56th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday Convocation
Rose E. McCoy Auditorium
Jackson State University
10 a.m., Friday, January 19, 2024

29th Annual For My People Awards
Jackson State University Student Center Ballroom A
11:30 a.m., Friday, January 19, 2024

Poetry Out Loud
Central Region of Mississippi Contest
JSU Student Center Theater
Noon, Wednesday, January 31, 2024

A Decade of Action: Jackson State, Lynch Street, and the Civil Rights Movement
An Exhibition: Center for the Study of Southern Culture
Barnard Observatory, University of Mississippi
January 30-March 1, 2024

18th Annual Creative Arts and Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival
Jackson State University Student Center
Featuring Sonia Sanchez
Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6, 2024

54th Annual Commemoration of the Gibbs-Green Tragedy
Jackson State University Gibbs-Green Memorial Plaza
4 p.m., Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Jubilee Picnic
COFO Civil Rights Education Center
Jackson State University
Noon, Thursday, July 11, 2024

60th Anniversary of Freedom Summer
A Scholarly Analysis of Voting Rights Activism in Mississippi
Voices of Civil Rights Activists in Mississippi
COFO Civil Rights Education Center
Jackson State University
11:00 a.m., Thursday, October 3, 2024

55th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., Birthday Convocation
Jackson State University
9:00 a.m., Friday, January 13, 2023

28th Annual For My People Awards
Jackson State University
11:30 a.m., Friday, January 13, 2023

Housing Insecurity in Mississippi
An Exhibition
Johnson Hall Art Gallery, Jackson State University
November 1, 2022 – January 31, 2023

Poetry Out Loud
Statewide Preliminary Contest of Mississippi
Student Center Theater
Jackson State University
12 p.m., Wednesday, February 1, 2023

This Freedom Rider Invites You into My Prison Cell
Documentary Screening with Freedom Riders
Hezekiah Watkins and Rabbi Phil Posner
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6:00 p.m., Thursday, February 23, 2023

17th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival
Margaret Walker, the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival,
and the Legacy of Black Women Writers
Dr. Maryemma Graham, Keynote
Jackson State University
Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15, 2023

Catherine Coleman Initiative
Literary Arts, Food, and Justice
Jackson State University
June 4-9, 2023

53rd Annual Gibbs-Green Commemoration
Virtual Reality Unveiling, Wreath Laying, & Reception
Ayer Hall, Jackson State University
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Jubilee Picnic
Student Center Ballroom A
Jackson State University
11:30 a.m., July 7, 2023

Association of African American Museums
Annual Meeting
Nashville, Tennessee
July 26-29, 2023

Mississippi Book Festival
State Capitol Building
Jackson, Mississippi
Saturday, August 19, 2023

Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival
50th Anniversary Reconvening
Jackson State University
November 1-4, 2023

54th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., Birthday Convocation
Dr. Diedre L. Wheaton
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
10:00 a.m., Friday, January 14, 2022

27th Annual For My People Awards
Dr. Aisha Nyandoro, Mr. Dennis Dahmer, Prof. Natasha Trethewey
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6:00 p.m., Thursday, January 13, 2022

Imani Perry: South to America
Rose E. McCoy Auditorium
Sponsored by the Mississippi Book Festival and Lemuria Books
6:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 16, 2022

The Legacy of Phillis Wheatley in Africa and the African Diaspora
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
2:00 p.m., Thursday, February 24, 2022

Margaret Walker: Food, Fellowship, & Forms of Activism
Catfish Row Museum
Dr. Robert Luckett
2:00 p.m., Saturday, February 26, 2022

Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
Bravo IV: Truth and Flame
Pre-concert Discussion
Dr. Maryemma Graham and Dr. Ebony Lumumba
Mississippi Museum of Art
5:45 p.m., Saturday, March 5, 2022

Concert: “Three Songs on Poems by Margaret Walker”
Southern Song
Ex-Slave
My Truth and My Flame (I am a Black Woman)
Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
Crafton Beck, composer and director

Thalia Mara Hall
7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 5, 2022

49th annual Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival Commemoration
Tuesday to Saturday, March 22-26, 2022

Evicted Roundtable
MSU School of Architecture
4:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, 2022

16th Annual CASE Festival
Past, Present, & Future: A Legacy in Music
Featuring Nellie Mack, Rhonda Richmond, Cassandra Wilson
MWC Facebook, YouTube, and JSU Student Center
Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, 2022

