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Many universities are examining their histories and discovering their connections to slave labor and Indigenous dispossession. This symposium highlighted the ongoing efforts and research in the areas of slavery, dispossession, and restorative justice, with a focus on the legacy of racism and its enduring effects at Emory University. The sessions included creative interpretations and dialogue, with a primary focus on the perspectives of Black, Native American, and Indigenous peoples. 

• See the online program schedule for a complete list of sessions and our complementary programming for related and ongoing exhibitions.
   
• Watch a brief overview of the symposium, and visit the session playlist on YouTube.
   
• Did you attend? We would love to know about your experience via this short survey.

Related Links

• Symposium Steering Committee Members
• Emory Native American Initiative
• Task Force on Untold Stories and Disenfranchised Populations
• University of Virginia: Universities Studying Slavery

Emory is an EEO Employer-Disability/Veteran

"Actually, I still need a lot of work as a human being, but I am a far better person today than I was before I embraced the many teachings that I’ve read.” - William II, “Finding My Spiritual Outlook In Books”

The artwork and literature showcased in this exhibit highlight the intelligence and talent of a student body that society often tries to forget.  Incarcerated men at Phillips State Prison in Buford, Georgia, created the works between 2008 and 2015 in courses sponsored by Common Good Atlanta, a nonprofit organization which was accredited by Georgia State University.  The program continues today to provide a platform for incarcerated individuals to earn credit towards a degree, exercise critical thinking skills, and express themselves within an institution that systematically seeks to strip individuals of their autonomy.

"Archives, those which document the lives of African American artists, are essential to telling the complex stories relative to the development of black life in 20th and 21st century America." – Pellom McDaniels III, Curator of African American Collections

Due to COVID-19, travel for this exhibition has been suspended.

“Speak What Must Be Spoken: Art, Archives, and Activism” is the culmination of projects initiated in 2016 around the theme of black art and activism by the late Pellom McDaniels III, Rose Library’s curator of African American collections. McDaniels curated “Still Raising Hell: The Art, Activism, and Archives of Camille Billops and James V. Hatch,” a major exhibition in the Emory Libraries main gallery during 2016-2017.  

Emory Libraries selected “Still Raising Hell” as the basis for the Libraries first K-12 exhibit to serve community schools. Barbara Coble of Emory University’s Graduation Generation Education Partnership joined the Libraries’ team and led the development of curriculum aligning with state standards for excellence supporting fine arts classes and social studies and English/language arts. 

The Libraries exhibitions team adapted elements of the original exhibition and created new elements for installation in a school setting. "Speak What Must Be Spoken" now consists of 10 units that can be used alone or combined with others.

Emory University Graduation Generation Education Partnership

"The World Between Word and Image: Artists’ Books and Archives from Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, and Nexus Press" presents archival material from the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, and Nexus Press collection held by the Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. It features approximately 15 artists’ books displayed at a time in three cases. A fresh crop of books focusing on new themes will be rotated in every three months. A fourth case will feature archival material from records of the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, the parent organization of Nexus Press.

At this time, the three thematic cases are as follows:

1. "What Is a Book?" 
2. "History, Memory, and the Reinterpretation of Tradition"
3. "Photography" 

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"A colorful cast of characters shaped post-World War II American literature and culture."

The exhibition reconsiders postwar literature and the ways it mirrored, predicted, and remade the culture around it, with special focus on the influential group known as “the Beats.” Pulling from the Rose Library’s rich literary collections, especially the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, the show rediscovers a number of fascinating countercultural writers and will be the first major consideration of the Beats in the U.S. in nearly a decade.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free