Join scholars, authors, memory workers, and archivists at the Auburn Avenue Research Library for discussions on environmental justice, narrative reclamation, and the legacy of Black institutions.
The conference is dedicated to the exploration and preservation of African American culture and history. The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History seeks to unite expert and enthusiast scholars, archivists, and community leaders to celebrate, document, and advance the rich tapestry of the Black experience.
Taking place over two days (November 6-7, 2026) with both online and in-person sessions, this year's 3rd annual gathering is inspired by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote calling for the "fierce urgency of now."
Sociologist Bertice Berry, PhD, is a best-selling author and award-winning lecturer who has been named Comedian of the Year, Lecturer of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. She has published 11 best-selling books in both fiction and non-fiction and has won numerous awards and accolades for both her writing and presentations. Berry has had her own nationally syndicated television show and has hosted, interviewed, and made numerous television, documentary, and radio appearances on a variety of diverse venues including The Tonight Show, Oprah Winfrey, Between The Lions, Crossfire, 20/20, NPR, PBS, Comedy Central, and CNN. Berry has used her unique gifts and talents as a writer and ghostwriter for others on a wide range of topics including race and gender issues, sociological studies, stratification, healthcare reform, humor, spirituality, sexuality, slavery and the abolitionist movement, weight loss and wellness, relationships, servant leadership, transformational leadership, diversity, and love. Berry has led parades, had classrooms named after her, and has been awarded over 10 honorary doctorates. She earned her own doctoral degree from Kent State University at the age of 26 and still sees her most fulfilling achievement and role in life as that of mother to her five adopted children. “If you ain’t dead, you ain’t done,” a character in one of Berry’s novels says. Berry believes that every one of us has been given a unique purpose and it is our obligation to find it and use it to improve first our own self and then those we live and work with.
Meet the 37 scholars, archivists, and memory workers joining our Keynote Speaker at this year's conference.
Tamika Barnes works for the University Library as the Associate Dean for Perimeter Library Services at Georgia State University. Before her time in Georgia, Tamika went to school and began her library career in North Carolina. Tamika received her biology degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MLS from North Carolina Central University. Tamika has worked at North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in North Carolina. She has been active on the state level as well and has served on the Executive Board of the North Carolina chapter of SLA (Special Libraries Association) and the Georgia Library Association and was a co-founder of the Black Caucus Interest Group for the Georgia Library Association in 2019. She is currently the President for the Georgia Library Association and was recently elected 2027-2028 President for the American Library Association.
Capital B News.
Dr. Pauletta B. Bracy, the 2019 recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy, is Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She has successfully merged scholarship and service with publications such as “Libraries, Literacy and African American Youth” (co-edited with Sandra Hughes Hassell and Casey H. Rawson) as well as her work with the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and with workshops and conferences dedicated to promoting African American books for children and teens. She recently served as co-organizer for Celebrating Our Voices: Black Children’s Literature Symposium and Book Festival held at NCCU.
