Kuumba Speakers Series

Dr. Philip J. Merrill is a nationally recognized expert in African American memorabilia and history.  His specialties include African American historical research, oral history and collecting and interpreting cultural artifacts.  He was an appraiser with the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow  from 1996-2001, where he created the category for Black Memorabilia.  He has lectured extensively on African American history and collectibles. 
 

Ray Winbush is an scholar/activist and directs the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University in Baltimore Maryland. He is the father of three children, Omari, Sharifa and Faraji Winbush. He has published books on raising Black boys as well as edited, "Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations."
 

 Askia M. Toure is one of the pioneers of the Black Arts/Black Aesthetics movement and the Africana Studies movement.

Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, University Professor Emerita, Morgan State University, completed her Ph.D in Afro-American History at Howard University, where she wrote the dissertation, “Afro-Americans in the Struggle for Woman Suffrage.”  A scholar in African American and African Diaspora Women's History, she has taught a generation of undergraduate and graduate students at MSU, where she lead in the development of the Ph D in History, which,

Freedom Speaks is a full-time poet who has performed spoken word on Robert Townsend's “Spoken” on The Black Family Channel, opened for Def Poetry Jam on Broadway at Atlanta's Fox Theatre, opened for the U.S.

Dr. Stovall is Professor of Political Science and chairs the social science division at Rust College.

Dr. La Francis Rodgers-Rose, a clinical sociologist, professor, community leader, consultant and author, is a graduate of Morgan State University , Fisk University and the University of Iowa . She has more than thirty years of teaching experience, having taught at Case Western Reserve, Rutgers , and the University of Pennsylvania . Dr.

A native of Gary, Indiana, Teresa Reed’s professional life has been shaped both by her Pentecostal upbringing and her love for music. She received her Ph.D. in Music Theory, Music History & Literature, and African American Studies from Indiana University. Since 1996, Dr.

Mr. Morrison is an actor, hip-hop theatre artist, and playwright. He is the Master Teaching Artist and a commissioned writer with Arena Stage in Washington DC.

Portia K. Maultsby is Professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and Director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University where she also is adjunct professor of African American and Africa Diaspora, American and African Studies. She received Ph.D. degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.