Initiated in 2022 during the University of Mississippi’s commemoration of the 60th anniversary of integration, the James H. Meredith Lecture Series is now an annual event marking the anniversary of James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi. The event is intended to elevate and keep Mr. Meredith’s legacy at the forefront with current and future students.
In fall 2023, the university launched the inaugural event featuring Dr. Ruha Benjamin as the keynote speaker and the announcement of the inaugural James H. Meredith Community Transformation Award recipient. The event is free and open to the public.
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Donzaleigh Abernathy, 2024
Donzaleigh Abernathy
Donzaleigh Abernathy is the youngest daughter of the American Civil Rights Movement Co-Founder Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. and Dr. Juanita Jones Abernathy. She was born in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement as her father and his best friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were establishing the nonviolent social movement which changed the course of American History. She and her siblings participated in and witnessed all of the major Civil Rights Marches and events, including the Freedom Riders, the 1963 March On Washington, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March for “The Right to Vote,” the James Meredith Mississippi “March Against Fear,” the Chicago Housing Demonstrations, the Memphis March to commemorate the Life of MLK and more. In 2004, she authored, Partners To History, Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and the Civil Rights Movement, which was nominated as one of the “Best Books for Young Adults” by the American Library Association. She was a contributing author to the Smithsonian Institute’s book In the Spirit of Martin. She won the “Tanne Foundation Award” for her work as an Actress and screenwriter of her screenplay, “Birmingham Sunday.”
Location: Johnson Commons Ballroom
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Ruha Benjamin, 2023
Ruha Benjamin
Ruha Benjamin is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, and author of the award-winning book Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, among many other publications. Her work investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine and technology with a focus on the relationship between innovation and inequity, health and justice, knowledge and power. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar Award and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton. Her most recent book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, winner of the 2023 Stowe Prize, was born out of the twin plagues of COVID-19 and police violence and offers a practical and principled approach to transforming our communities and helping us build a more just and joyful world.
Location: Ballroom, Inn at Ole Miss