Ras Michael Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of History. His research and teaching interests engage the long historical development of religions and cultures in the African Diaspora with special emphasis on the dispersal of Bantu people and cultures throughout the Atlantic World. Early African/American communities and their spiritual cultures figure prominently within this larger scope, especially those in South Carolina and Georgia that were ancestral to more recent Gullah-Geechee communities. Dr. Brown’s book African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry (Cambridge University Press, 2012) was honored by the Journal of Africana Religions as the inaugural recipient of the “Albert J. Raboteau Book Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions” in 2013. Other publications representative of the reach of his work include “Gullah and Ebo: Reconsidering Early Lowcountry African American Communities” in Southern Communities: Identity, Conflict, and Memory in the Nineteenth-Century American South (edited by Steven E. Nash and Bruce E. Stewart, University of Georgia Press, 2019); “The Immersion of Catholic Christianity in Kalunga,” Journal of Africana Religions, 2, 2: 246-255 (2014); “Original Claims and Haunted Forests: American Indians, African Americans, and Southern Spiritual Landscapes in the Writings of William Gilmore Simms,” The Simms Review 20, 1-2: 29-49 (2013); and “Mother Nganga: Women Experts in the Bantu-Atlantic Spiritual Cultures of the Iberian Atlantic World” in Women of the Iberian Atlantic (edited by Sarah E. Owens and Jane E. Mangan, Louisiana State University Press, 2012). Since 2016, Dr. Brown has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Africana Religions. As an educator, Professor Brown has taught dozens of World History classes, as well as many instances of “The Atlantic World,” “African-Atlantic Spirituality,” “Bantu Diasporas,” “America’s Religious Diversity,” “Slavery and the Old South,” “American Environmental History,” “Black American History to 1865,” “History of Africa,” and “African World Studies” with undergraduate students. His training of graduate students has included “Practicum in Teaching College-level History” and “Recent Historiography” courses along with numerous hours of individualized instruction. Further, Professor Brown has served as director, chair, examiner, or reader on over 50 dissertation, thesis, and exams committees for master’s and doctoral students in History, Religion, and Psychology programs at Southern Illinois University and other prestigious institutions. In addition to academic endeavors, Brown enjoys deep immersion in the cultures of music composition, performance, and production. He welcomes collaborations in both the academic study and lived experience of Africana religions, musics, and cultures.
Ursel (Miller) Brown is a native of College Park, having attended both J.F. Beavers Elementary School and Eva Thomas High School, graduating from the latter in 1970 – part of the last graduating class at that school. After graduation, Brown worked with the US Army Recruiters locally and served as a College Park City Council member.
Milton J. Davis is an acclaimed award winning Black speculative fiction author and the founder of MVmedia, LLC, an independent publishing company based in Fayetteville, Georgia. His work spans genres such as Afrofuturism, sword-and-soul, science fiction, and fantasy. Davis has penned over 30 novels and short story collections and edited/coedited 14 anthologies. His story "The Swarm" was nominated for the 2017 British Science Fiction Association Award for Short Fiction, and "Carnival" received a nomination for the same award in 2020. In 2022, Davis was honored with the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to Black speculative fiction. In 2024, he received the ConCarolinas Polaris Award, and the DeepSouth Con Phoenix Award for his contributions to Southern fandom.
Clint Fluker produces cultural experiences that put museums and libraries on the map. He has spent his entire career proving that culture is the most powerful tool an institution has. Growing up with a deep love for Black history and culture, Fluker found his calling at the intersection of art, archives, and community. He is a producer in the fullest sense of the word — someone who conceives the vision, builds the team, raises the money, secures the partnerships, and sees the whole thing through until the doors open and people walk in and feel something they didnt expect to feel. His productions span exhibitions, films, murals, podcasts, symposiums, conferences, and musical albums. His landmark initiative Footwork — developed around the FIFA World Cup at Emory University — became one of of the institutions most celebrated cultural moments, drawing together artists, scholars, athletes, and community members around a shared love of the game and the culture it carries. His current body of work, His Dope Materials, is the project closest to his heart. It is a solo exhibition and forthcoming book that invites audiences into his daily meditative process of making, remembering, and finding peace in a restless mind. He lives and works in Atlanta with his wife and creative partner, Nasim and their two children. He holds degrees from Morehouse College and Emory University.
Rodney Freeman is a seasoned library professional with over 15 years of experience across academic, public, and government libraries. His expertise spans digital collections, databases, and taxonomy, beginning with a focus on digital archives and evolving into roles ranging from library page to administrator. As the founder of Reminisce Preservation, Rodney empowers libraries, schools, nonprofits, and individuals by offering innovative tools and networks to facilitate the creation, interaction, and preservation of legacies. His work reflects a passion for connecting communities with the resources to safeguard their histories. Rodney Freeman is the Director & Producer of 'Are You a Librarian? Black Librarians and Freedom Through Literacy', a compelling documentary that lifts the veil on a crucial yet neglected chapter of American history. Spanning the antebellum period through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and into the 21st century, the film showcases the work of Black librarians who transformed public libraries into spaces of resistance, empowerment, and truth.
