The 9th Annual Africa Conference at Tennessee State University

College of Liberal Arts

Dear Colleagues,

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Welcome to the 9th Annual Africa Conference presented by the Department of History, Political Science, Geography, & Africana Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at Tennessee State University.

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade with Dr. Wosene Yefru initiated this conference in 2010 to “provide a platform from which scholars, policymakers, students, and other participants can interrogate knowledge about Africa and the African Diaspora in diverse areas of inquiry.” Beginning in 2013, Dr. Oyebade and his coconvener Dr. Gashaw Bekele have done just that with conference themes covering U. S. Foreign Policy in Africa, the New African Diaspora, Civil Rights, Development, Challenges, and Slavery. This conference epitomizes the interconnectedness and inter reliance of nations and disciplines. The Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 and 2021 brought a break in this tradition but inspired the 2022 conference theme: “Health and Health Issues in Africa and the African Diaspora.” Though temporarily moving to a virtual forum, the conference remains a vital literacy community dedicated to sharing and promoting awareness. 2023 has seen ongoing debates about race theory and historical narratives while also seeing veneration of Africa in mainstream culture. Recognizing these competing streams of thought, this year’s conference theme is “Popular Culture in Africa and the African Diaspora.”

The Africa Conference continues to draw from national and international experts while simultaneously promoting the education and scholarship of TSU faculty and students.

I want to thank Dr. Oyebade, Dr. Bekele, and all their colleagues who make this conference possible. The College of Liberal Arts appreciates the support of Academic Affairs and President Glenda Glover who understand the necessity of global thinking and awareness now more than ever before. And most importantly, we want to thank you for your participation that continues the proud tradition of this conference.

Dr. Samantha Morgan-Curtis Dean, College of Liberal Arts

College of Liberal Arts

Thursday, April 6, 2023

I am honored to join Dean Morgan-Curtis in welcoming you on behalf of the TSU College of Liberal Arts to our ninth Africa Conference.

I have had the privilege of regularly attending the Africa Conference since its first meeting in April 2012, almost exactly eleven years ago. Over that time, the conference has become a well-established institution at TSU and a high point in our academic calendar. Each year, the Africa Conference builds relationships among a global community of scholars and creates new knowledge, reflecting and expressing TSU’s identity and mission as an HBCU. For those who have been able to attend over many years, the annual arrival of the conference now also recalls valuable insights and fond memories from past meetings.

This year’s conference theme, which explores popular culture in Africa and the African diaspora, is especially appropriate for the arts, humanities, and social science disciplines that comprise our College, and the conference topics are inspiring in their potential to enrich teaching and learning in our programs. The thoughtful call for papers developed by the conference organizers and the responses of contributors have produced a truly excellent and exciting conference program.

Thank you and congratulations as always to Dr. Oyebade and Dr. Bekele for the vision, dedication, and hard work that make this remarkable event possible. And to all guests and participants, welcome and best wishes for a very successful conference.

Dr. Joel Dark Professor of History & Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Department of History, Political Science, Geography, & Africana Studies

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Dear Conference Attendee,

The Annual Africa Conference is held under the auspices of the Department of History, Political Science, Geography, and Africana Studies in the College of Liberal Arts. As chair of the department, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the edition of the conference. The department is proud to host this conference again this year. It is an event that has now become a major intellectual enterprise, not only in the state of Tennessee, but in the entire mid-south region of the United States.

Like last year, we are holding this year’s conference in a virtual format. No doubt, once again attendees will miss our usual campus events as well as the physical touch of Nashville with its world-famous country music, creative arts, Southern soul cuisine, and a rich historical past and growing cultural diversity. But this virtual format extends participation to a wider audience that cuts across the globe. Also, in no way does the virtual format diminish our ability to engage in serious discourse through formal presentations and panel discussions. It provides, as well, opportunities for informal conversations and sharing of ideas through the hall-way of the chat forum and other virtual spaces. I am confident that this conference will greatly enrich your horizon on the question of popular culture in Africa and the African Diaspora. Apart from the intellectual engagement, I hope that the conference will also afford participants the opportunity to engage in trans-Atlantic networking, collaboration, and camaraderie.

Once again, I welcome you virtually to this year’s conference.

Sincerely,

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade

Thursday, April 6, 2023

As conveners, we are delighted to welcome you to the 9th Annual Africa Conference taking place from April 6-8, 2023. Although holding virtually, as in the past it will feature the congregation of scholars from different parts of the world via the Zoom platform. We are glad that the conference continues to fulfil its mandate, that of providing a platform from which scholars and other participants can interrogate knowledge about Africa and the African Diaspora.

s conference is “Popular Culture in Africa and The African world, both in its continental and diasporic spaces, has always had a dynamic cultural tradition, which, like other societies of the world, is ever evolving, reinventing, and transforming. Youth identity and expressions have particularly been major and forceful catalysts of contemporary urban popular culture in Africa and the African Diaspora. The conference’s focus allows to turn a searchlight on pop culture in the global African world, raise cogent questions, and critically examine its multidimensional curves. Popular culture encompasses cultural representations in many dimensions including entertainment forms, media formats, leisure activities, fashion style, and other cultural indices in a fashion that embodies mass appeal and visibility. From the wide range of scheduled presentations and the keynote addresses, we believe that this exciting conference will, once again, be an intellectually engaging experience for everyone.

