s campus.

Speakers Bureau: “The Early Pioneer Settlers 1790 to 1840”
2025-02-14 13:00 - 14:30 | Hatley Elementary School, 60286 Hatley RD, Amory, MS, 38821-7215
Willam P. Arinder presents a living history program about the early pioneer settlers in Mississippi. Discussion centers around how they dressed, built their homes, produced and cooked their food, the use of flintlock rifles for hunting and protection of their homesteads, building fire using flint-and-steel, grinding corn in hollow stumps, children’s homemade toys and music on the mountain dulcimer. Period clothing worn, hands-on artifacts display and audience participation encouraged.

Film Screening: This World Is Not My Own
2025-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Mississippi Museum of Art, 380 South Lamar Street, Jackson, MS, 39201
We will co-host a screening of the unique documentary and animation film This World is Not My Own, which tells the life story of the self-taught artist Nellie Mae Rowe. Stay afterwards for a panel discussion and Q + A with the filmmakers and to learn more about works on view by other self-taught artists at MMA.
This screening of This World is Not My Own is part of South Arts’ Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.
Schedule of Events

6 PM – Doors Open, Cash Bar Available
6:30 PM – Screening of This World is Not My Own (1h 37m)
Following the film, there will be a Q&A session with Chase Quinn, MMA’s Creative Director and Curator of Special Projects, and filmmaker Ruchi Mital.

About the Panelists
Ruchi Mital is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, and writer with a social justice background. She is the Foundress of Solani Media, whose first co-production, Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow (dir Martina Radwan) was an official selection at DOCNYC 2023.
In 2014, Ruchi produced We Could Be King, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Sports Documentary. Her subsequent films Sky Ladder: The Art Of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016), and This is Personal (2019) premiered at Sundance. For HBO, she produced the Emmy-nominated series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. In 2021, she produced The Me You Can’t See for Apple TV+ and in 2023 the emmy-nominated Encounters for Netflix. This World is Not My Own, a hybrid documentary about self-taught artist Nellie Mae Rowe that Ruchi produced and co-wrote premiered at SXSW in 2023 and will air on PBS in Spring 2025.
In 2020, Ruchi was selected as one of DOCNYC’s 40 Under 40 list of emerging non-fiction talents. She has served as a filmmaking mentor through the 2021 Sundance Producer’s Intensive and 2022 DOCNYC Storytelling Incubator and served as a juror for DOCNYC and Reel Sisters of the African Diaspora film festival.
Chase Quinn is recognized by Garden & Gun magazine as one of the art world’s rising vanguards, Chase serves as MMA’s Creative Director and Curator of Special Projects, overseeing education and curatorial departments to foster inclusive storytelling and innovative programming. Previously, at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, he led bold initiatives, including a diversity-focused internship and the landmark exhibition Something Terrible May Happen, which recontextualized Charleston’s art history with support from institutions like Harvard Art Museums and the Musée d’Orsay.
In partnership with the Mississippi Film Society, Mississippi Museum of Art

HTA Lecture: Epic Ideas, Lyric Insights: Homer, Virgil, Ovid
2025-02-13 16:00 - 17:30 | Millsaps College, 1701 N. State Street, Jackson, Mississippi, 39202
Michael Gleason is Millsaps College’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Gleason’s lecture, Epic Ideas, Lyric Insights: Homer, Virgil, Ovid, will be presented 2/13/25 at 4:00 pm on the college’s campus in the McMullen Lecture Hall Room 122.
Gleason will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Speakers Bureau: "The Early Pioneer Settlers 1790 to 1840"
2025-02-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Hatley Elementary School, 60286 Hatley RD, Amory, MS, 38821-7215

HTA Lecture: Stone Tools to Social Media: The Ubiquity and Relevance of the Visual Arts from Prehistory to the Forseeable Future
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Coahoma Community College, 3240 Friars Point Road, Clarksdale, MS, 38614, United States
Geoffrey Latham is Coahoma Community College ‘s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year.Latham’s lecture, Stone Tools to Social Media: The Ubiquity and Relevance of the Visual Arts from Prehistory to the Forseeable Future, will be presented 2/12/25 at 12:00 pm on the college’s campus.
Latham will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Speakers Bureau: "The Cakewalk"
2025-02-08 15:00 - 16:30 | M.R. Davis Public Library, 8554 Northwest Dr, Southaven, MS, 38671-2440, United States
If you think the cakewalk is just a musical chairs game to win a cake, think again. Step back into the ’90s to recapture ragtime when the African American “cakewalk” dance was popular. Speaker Barbara J Clark allows you to meet the famous African American song and dance duo, Williams and Walker, who took the country by storm and took the cakewalk from America to England during the 1890s and 1920s. Experience a combination of storytelling, music, video, photos and cakewalk steps. Audiences will have an opportunity to try cakewalking, if they like.

Speakers Bureau: "Savoring African American History through Stories and Poetry"
2025-02-08 12:00 - 13:30 | Walls Public Library, 7181 Delta Bluffs Pkwy, Walls, MS, 38680-8415, United States
Take a story walk through the eyes and feelings of African Americans from slavery to the mid-seventies with Barbara J. Clark. Using award-winning literature via stories and poetry, the audience will experience plantation life and escape, life view of a 110-year-old supercentenarian, living with Jim Crow during a motor trip down south, death of Emmitt Till poetically immortalized, feelings of interracial children (Black and Jewish) during the ’70s and some experiences of outstanding African Americans (George Washington Carver, Gordon Parks and Mary McCloud Bethune). Program contents can vary to suit the audience

HTA Lecture: Ancient Foes, Modern Narratives: Framing the Ottomans as Trojans in Venetian Humanism
2025-02-07 15:00 - 16:30 | Belhaven University, 1500 Peachtree Street, Jackson, MS, 39202
Seth Parry is Belhaven University’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Parry’s lecture, Ancient Foes, Modern Narratives: Framing the Ottomans as Trojans in Venetian Humanism, will be presented 2/7/25 at 3:00 pm on the college’s campus in the Student Center Theatre. The presentation will look at a linguistic construct used by Venetian Renaissance humanists in respect to the Ottoman Empire, namely their use of the Latin word “Teucri” to identify the Ottoman “Turks.” “Teucri” was originally used to describe the ancient Trojans of Homeric fame. This presentation analyzes why Renaissance humanists would adopt this terminology by looking at the connotations and purpose of such a duplicate identification.
Parry will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.

HTA Lecture: This is a Beast. The Beast is Us.
2025-02-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Delta State University, 1003 W Sunflower Rd, Cleveland, MS, 38733, United States
Jesse Brown is Delta State University’s 2025 Humanities Teacher of the Year. Brown’s lecture, This is a Beast. The Beast is Us., will be presented 2/6/25 at 7:00 pm on the college’s campus.
Brown will be among those honored at the Mississippi Humanities Council Awards Ceremony March 28, 2025 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The event pays tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of the state’s institutions of higher learning.