Carolyn L. Garnes was the recipient of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2025 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, an honor recognizing her substantial, four-decade commitment to engaging youth with award-winning African American literature. Garnes dedicated over thirty years to the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, ultimately retiring as deputy director of the library system. Following her retirement, she continued to champion youth education by serving for six years as a media specialist in the Fulton County School System. In 2013, she established Aunt Lil's Reading Room, a Georgia nonprofit named in honor of her mother. Operating until the pandemic, the organization successfully connected children of color with culturally representative books and facilitated in-person interactions with nationally recognized authors, including Sharon Draper, Brian Collier, and Patricia McKissack. Her advocacy for accurate representation began in the early 1970s as a Carnegie Scholar—one of thirty minority students recruited to attend the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (now the iSchool) at the University of Illinois. There, while earning her MSLIS in 1972, her research into Black children's literature and the foundational work of Charlemae Rollins, Augusta Baker, and Effie Lee Morris ignited her lifelong passion for the field and set the course for her career. A pivotal leader in Black librarianship, Garnes held a prominent role with the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, during which time she worked with and personally knew Coretta Scott King. Garnes was instrumental in transitioning the CSK Books Awards Task Force from an independent entity into an official part of the ALA—a foundational move that allowed CSKBART to celebrate its 55th anniversary in 2024. Announced as the 2025 honoree at the ALA's LibLearnX conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Garnes viewed her life's work through the words of George Washington Carver, who believed every individual must leave behind distinct reasons for having lived. Reflecting on her journey, Garnes noted she had strived to be "a vibrant voice, not merely a fleeting echo, championing the importance of representation and inspiration through stories that resonate deeply with young readers."
Grace D. Gipson, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where she teaches courses on theories and foundations in Africana Studies, Blackness in pop culture, and Black media narratives. A proud HBCU graduate and Black future feminist/pop culture scholar, her research interests include Black pop culture, race and gender in comics, Afrofuturism, and digital humanities. Her current book project, “Imagining Black Futures: Reclaiming Her Time Comic Books and Popular Culture” (with University Press of Mississippi) examines and chronicles the layered experiences of Black superheroine characters and Black creatives’ narratives, and how their identities transcend from comic book fiction to reality. Dr. Gipson’s research can also be found in the Audible lecture series, “From the Wiz to Wakanda: Afrofuturism in Pop Culture,” numerous edited volumes and various publications through such outlets as CNN Entertainment News, USA Today, NPR.org, The Christian Science Monitor, and Black Perspectives. Additionally, Dr. Gipson has showcased her research and talents via lectures and workshops across the U.S. and internationally (South Africa, France, Italy, Belgium, China, the UK, and Australia). Outside the classroom, you can find Dr. Gipson collecting comic books and stamps on her international travel discoveries, ticket stubs to the latest movies, co-hosting the video podcasts Conversations with Beloved and Kindred and alpha60: the peer-to-peer ratings podcast along with contributing her personal and professional thoughts on pop culture via blackfuturefeminist.com and giving back to the community through a myriad of projects and organizations.
Gavin Godfrey is a senior reporter and podcast executive producer. He's an award-winning writer and editor from Atlanta who's covered everything from OutKast to the water boys. Before joining the AJC, Gavin was the editor for Capital B Atlanta. He also held editorial leadership roles with Creative Loafing, Canopy Atlanta, and CNN. His freelance work has appeared in NPR, Complex, The Fader, and Vice.
Shermantown: Digital Tour and Archive.