Folklife and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi
Roundtable Discussion
COFO Civil Rights Education Center
6:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, 2022

52^nd annual Gibbs-Green Commemoration
Exhibit Unveiling, Wreath Laying, & Reception
Ayer Hall, Jackson State University
11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 14, 2022

Dorothy Moore Blues Trail Marker
In conjunction with Visit Jackson
FD Hall Music Center, Jackson State University
11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Thee Black Pride in Jackson
Exhibition Opening and Reception
Ayer Hall, Jackson State University
4:00 p.m., June 1, 2022

Liberty House and Craft Cooperatives
A Virtual Exhibition
Opening Conversation with Dr. Thomas Kersen
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
4:00 p.m., Thursday, June 23, 2022

Jubilee Picnic
JSU Student Center Ballroom
11:30 a.m., Thursday, July 7, 2022

Queen Mother Moore
Legacy Symposium and Celebration
New Iberia, Louisiana
Wednesday, July 27, 2022

AIDS Memorial Quilt
Panel-Making Workshop
Art Gallery F.D. Hall Music Center
Jackson State University
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 5
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, August 6

Association of African American Museums
Annual Meeting
Miami, Florida
August 10-13, 2022

Mississippi Book Festival
State Capitol Building
Jackson
Saturday, August 20, 2022

Change the Pattern
AIDS Memorial Quilt Exhibition
JSU Student Center
Wednesday, September 28, to Tuesday, October 4

The Lantern Project: An Introduction
Digital Slave Records of Mississippi
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6 p.m., Monday, October 10, 2022

Housing Insecurity in Mississippi
Starkville Strong
Opening Roundtable Discussion
Ayer Hall, Jackson State University
6 p.m., Thursday, November 10, 2022

Coffee, Chat, and Crafts: Jackson Bicentennial
Jayne Avenue Neighborhood Association
Margaret Walker Alexander Public Library
9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Saturday, November 19

26th Annual AARP Mississippi For My People Awards
Virtual program honoring Doris Derby, Dave Dennis, and David Dennis, Jr.
MWC Facebook Page
6:00 p.m., Thursday, January 14, 2021

53rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday Convocation
Virtual program featuring keynote Dave Dennis
Jackson State University Facebook Page
10:00 a.m., Friday, January 15, 2021

“May 1970: The Gibbs-Green Tragedy at Jackson State College”
Documentary Photography Exhibit by Doris Derby
Virtual Gallery Talk
6:00 p.m., Thursday, February 4, 2021

Columbia University Career Conversations Series
Virtual Panel on the Job Title “Oral Historian”
Featuring Liza Zapol (Smithsonian), Ellen Brooks (Wisconsin Library System), Shanna Farrell (UC Berkley) and Alissa Rae Funderburk (JSU)
5:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 8, 2021

Connecting Lived Experience to Action
West Virginia University Social Justice Summit #2
Virtual Summit for WVU Faculty, Staff, Students, and Community
Featured Speaker and facilitator Alissa Rae Funderburk, Oral Historian (MWC)
12:00-3:00 p.m., Thursday, February 11, 2021

A Conversation with Kiese Laymon and Jesmyn Ward
New Mississippis Project and the
African American Read-in at Augusta University
3:00 p.m., Thursday, February 17, 2021

Tomorrow’s Tomorrow at 50
Reflections with Joyce Ladner
Featuring Dr. Joyce Lander, Dr. Thornton Dill, & Shelia Bonner, moderator
MWC Facebook Page
6:00 p.m., Thursday, March 25, 2021

CASE Festival
Kiese Laymon keynote
Panel Discussion: Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground
April 9 and 10, 2021

Tracing Your Family Tree: An Introduction to Genealogy Research
Robert F. Smith Explore Your Family History Center of NMAAHC
With the Margaret Walker Center
Hannah Scruggs, Lisa Crawley, Angela Stewart, and Alissa Rae Funderburk
12:00 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2021

51^st Gibbs-Green Commemoration
Class of 1970 Commencement Ceremony
Honorary Doctorates: Phillip Gibbs and James Green
Doris Derby exhibit and gallery talk: “May 1970”
May 14 and 15, 2021

Evicted: An Exhibition
Virtual opening conversation
Alieza Durana, Princeton Eviction Lab
Margaret Walker Center, Jackson State University
6:00 p.m., Thursday, July 1, 2021