We wish you all an enjoyable conference.

Adebayo Oyebade Gashaw W. Bekele

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANNUAL AFRICA CONFERENCE

The Annual Africa Conference was initiated in 2012 by Dr. Adebayo Oyebade. The first conference was held on September 13, 2013, co-convened with a colleague in the department, Dr. Wosene Yefru. Subsequently, the conference has been co-convened with Dr. Gashaw Bekele. Since its inception, the conference has featured a variety of themes (see below), and has grown tremendously with participants attending from Africa, Europe, Canada, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States.

PAST CONFERENCES AND THEMES

2012| U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa in the 21st Century

2013| The New African Diaspora in the United States: Immigration, Transnational Identities, and Integration

2015| Human Rights and Civil Rights in Africa and the African Diaspora

2016| Africa in the 21st Century: The Promise of Development and Democratization

2017| Transformations in Africana Studies: Epistemology, Theory Building, and Methodology

2018| Demographic, Economic, & Security challenges in Africa

2019| Slavery in the African World: Interrogating the Past and Confronting the Present

2022| Health and Health Issues in Africa and the African Diaspora

Note: The Africa Conference was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID pandemic.

THE 2024 CONFERENCE

The call-for-papers for the 2024 conference will be issued by August 31, 2023. Please, check the conference website at Africa Conference (tnstate.edu). You may also request a copy by emailing TSUAfricaConference@Tnstate.edu

CONFERENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade, Professor of History

Dr. Gashawbeza Bekele, Professor of Geography

Dr. Rebecca Dixon, Professor of English and Women's Studies

Dr. Sekhmet Maat, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies

Dr. Kyle Murray, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Dr. Learotha Williams, Professor of History

Note: We lost two members of the advisory committee, Dr. Wosene Yefru and Ms. Pamela Bobo, late in 2020. May their souls rest in perfect peace as we remember them at this conference.

APPRECIATION

Dr. Samantha Morgan-Curtis, Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Dr. Joel Dark, Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts

The entire faculty of the Department of History, Geography, Political Science, & Africana Studies

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5455331849

08:00 am (CDT US): Conference Platform Opens

OPENING REMARKS

08:15-08:30 am (CDT, US)

01:15-01:30 pm (UK)

02:15-02:30 pm (Nigeria)

11:15-11:30 pm (Australia)

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade, Co-Conference Convener, Professor of History, Chair, Department of History, Political Science, Geography, & Africana Studies, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Dr. Samantha Morgan-Curtis, Professor of English and Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

8:30-9:15 am (CDT, US)

1:30-2:15 pm (UK)

2:30-3:15 pm (Nigeria)

11:30 pm-12:15 am, Fri. (Australia)

Introduction of Keynote Speaker

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade, Professor of History

Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Keynote Speaker

SAHEED ADERINTO

Professor of History & African/African Diaspora Studies

Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Title of Address

WHAT IS POPULAR IN AFRICAN POPULAR CULTURE? INSIGHTS FROM FUJI

Saheed Aderinto is an award-winning scholar and author who has published extensively in the field of African and Disaporan African Studies. His latest book is Animality and Colonial Subjecthood in Africa: The Human and Nonhuman Creatures of Nigeria (Ohio University Press, 2022). This work broadens the historiography of animal studies by putting a diverse array of species (dogs, horses, livestock, and wildlife) into a single analytical framework for understanding colonialism in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Apart from edited and co-edited volumes, Aderinto is the author of other books including Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria: Firearms, Culture, and Public Order (Indiana University Press, 2018), and Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). His groundbreaking book, When Sex Threatened the State: Illicit Sexuality, Nationalism, and Politics in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1958 (University of Illinois Press, 2015), won the 2016 Nigerian Studies Association's Book Award for the “most important scholarly book/work on Nigeria published in English language." Professor Aderinto is currently writing a book and making a documentary on Fuji, an African popular culture. This past February, Professor Aderinto was awarded the prestigious Dan David Prize, the largest prize in the world for excellence in historical scholarship.

Professor Aderinto obtained his MA and PhD. degrees in African History from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the Founding President of the Lagos Studies Association.