Dr. Aisha M. Johnson serves as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Outreach at the Georgia Institute of Technology Library, where she provides strategic leadership across academic engagement; archives, special collections, and digital curation; public programming; and assessment. She is nationally recognized for her work advancing equity, access, and the preservation of underrepresented and marginalizes communities. Her professional identity is grounded in a philosophy that centers people as both catalysts and beneficiaries of sustainable organizational change. With over 15 years of experience as a practitioner, leader, and administrator, Dr. Johnson has dedicated her career to building inclusive academic and cultural infrastructures that elevate marginalized voices, preserve collective memory, and support lifelong learning. Her scholarship is an extension of this mission - rigorous, intentional, and deeply committed to transforming the field. Through research, teaching, and service, she works to prepare the next generation of professionals to be scholar-practitioners and change agents in their own right. Dr. Johnson’s acclaimed book, The African American Struggle for Library Equality: The Untold Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program, has reshaped conversations around literacy, philanthropy, and the Black library experience in the American South. Her work helped influence the American Library Association’s efforts to include Rosenwald’s library program legacy in the case for a national park designation. Dr. Johnson has authored several articles on information literacy, intellectual freedom, and representation and inclusion. She was named the 2020 Distinguished Alumni of Florida State University’s iSchool, received the Freedom Scholar Award from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 2021, and was honored in 2024 as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker as a “Change Agent.” A thought leader, Dr. Johnson has been featured on Good Morning America 3, CNN’s First of All with Victor Blackwell, and in the forthcoming documentary, Are You A Librarian? Her advocacy, scholarship, and leadership are all in service to a singular vision: a more just and inclusive information future.
Anthony Knight is the City of Atlanta’s African American Heritage Coordinator—a position created as a result of the Office of Design’s Future Places Project study (2019). Anthony’s responsibilities are wide-ranging and include elevating African American history and culture within the department by creating programming; identifying properties and sites for designation; building partnerships between the Historic Preservation Studio’s programs and those in other City of Atlanta departments; serving as the staff liaison to the Chattahoochee Brick Company Memorial, Greenspace, and Park board; and numerous other activities. Prior to this position, Anthony worked in the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and as a museum educator. His undergraduate work was in Spanish and English at Ohio Wesleyan University, and his graduate work was in Museum Education at The George Washington University. Anthony is a New York City native.
Belle Kozubowski is a project archivist at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, where she has worked on processing over 200 linear feet of collections covering a variety of topics and mediums. She completed her master’s degree in library science with a concentration in archives and records management in 2024 from UNC-Chapel Hill. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and psychology from UNC-Asheville. In addition to her work at AARL, Belle serves on the board of the Society of Georgia Archivists.
Tiffany Atwater Lee serves as the Head of Research Services for the Archives Research Center at the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library. Originally from Jonesboro, Georgia, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from South Carolina State University and a Master’s in Archival Studies from Clayton State University. In her current role, Lee manages public services and reference operations, curates exhibits, and leads archival course instruction and programming. A passionate advocate for the preservation of institutional history, she focuses heavily on collecting and amplifying the archival records of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Her scholarly presentations, such as “America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Legacy & Archival Record,” guide researchers in using archives to explore the American Black experience, genealogy, and the broader historical impact of HBCUs. Lee is a founding member of the Atlanta Black Archives Alliance. She maintains active memberships with the Society of American Archivists, the Academy of Certified Archivists, and the Society of Georgia Archivists. Additionally, she has co-authored chapters in the academic texts Teaching through the Archives: Text, Collaboration, and Activism and Ethnic Studies in Academic and Research Libraries.
Victoria Lemos has been an Atlanta tour guide for over five years, sharing her love of the city with tourists and locals alike. In 2018, she launched her side-gig, Archive Atlanta, a weekly podcast about Atlanta's historical people, places and events. As a preservation advocate and self-proclaimed 'history nerd', she hopes sharing these stories will help people fall in love with things they may be passing by every day and foster understanding about how connected all of our neighborhoods and people really are.
Community Collaborations at the Atlanta History Center.
