A virtual forum marking Juneteenth will examine Black women’s literary traditions as expressions of resistance, cultural memory and intellectual continuity. The program arrives amid ongoing national debate over voting access, education policy and how American history is taught and interpreted in public institutions.
The featured presentation, Juneteenth: Resistance & Resilience in Black Women’s Literature, will be led by Dr. Brenda M. Greene. It will explore how Black women writers have used poetry, fiction, essays and journalism to document lived experience, confront inequality and expand the boundaries of historical narrative.
The discussion will draw on a wide literary tradition that includes Harriet Jacobs, Ida B. Wells, Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. Their collective work reflects a sustained engagement with questions of freedom, identity and social transformation across generations.
“Our writers have always given us ways to expose the truth; to explore our joy, our pain and our fears; to bear witness to our stories; to reclaim and complicate the past; to offer counternarratives; to raise awareness of critical social and political issues; and to enable us to confront the deepest part of ourselves: our secrets, our anxieties and our personal and collective memories,” said Greene.
The forum is described as a space for reflection on how literature functions simultaneously as record, critique and intervention. It highlights storytelling as a tool for preserving history, challenging erasure and shaping public understanding of Black life and experience.
The program will also engage the legacy of Malcolm X through the scholarship and writing of Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz. Her work revisits his intellectual evolution and situates it within broader conversations about justice, political consciousness and historical interpretation.
The virtual event is scheduled for June 11 from 2:00 to 3:30pm. It will bring together writers and readers for a discussion on the enduring influence of Black women’s literature and its role in shaping cultural and historical understanding today.
Such events matter because they preserve history that might otherwise be overlooked and they create space for dialogue across generations.
Literature is connected to lived experience and present-day realities. It encourages reflection on identity, justice and belonging.
