Chair
Dr. Douglass Sullivan-González, Professor of History – University of Mississippi
Oxford, MS
Vice-Chair
Dr. Mary Graham President, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Perkinston, MS
Treasurer
Dr. Temika Simmons Director, Mississippi Delta Community College – Greenville Campus
Greenville, MS
Secretary
Dr. Ebony Lumumba Chair, Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Speech Communication, Jackson State University
Jackson, MS
Mr. George Bassi Director, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
Laurel, MS
Ms. Melanie Deas Link Centre Executive Director
Tupelo, MS
Ms. Linda Fondren Founder, Catfish Row Museum
Vicksburg, MS
Ms. Juanita Floyd CREATE Foundation
Tupelo, MS
Dr. Miranda Freeman English Professor and Dean of Humanities at Tougaloo College
Tougaloo, MS
*Ms. Kathy Henry
Madison, MS
*Ms. Betty Lou Jones
Meridian, MS
Dr. Tim Lampkin CEO, Higher Purpose Co.
Clarksdale, MS
Ms. Nina Parikh Mississippi Film Office Director
Jackson, MS
*Mr. Brian Perry Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce Chief of Staff
Jackson, MS
Dr. Michael Pickard Millsaps, Eudora Welty Chair of Southern Literature and associate professor of English and creative writing
Jackson, MS
Ms. Malika Polk-Lee Executive Director, B.B. King Museum
Indianola, MS
Dr. Donald Shaffer Professor of English & African American Studies, MS State University
Starkville, MS
Professor Deanne Stephens University of Southern Mississippi
Biloxi, MS
*Dr. Blake Thompson President, Mississippi College
Clinton, MS
Ms. Carla Wall Community Leader
Jackson, MS
*Ms. Shannon Warnock Community Leader
Ridgeland, MS
Mr. Jay Wesley Director, Chahta Immi for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Choctaw, MS