Derek T. Mosley is a distinguished archivist and institutional leader who has served as the Archives Division Manager at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta, Georgia, since 2016. A recognized voice in the preservation of Black history, he recently completed his tenure as the 80th President of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) from February 2025 to August 2026, and currently serves on the SAA Foundation Board of Directors. Prior to his leadership at Auburn Avenue, Mosley held archival roles at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library and the Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His enthusiastic and engaged leadership has profoundly shaped the archival profession at both the local and national levels, having served on numerous conference planning, election, and scholarship committees. Dedicated to community empowerment, Mosley is a founding member of the Atlanta Black Archives Alliance, an initiative that educates Black communities on the vital importance of documenting their stories. He was a member of the 2019 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute and was awarded the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board Award for Excellence in Documenting Georgia's History in 2021. In 2023, he received the field’s highest honor when he was inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists. Mosley holds an M.S. in Archives Management from Simmons University and a B.A. in History from Morehouse College.
Jami Murphy is a project archivist at the Auburn Avenue Research Library and a former accounting and finance executive. She holds an MLIS and a graduate certificate in archival studies from Louisiana State University, as well as an MBA from Western Governors University. A Certified Archivist, Jami serves as Treasurer of the Academy of Certified Archivists and on the Society of American Archivists’ AI Task Force, Events & Exhibits Advisory Board, and Finance Committee. She is also the Georgia Key Contact for SAA’s Membership Committee and a 2026 Archives Leadership Institute participant. Her work on the digital exhibit Softness Was Always Ours earned the Auburn Avenue Research Library two 2026 Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Catalog Awards: Excellence in Content and Innovation in Audience Engagement, both in the digital catalog category.
While completing her dissertation, Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers began her academic career teaching in the History Department at Kean University in New Jersey. There, she had the privilege of instructing a highly diverse, predominantly working-class, and first-generation student body. After earning her doctorate in 2005, Dr. Myers transitioned to Indiana University (IU) to pursue an opportunity to work with both undergraduate and doctoral students. At IU, Dr. Myers has dedicated her career to training graduate students and teaching undergraduates while achieving notable academic success. Her work has been recognized with prestigious honors, including a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Additionally, she gained valuable administrative expertise by participating in the competitive Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program (ALP). This extensive leadership training prepared Dr. Myers for critical administrative roles within the university. In 2020, she served as a Faculty Fellow in the College’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, focusing heavily on equity and campus climate. Building on these experiences, Dr. Myers stepped into her current role as Director of Graduate Studies for the IU Department of History in July 2022.
Keturah Nix earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in American studies from Purdue University after earning a B.A. in English at Tuskegee University. Her research and teaching focus on 19th and 20th century African American literature and culture, Booker T. Washington, Black women writers, activism & social movements, Black popular culture, and Black intellectual thought. She is the co-editor of Milestone Documents in African American History (2nd ed., Greyhouse, 2017). Dr. Nix has served as an assistant professor of English at Kentucky State University since 2020, and her service there included acting division chairperson for literature, languages, and philosophy.
Dr. Jerome Offord, Jr. is Associate University Librarian for Community Development, Belonging, and Engagement at Harvard University, where he leads strategic initiatives that strengthen institutional culture, connectivity, and inclusive excellence. Prior to Harvard, Dr. Offord served as Vice President for Business and Administration at DeEtta Jones & Associates, where he directed firm-wide operations and expanded consulting capacity. Known for his ability to navigate complex systems, mobilize diverse stakeholder networks, and align strategy with execution, he brings over three decades of leadership across higher education and the nonprofit sector. Dr. Offord’s career spans executive roles in both academic and student affairs, including senior cabinet leadership at Lincoln University (MO), a historically Black institution. His broader portfolio includes leadership positions at the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and Us Helping Us, People Into Living, as well as earlier roles at Colorado State University, George Washington University, and American University. He holds a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science with a concentration in managerial leadership from Simmons University, along with master’s degrees in library and information science from Catholic University of America, student affairs administration from Colorado State University, and an Executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Lincoln University (MO). Dr. Offord is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Prince Hall Masons, President of the 62nd and 65th Regiments Legacy Foundation, Inc., President and CEO of Mister and Miss HBCU Leadership Conference and Competition, and he remains actively engaged in national professional and civic organizations.