Jubilee Picnic
Margaret Walker’s 106th Birthday Celebration
Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Housing, Economic Insecurity and Activism: Voices of Those Impacted
Springboard to Opportunities
Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity
Silvina Barrera, Mississippi State School of Architecture, moderator
Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning, JSU Downtown Campus
6:00 p.m., Thursday, July 22, 2021

COFO Mural Dedication
10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 24, 2021

Students and community partners listening party, oral history project
School of Architecture, Mississippi State University, Starkville
5:00 p.m., Saturday, October 9, 2021

“Evicted: An Exhibition of the National Building Museum”
Johnson Hall Art Gallery, Jackson State University
June 28 – October 3, 2021

Telling the Story of COVID-19 and Eviction
Bracey Harris, NBC News
Nick Judin, Mississippi Free Press
Robert Luckett, Margaret Walker Center, moderator
Margaret Walker Center Facebook
6:00 p.m., Thursday, August 12, 2021

Impact of Eviction on Children and Families: The Resources Available
McKinney-Vento Homelessness Program, Jackson Public School District
Stewpot Community Services
Mississippi United to End Homelessness
Joan Wesley, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, moderator
Margaret Walker Center Facebook
6:00 p.m., Thursday, August 26, 2021

Eviction and the Law: Knowing Your Rights
John Jopling, Mississippi Center for Justice
Keisha Stokes-Hough, Southern Poverty Law Center
The Hon. Zakiya Summers, Mississippi State Representative
Kateryna Malaia, Mississippi State School of Architecture, moderator
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6:00 p.m., Thursday, September 9, 2021

The Intersection of Policy, Activism and Economic Well-Being
Dr. Gwen Bouie-Haynes, National Association of Social Workers
Matthew Campbell, Mississippi NAACP
Diane Standaert, Hope Policy Institute
Gloria Shields, Children’s Defense Fund & Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 28, 2021

October 3, 2021
Exhibition closes

Stitch Their Names Memorial Project
Quilting Exhibit
October 25 – December 17, 2021
Margaret Walker Center, Ayer Hall
Jackson State University

The Foundation of Stitching
Margaret Walker Center Facebook and YouTube
6:00 p.m., Thursday, October 28, 2021

Activism in Quilts, Art, and Music
Margaret Walker Center, Ayer Hall
Jackson State University
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Reception
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Program
Thursday, November 18, 2021

52nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday Convocation
Rose E. McCoy Auditorium
10:00 a.m., Friday, January 17, 2020

25th Annual For My People Awards
$20 tickets
JSU Student Center Ballroom
12:00 p.m., Friday, January 17, 2020

Poetry Out Loud
Central Region of Mississippi
Student Center Theater
Jackson State University
12:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 5, 2020

“Will There Ever Be Justice for Emmett Till?”
Duvalier Malone, lecture
Margaret Walker Center, Ayer Hall
6:00 p.m., Thursday, February 6, 2020

March of Remembrance
JSU Student Government Association & Campus Activities Board
50th Commemoration of the Gibbs-Green Tragedy
Gibbs-Green Memorial Plaza to Alexander Hall, Jackson State University
6:30 p.m., Thursday, February 27, 2020

“Tragedy and Triumph: The Lives of the Gibbs-Green Survivors”
Reception and Exhibition Grand Opening
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday, February 27, 2020

Grrrl Justice (POSTPONED)
Short Narrative Film Screening
Ayer Hall, Margaret Walker Center
6:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 18, 2020

14th Annual Creative Arts and Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival
(CANCELLED: The 2020 CASE Festival will be reconvened in 2021.)
Featuring JSU alumnus and artist, John Jennings
“Popular Media, Memory, and Generational Inheritances:
The Power of Intersectional Narratives”
Jackson State University Student Center
Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, 2020

“The Gibbs-Green Tragedy at 50: The Photographs of Doris Derby”
(POSTPONED)
Reception and Exhibition Grand Opening
Friday, April 3, 2020

“Jackson State and the Civil Rights Movement on the Lynch Street Corridor”
(POSTPONED)
Reception and Exhibition Grant Opening
Friday, April 3, 2020

50th Commemoration of the Gibbs-Green Tragedy Virtual Townhall
Dale Gibbs, Widow of Phillip Gibbs
Vernon Weakley, Student Survivor
Gailya Porter, Student Survivor
Lap Baker, Student Survivor
Jackson State University
7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 14, 2020

Virtual Jubilee Picnic
Margaret Walker Cooking Demonstration
Maple Nut Cake Recipe
6:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Jackson State University Facebook Page

