Ida B. Wells Virtual Series

Join the Center for the Study of the American South and the community partners of the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition for six virtual events throughout October celebrating the life and work of Ida B. Wells, a pioneering Black journalist, advocate and educator. 

For full details on all events, click here. 

Light of Truth Ida B. Wells Event series Banner

Schedule of Virtual Events

Saturday, Oct. 3 – 10 a.m. – KEYNOTE PANEL with Journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ron Nixon, and Topher Sanders
  • Nikole Hannah-Jones (2020 Pulitzer Prize for New York Times Magazine “The 1619 Project”), Ron Nixon (AP Global Investigations Editor and former New York Times reporter, and Topher Sanders (ProPublica reporter and Peabody Award recipient). These founders of the Ida B. Wells Society at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media will offer reflections on the origins of “The 1619 Project” and Black journalism today, moderated by Dr. Joseph Jordan (Director, UNC Stone Center for Black Culture and History)
  • Watch the recording
Thursday, Oct. 8 – 6 p.m. – HISTORY OF RACIAL TERROR AND LYNCHINGS IN ORANGE CO.
  • Paris Miller, scholar and community organizer, presents on the history of racial terror lynchings in Orange County. She will be joined by Dr. Seth Kotch Director of the Southern Oral History Program, plus high school students and Freedom Struggle Committee members KaLa Keaton (Middle Creek High School), Allison Jemerson (Raleigh Charter High School) and their teachers Matt Scialdone and Melani Winter. Q&A will follow in this session moderated by Dianne Jackson.
  • Watch the recording
Sunday, Oct. 18 – 3:00pm –  DRAMATIC READING by Kathryn Hunter-Williams
  • Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-CH, conducts a reading of excerpts from “Miss Ida B. Wells ” by the late playwright and civil rights activist Endesha Ida Mae Holland. Moderated by Diane Robertson and Dr. Gloria Thomas.
  • Watch the recording
Thursday, Oct. 22 – 6:00pm – Life & Work of Louis Austin
  • NCCU Professors, Dr. Jerry Gershenhorn, Brett Chambers, and Dr. Charmaine McKissick-Melton join veteran Triangle journalist Cash Michaels to discuss the life and work of North Carolina editor and publisher Louis Austin, whose Carolina Times newspaper was the most important voice for Black North Carolinians at the height of Jim Crow segregation. Moderated by James Williams.
  • Watch the recording
Tuesday, Oct. 27 – 6:00pm – Teaching the Light of Truth in the K-12 Classroom
  • 8th-12th grade teachers are invited to join us for a panel discussion sharing challenges and strategies for teaching “hard history” in a way that helps students understand the implications of our past and are empowered to address the challenges of the present. From integrating primary sources to engaging in effective techniques for leading controversial classroom discussions, teachers will leave with strategies for turning on “the light of truth” in their own classrooms. Participating teachers must have registered and attended one or more of the other five virtual events in the “The Light of Truth: Celebrating the Life and Work of Ida B Wells” series. 
  • A recording for this event is not available for the public. 
Thursday, Oct. 29 – 6:00pm – #BlackOutLoud Film Viewing and Discussion
  • Viewing of the #BlackOutLoudUNC documentary, plus Q&A with Yet & Still artists, producers, and students, De’Ivyion Drew, Cortland Gilliam, and Jerry Wilson. Watch the clips with us and join the conversation with artists, moderated by Renee Price.
  • Watch the recording