Sean Payne is a Project Archivist at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American History and Culture. With a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University and a Master of Library Information Science from Syracuse University, Sean has centered his archival practicum on African American History and Culture. In his time as an archivist, Sean has worked with Black collections focusing on the Arts, Education, and Grassroots Organizing.
Dr. Tiffany A. Player is a historian whose research centers on the African diaspora, focusing on how identities are formed and how communities have navigated social and political transformations during and after slavery. Her broad academic specialties encompass African American and U.S. women's history from the 18th to the 20th centuries, public history, museum studies, and movements for civil and human rights. Dr. Player holds a Ph.D. in History from Washington University in St. Louis (2018), an M.A. from the University of Georgia (2008), and a B.A. from Rice University (1996). She is currently developing a book titled “What Are We Going to Do For Ourselves?:” African American Women and the Politics of Slavery from the Antebellum Era to the Great Depression. The project explores how generations of Black women leveraged the cultural and material impacts of slavery to demand public acknowledgment and build political influence.
Michael Santrock, CA is the Archivist for the Fulton County School District and Collections Manager for the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum (Atlanta, Georgia) where he functions as the primary custodian of local, historical resources used in K-12 instruction. He is the lead writer and content creator for the organization’s online publication, Curiosity Corner, as well as producer for multiple educational film series created to support state curriculum standards.
Rose Scott is an award-winning journalist and host of the midday news program “Closer Look” heard on Atlanta’s NPR, station 90.1 FM – WABE. In her role as a co-host and now host, Rose has interviewed foreign heads of states, cabinet members, U.S. ambassadors, numerous consul generals, state and local elected officials as well as civic and social leaders. Closer Look has become a signature broadcast for the community and brings together viewpoints from all sectors of society. She leads the “Closer Look” team in presenting discussions centered on affordable housing, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, immigration and criminal justice reform. With more than two decades of reporting in Atlanta, Rose has covered education, minority health issues, Atlanta historically Black colleges and universities, gender issues and sports. Prior to moving into a permanent host role, Rose covered topics dealing with Georgia’s death penalty, sex trafficking of minors in Atlanta as well as the country’s biggest cheating scandal found in the Atlanta Public Schools. She often moderates panels on the two topics. In 2013, Rose traveled to Amman, Jordan to report on Syrian refugees. Rose also has an extensive background in sports broadcasting and has appeared on various national outlets. Well respected in the Atlanta community for her thought-provoking reporting style, Scott has been honored with several awards including a Southeast Regional Emmy Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, Atlanta Association of Black Journalists Award and numerous Georgia Association of Broadcaster awards. She has also received awards from the Georgia Associated Press and is a Girls Inc. Strong, Smart & Bold Award Winner. Rose often speaks to youth groups, mentors journalism students and volunteers with youth empowerment initiatives.
Shauntee Burns-Simpson, MLIS, is the Director of Youth and Family Services at the District of Columbia Public Library and serves on the American Library Association's Executive Board. She also served on the boards of the Freedom to Read Foundation and the Public Library Association. Formerly the President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (2020–22) and Chair of ALA’s Committee on Diversity, she has consistently championed equity, diversity, and inclusion in librarianship. As an ambassador for libraries and youth librarianship, Ms. Burns-Simpson is dedicated to connecting communities to library resources, supporting at-risk teens, and fostering a lifelong love of reading and learning through innovative and inclusive programming.
Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado has studied the history and culture of African Americans throughout the Black Atlantic World for nearly 20 years. Whether in the classroom, museum, or in the field, she has sought to document and teach the African-American odyssey through various mediums. As the CEO of Preserve Black Atlanta, a non profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to identifying, recording, and preserving African-American history and culture, Dr. Sims-Alvarado has developed a model for utilizing historical and cultural assets as a catalyst for economic and community development. Clients include Ancestry.com, Hulu, Facebook, and the National Park Service. Dr. Sims-Alvarado served as the Founding Director of the John Lewis Fellowship with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. She is a leading authority on Atlanta’s first black millionaire Alonzo Herndon, the Back-to-Africa Movement during the Abolitionist Movement and Reconstruction Era, the life of W.E.B. Du Bois in Atlanta, and the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta. She has served as the civil rights historian and exhibition consultant of “A Right to Freedom: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr” with the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, the Historical Advisor for the immersive exhibition, The March, presented by TIME magazine, and Exhibition Designer for the Women, Soul of the Nation immersive exhibition with The King Center. With $1 million in support from the National Park Service, she is preserving the historic homes of George A. Towns and Grace Towns Hamilton in Atlanta, GA. She served as Chief Curator with the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation to preserve the residence of W.E.B. Du Bois and Shirley Graham DuBois in Accra, Ghana. She is partnering with Newton County Government to preserve the African burial ground of more than 150 enslaved person in Covington, Georgia. Also, she is the Chair of the Fulton County Reparations Task Force. Dr. Sims-Alvarado is the author of Atlanta and the Civil Rights Movement, 1944-1968 and the curator of the world’s longest outdoor photography exhibition documenting the long civil rights movement. Her latest book, Georgia and the Power of the Vote is scheduled for release in February 2024. Currently, she serves as an assistant professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dedren Snead is a Ford Foundation Global Fellow and Futurist in Residence for humanity, bridging art, technology, and culture to design liberation at scale. As founder of SUBSUME, the world’s first Afrofuturist Technology Studio, he partners with Fortune 500 companies, HBCUs, and civic institutions to create equitable futures where innovation serves human flourishing, storytelling, and community sovereignty.
Sally Stanhope is an educator, humanitarian, and artist, with over 20 years of teaching experience spanning elementary to undergraduate levels. Additionally, she has also served in a variety of administrative roles, including Academic Coach, Class Dean, and Service Learning Coordinator, and worked at the Atlanta History Center designing virtual field trips. Currently, she is a Ph.D. history student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at Georgia State University, advocates for inclusive public schools, and works with the Stone Mountain Action Coalition to free Stone Mountain Park from its Lost Cause legacy.
Tamika Strong is the Reference and Research Division Manager at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History (AARL). She assists AARL’s patrons by providing research assistance in-person as well as by phone and via email. She also provides instructional sessions and tours of AARL for various groups. Mrs. Strong has served in this position for the past two years. Prior to this, she spent 12 years serving Georgia’s citizens as a librarian in the DeKalb County Public Library System and 3 years as an IT Program Manager at the Georgia Public Library Service. Before returning back to librarianship, Mrs. Strong served as a Reference and Collection Archivist at the Georgia Archives for nearly 7 years, assisting researchers by connecting them to the vast resources available at the institution.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - UATL.
Sheron Sylvestre is a project archivist at Auburn Avenue Research Library and has worked on the Freddye Scarborough Henderson Family Papers and the Henderson Travel Service records.
Akinyele Umoja is a Professor of African-American Studies. Umoja is the author of We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance and the Mississippi Freedom Movement, named the 2014 Anna Julia Cooper/ C.L.R. James Award for the best book in Africana Studies by the National Council of Black Studies. We Will Shoot Back also earned the 2014 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. He is also co-editor of Greenwood Press Black Power Encyclopedia (2018), which was named on the Reference and User Services Association’s (a division of the American Library Association) 2019 List of Outstanding References for Adults. Umoja also the editor of a special issue of The Black Scholar (2018) on the legacy of his comrade; revolutionary activist, attorney, and late Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, the Honorable Chokwe Lumumba. Umoja’s research has also been featured in several other journals and anthologies. Professor Umoja is also very engaged in social justice advocacy. Along with his wife Aminata and other comrades, Umoja organized Atlanta’s Malcolm X Festival in 1989, which is now attended by thousands annually. Umoja received acknowledgement from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (1998) and the National Council of Black Studies (2008) for his activism. Due to his civic engagement and scholar-activism, he was inducted into Selma, Alabama’s Hall of Resistance in the Enslavement and Civil War Museum during the annual Bridge Crossing and Jubilee Celebration. Other inductees into the Hall of Resistance include author Sonia Sanchez, and scholar-activists Asa Hilliard, Maulana Karenga, and legendary Hip Hop artist Tupac Shakur.
