Humanities Teacher Award winner Dr. Shanna Louise Smith (Jackson State University) will present her public lecture titled, “Violence, Victory, and Voice: Millennials and Social Justice in Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give.” Reception to follow
Violence, Voice, & Victory: Millennials and Social Justice in Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give interrogates how millennials come to voice in ways that challenge social issues that feature, impact, and represent them specifically. When Baby Booming and Gen X figureheads fail to articulate her truth, and use thug imagery to cast a pall over the image/reputation of her murdered friend, Khalil, Starr determines to speak for him – and herself. This presentation maps contemporary expressions of orality as both social justice weaponry and an intersectional positioning that places a black teenage girl as the vocal, moral center. Starr’s action answers the call of Margaret Walker Alexander, who demands, after campus protests leave two young black men dead, “What is your role as students in this black struggle for freedom?” (“Reflections on May 1970: The Jackson State University Massacre” 181).
