This event will explore disability as a dimension of intersectional identity. Imani will discuss her perspective on the overarching question: “What does it mean to be disabled?” 

Musical legends Chuck D, KRS-One and Wise Intelligent discuss cultural sustainability and political resistance, followed by a talent exhibition with all three artists joined by renowned hip-hop dance company Urban Artistry.

Pennsylvania is among the most punitive states in the nation, and those incarcerated and under the supervision of the state are disproportionately Black and brown. Many believe that, at minimum, a reduction in the incarcerated population is critical to any shared just future. Our symposium will not only focus on the devastating impacts of the carceral state, but it will also highlight work that builds hope and mitigates harm, increases the capacity of communities to wage a more effective fight, and prepares the way for incarcerated people to return home as welcome contributors to their communities.

Tina Horn is a queer feminist writer, activist, educator, and media maker. In her acclaimed comic book series, SfSx (Safe Sex), Horn captures a dystopian America of the future, in which sexuality is severely bureaucratized, policed, and criminalized by a conservative political group known as The Party. Horn’s keynote lecture will touch upon the topics of printing and publishing sexual material, censorship, sex work as work, and comics as a political medium, with the SfSx comic series as a central component.

Theresa Ruth Howard is the international advocate and strategist behind the movement to reform the culture of ballet. Her lecture “Ballet and Belonging: A Conversation with Activist Diversity and Cultural Strategist Theresa Ruth Howard (Cultural Competency in Ballet)” will examine the ways in which institutionalized racism and implicit bias present in ballet and also the contributions of Blacks in ballet.

Born in 1968 in Trinidad and Tobago, Karyn Olivier is an artist who transforms ordinary objects and public spaces. Often repurposing materials from the waste stream, her sculptures and installations engage viewers with a range of issues, including the plight of international refugees, the legacy of slavery, the role of public monuments, and unsustainable construction practices.

Choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew have created, in “Radioactive Practice,” a genre-bending work that brings together a mosaic group of dancers to redefine purpose for themselves as they labor their way through complex, demanding, and often perplexing physicality as a means to confront expectations and dive into the unknown head-on. Utilizing the skills they have honed through their practices in movement traditions including (but not limited to) hip-hop, post-modern dance, contemporary African forms, tap, synchronized swimming, soccer, and martial arts, the cast draws from an arsenal of physical possibility to shatter assumptions of established forms and test the group’s own physical and mental limits. Working with Senegalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturge, this work embodies the amalgam of contemporary living.

This symposium showcases Africa’s dynamic trajectory and fosters collaborations for sustainable development. With two main themes — the power of civil society in fighting humanitarian crises and charting Africa’s future — the symposium will feature renowned speakers, engaging workshops, and innovative programming.

Participants can expect an immersive experience that celebrates Africa’s progress, inspires collective action, and drives meaningful change across such sectors as inclusive growth, entrepreneurship, technology, and cultural heritage.

Prof. Robin Wall Kimmerer is the author of the bestselling collection of essays Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. She is also a distinguished teaching professor and director for the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Wall Kimmerer will focus her talk on ways Indigenous knowledge might contribute to a transformation in how we view our relationship to consumption, and move us away from a profoundly dishonorable relationship with the Earth.