Select a day to view sessions. All events are free and open to the public.
Join Coretta Scott Book Awards pioneers Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy and Carolyn Garnes for a vital conversation on the evolution of Black representation in children’s literature. Moderated by Dr. Aisha Johnson, this panel will explore decades of literary advocacy and the ongoing work to ensure young readers see themselves authentically reflected on the page.
Join ALA President Tamika Barnes and former BCALA Presidents Shauntee Burns Simpson and Dr. Jerome Offord, Jr. for a vital conversation on the trajectory of Black librarianship. Moderated by documentarian Rodney Freeman (Are You A Librarian?), this panel will explore the historic legacy of Black library professionals and the strategic leadership needed to champion intellectual freedom and community access in the future.
Join AARL Archives Division Manager Derek Mosley and Mellon Project Archivists Sean Payne, Jami Murphy, Sheron Sylvestre, and Belle Kozubowski for a behind-the-scenes look at the library’s transformative $2 million Mellon Foundation digitization project. The panel will explore the rare collections currently being processed while reflecting on the profound personal and professional impact of safeguarding Black historical records for future generations.
Join distinguished scholars Dr. Keturah Nix, Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, and Dr. Akinyele Umoja for the Casper Jordan/Janice Sikes Opening Keynote Lecture, exploring the complex friendship, ideological rivalry, and enduring legacy of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. This dynamic discussion will move beyond traditional historical narratives to examine how their intertwined lives shaped the blueprint for Black advancement in America.
Representing Atlanta-area archives, colleges, museums, and community-based organizations, panelists will highlight the resources their facilities house and the projects they oversee that speak directly to the Black experience. This panel will be of interest to persons invested in bringing African American sources, voices, and stories into their classroom spaces, their scholarship, and their public-facing endeavors.
Join leading historians, cultural curators, and urban planners for a dynamic exploration of Black Atlanta's historical legacy, ongoing cultural influence, and future development. Moderated by Anthony Knight, panelists Dr. La'Neice Littleton and Victoria Lemos will discuss how the city's rich history is documented and how intentional placemaking can shape an equitable future for the Mecca of the South.
Join leading Afrofuturist creators, scholars, and technologists Dedren Snead, Dr. Clinton Fluker, Dr. Grace Gipson, and Milton Davis for a dynamic discussion on the power and cultural impact of Black speculative arts. Moderated by Dr. Johnathan Gayles, this panel will explore how worldbuilding across literature, film, and digital media serves as a vital tool for reclaiming history and imagining limitless Black futures.
Join leading media voices Ernie Suggs, Gavin Godfrey, Rose Scott, and Ann Hill Bond for a vital discussion on how journalists use historical archives to inform contemporary reporting and combat misinformation. "From Paper to Publish" explores the evolving media landscape and the critical role of the press in preserving the past to shape a more informed public future.
Conclude the conference with the prestigious Annie L. McPheeters Lecture, featuring a powerful closing keynote address by award-winning sociologist, bestselling author, and ordained minister Dr. Bertice Berry. Through her masterful blend of storytelling, historical insight, and spiritual depth, Dr. Berry will deliver an inspiring culmination to the weekend, focusing on purpose, legacy, and the enduring strength of the Black diaspora.
Running concurrently with our Saturday sessions, browse and support local, independent Black-owned booksellers right here at the conference. Build your personal library while sustaining the community.
The first public library in the Southeast to offer specialized reference and archival collections dedicated to the study and research of African American culture.
There is limited free parking available in the library's attached lot. However, due to anticipated attendance, we recommend utilizing the various paid parking lots and garages available within a 1-2 block radius of the library (such as the City Walk Garage or 139 Auburn Ave NE parking).
There are many ways to support the preservation of African American culture and history.
