Conferences & Events

25 Year Anniversary Celebration of the Alex Haley Memorial

25 Year Anniversary Celebration of the Alex Haley Memorial

Join the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Alex Haley Memorial.

Date: Monday, December 09, 2024
Time: 1 PM
Location: Annapolis City Dock
Address: 1 Dock Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Map: Get directions via Google Maps

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Omékongo Dibinga, the UPstander

Dr. Omékongo Dibinga

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Omékongo Dibinga is the UPstander. His life’s mission is to inspire all across the globe to take a stand when they witness an injustice, no matter how small or large. A motivational speaker, trilingual poet, TV talk show host, rapper, and professor of cross-cultural communication at American University. Having studied at Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Georgetown, Morehouse, and The Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he earned his M.A. in Law & Diplomacy, Dr. Dibinga earned his Ph.D. in International Education Policy at The University of Maryland (UMD) where his dissertation centered on the global hip-hop phenomenon and Jay-Z. While at UMD, he also worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Teaching Diverse Students Initiative,” later working for four years as the lead Teaching Assistant to Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at Georgetown University.

His Urban Music Award-winning work has been described by Nikki Giovanni as “outstanding, exciting, and new while being very old.” Essence Magazine described his book, From the Limbs of My Poetree, as “a remarkable and insightful collection of exquisite poetry that touches sacred places within your spirit.”  Omékongo’s writings and performances have appeared in O Magazine, and on TV and radio as well, from CNN, BET, and the BBC to NPR, Music Choice, and Voice of America in millions of households in over 150 countries. He is one of 5 international recipients of 750,000 to win the first-ever “CNN iReport Spirit Award,” receiving over 1,000,000 views on CNN.com.

He provides leadership, educational, and diversity empowerment as a consultant and motivational speaker for organizations, associations, and institutions, and has been featured and/or lectured nationwide in venues from TEDx and Harvard to Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit and the Nuyorican Poets Café. His rap mixtape series, “Bootleg,” promotes positive hip-hop with remixes of songs by 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, and others.

For more information, please visit his website at https://omekongo.com/.

Featured & Special Guests

The Poet Laureate of Maryland, Lady Brion
Award Winning Author & Chef, Michael W. Twitty
Dr. David O. Fakunle, Ph.D., Chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission
The Official Delegation of The Gambia

A free reception will follow immediately after the dock celebration.

Location: Banneker Douglass Tubman Museum
Address: 84 Franklin Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Map: Get directions via Google Maps
RSVP: RECEPTION CAPACITY REACHED. REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.