The day was bright and a libation ceremony was the perfect way to usher in the divine spirit of the past, while basking in the present and looking to the promise of the future. Dr. Brian Kwoba, director of the African American Studies Department at the University of Memphis, and Ekpe Abioto, local culturalist and “edu-tainer” led the ceremony. After calling on the ancestors and a present youth for permission to begin the celebration, it was declared that hearts and minds were clear and ready to receive.
“Happy Black History Month! It’s still legal to say that, right?” exclaimed Joy-Ann M. Lomena Reid to the 350-person crowd on the first (thawed out) Saturday of February. People were ecstatic to be “outside” in the Michael D. Rose Theatre at the University of Memphis on Feb. 7, and even more enthralled to see and hear from Reid, formerly of MSNBC’s “The Reidout,” and current host of The Joy Reid Show.
Reid is the recipient of the 2024 Hooks Institute for Social Change Book Award for her third and most recent book “Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America,” a No.1 New York Times Best Seller…