The Diversity Project Webinar Series
August Educational Webinars
The Mississippi Plan and Rise of Jim Crow
Hosted by Leon Burnette
Featuring Dr. Robert Luckett, MWC Director
7:00 p.m., Thursday, August 13, 2020

Curating Our Culture
Minority Representation in Museums
Featuring Lance Wheeler, Adrienne Chadwick, & John Spann
12:30 p.m., Friday, August 14, 2020
www.facebook.com/jacksonadvocate

Hoge Fenton Zoom Webinar
Black Lives Matter: No More Happy Talk
Featuring Dr. Robby Luckett, Hon. Ladoris Cordell, Chris Bridges, & Dan Ballesteros
2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Talking White: An Anti-Oppression View Towards Transcribing Black Narrators
Summer Workshop Series on Anti-Oppression and Oral History
Columbia University Oral History Master’s Program
Taught by Alissa Rae Funderburk, MWC Oral Historian
3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Saturday, August 22, 2020

#WeltyatHome Book Club Discussion
Featuring Margaret Walker’s Jubilee
Eudora Welty House and Garden
Led by Dr. Robert Luckett, MWC Director
12:00 p.m., Friday, August 11, 18, and 25

Dynamic Black Women In Mississippi
Instagram Live Conversations
Hosted by Alissa Rae Funderburk, MWC Oral Historian
Featuring Aisha Carson, Amanda Furdge, & Arekia Bennett
6:00 p.m., Thursdays, August 13, 20 and 27, 2020

2020 Hall of Fame Induction honoring Margaret Walker
The MAX (Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience) Museum
Thursday, September 3, 2020

Comcast Newsmakers | Voices of the Civil Rights Movement
Equality, Identity & Hope: Race in America
Dr. Robby Luckett Director of the Margaret Walker Center
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 9, 2020

History Digest Guest Speaker: Lance Wheeler, Education & PR Manager of MWC
The Belmont Abbey College History Department
11:15 a.m., Thursday, September, 10, 2020

Gardner Institute Transformative Conversations
Institutional Commitments to Inclusivity and Equity
The guests for this session will be:
Dr. Shane Williamson, Vice President of Institutional Diversity, Lindenwood University
Dr. Robby Luckett, Director of the Margaret Walker Center & Associate Professor, JSU
1:00 to 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Grrrl Justice
Virtual short narrative film screening and panel discussion
featuring Shontina Vernon, director of Grrrl Justice; Jensen Luke Matar, TEAP-MS Advocacy Coordinator; Ayana Jones, Jackson State University student; and Arekia Bennett, Executive Director of MS Votes
6:00 p.m., Friday, September 18, 2020

Community Collaboration: The Margaret Walker Center and the Scott-Ford House, Inc.
Society of Mississippi Archivists Virtual Table Talk
Angela Stewart, Archivist, Margaret Walker Center
Dr. Alferdteen Harrison, Founder, Scott Ford House, Inc.
12:00 p.m., Friday, September 25, 2020

2020 Oral History Association Annual Meeting
“The Quest for Democracy: One Hundred Years of Struggle”
October 19-24, 2020 Virtual Meeting
MWC Oral Historian Alissa Rae Funderburk will chair the session
Education in High School and University Involves Listening:
Creating Diverse Curriculum Content in Dissertations
2:30pm to 4:00pm Wednesday, October 21, Zoom, Room 1
And present her own paper in the session
Identity & Citizenship in Religious Communities
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Thursday, October 22, Zoom, Room 1

“Popular Media, Memory, and Generational Inheritances: The Power of Intersectional Narratives”
Virtual Exhibit and Discussion
Featuring JSU alumnus and artist, John Jennings
6:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 10, 2020

75^th Anniversary of Richard Wright’s Black Boy
Jerry Ward, Charlie Braxton, Kiese Laymon,
Julia Wright, Kevin Powell, and C. Liegh McInnis (moderator)
6:00 p.m., Thursday, November 12, 2020

The Voice of Survivors: The Legacy of Gibbs-Green
50^th Commemoration of the Gibbs-Green Tragedy
Gloria Green McCray, Demetrius Gibbs,
Phillip Gibbs, Jr., and Nancy Bristow (moderator)
6:00 p.m., Thursday, December 3, 2020

2019 Programming and Events

2018 Programming and Events

2017 Programming and Events

2016 Programming and Events

2015 Programming and Events

2014 Programming and Events

2013 Programming and Events

2012 Programming and Events

2011 Programming and Events

2010 Programming and Events