PANEL 1: WOMANISM, GENDER, AND MARRIAGE

09:30-11:45 am (CDT, US)

02:30-04:45 pm (UK)

03:30-05:45 pm (Nigeria)

12:30-02:45 am, Fri. (Australia)

Chair: Dr. Michael Bertrand, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

In the Spirit of the ‘Future is Female’: Deifying the Woman in ‘King of Boys’

Esther Abimbola-Omolara Emoruwa, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

“Objectified Jezebels”: Platformised Women representations in Mrmacaroni Comedy Skit Videos

Godwin I. Simon, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Popular Culture and Fémicriture: Women Beninese Writers of La Francophonie

Sarah Djos-Raph, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana

Cultural Imperatives in Marriage among the Igbo of Nigeria

Ngozi Anyachonkeya, Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Afikpo, Nigeria

Dynamics of Forced Marriage in Igbo Society: Perspectives from Ubesie’s Ụkpaka Mịịrị Onye Ụbịam

Ujubonu Okide, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Iwolefu: A Matriarchal Burial Support System in Remo, South–West, Nigeria

Olubunmi Omotola, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria

PANEL 2: CARNIVALISM, FASHION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND PHOTOGRAPHY

12:00-01:55 pm (CDT, US)

05:00-06:55 pm (UK)

06:00-07:55 pm (Nigeria)

03:00-04:55 am, Fri. (Australia)

Chair: Dr. Kyle Murray, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

Fancy Dress Carnival: Takoradi’s Christmas Religion

Emmanuel Kumah, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

Monetization of African Creative Industries in the World

Bamidélé Aly, Independent Researcher

Representing Blackness: Photography, social media, and Ideas About Beauty

Cynthia Gadsden, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Black German Rap, the Message, and the Struggle for Recognition in Germany

Chiedozie M. Uhuegbu, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee

Nigerian Cultural Values and the Challenge of Globalization

Egbule Onyekachukwu, University of Delta, Agbor, Nigeria

PANEL 3: SPORTS, RECREATION, AND POLITICS

08:00-09:55 am (CDT, US)

01:00-02:55 pm (UK)

02:00-03:55 pm (Nigeria)

11:00 pm-12:55 am, Sat. (Australia)

Chair: Dr. Rebecca Dixon, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

Fighting for a Swim: The Building of a Swimming Pool in Soweto

Tyler Fleming, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

Popular Culture without Silverware: Interrogating Nigerian Football in Pre-Civil War Era

Yomi Ejikunle, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

‘The Cost of Two Suzuki’s:’ Bribery, Counterfeiting and Igbo Circulatory Migration to West Cameroon following the Biafran War

James K. Blackwell, Jr., Winston Salem State University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

‘Your Street is Not My Street:’ Space-Claiming and Politics in Nigerian Popular Culture

Bankole Wright, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Cultural Dissonance and Role Conflict Among Nigerian Diasporic Families in America

A.A. Adebajo, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria

PANEL 4: EDUCATION, RELIGION, AND GOVERNANCE

10:00-11:55 am (CDT, US)

03:00-04:55 pm (UK)

04:00-05:55 pm (Nigeria)

01:00-02:55 am, Sat. (Australia)

Chair:

Dr. KT Ewing, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

Biblical Studies, Educational Training and AIDS Awareness: The Power of Faith Based and Educational Partnerships

Twianie Roberts, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Islamic Songs, Religious Change and the Yoruba Muslims in Nigeria Since the 1970s

Adeyemi Balogun, Osun State University, Ikire, Nigeria

The Culture of Godfatherism and its Implications on Peaceful Election in Post Military Era in Nigeria

Oluwasegun Ogunsakin, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Adewale Adepoju, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria

The New Musicology: Music Discourse Theory and the College Classroom

Yinka Agbetuyi, The Edutronix Institute, London, United Kingdom

Moral and Social Values for National Development: A Mandate for Social Studies Education I'm Nigeria

Olusegun Olowo, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Nigeria

PANEL 5: PERFORMANCES AND GENRES OF CULTURAL RENDITIONS

12:00-01:55 pm (CDT, US)

05:00-06:55 pm (UK)

06:00-07:55 pm (Nigeria/Tunisia)

03:00-04:55 am, Sat. (Australia)

Chair: Dr. Learotha Williams, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

Militainment as Foreign Policy Propaganda Tool: A Critique of Russia's Film on Central African Republic Conflict

A.O. Adenuga & A.A. Adebajo, Tai Solarin University, Ijagun, Nigeria

When Motion Meets Sound: The Social History of Fuji Musical Videos Since 1988

Saheed Aderinto, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

The Role of Music and Songs in Christianity

Olátúnjí Akinwumi, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti, Nigeria

Traditional Performing Arts Music and Dance as Predictor of Communal Living Among Indigenous Yoruba Communities in Oyo State Nigeria

Isaiah Ojedokun, University Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Reflections on Ijala and Oriki as Sources of Historical Reconstruction: Amuye Faforiji in Perspective 1905-1950s

Tadese Faforiji, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Akoko, Nigeria

Sunday Ogunode, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Akoko Nigeria

PANEL 6: AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

08:00-09:55 am (CDT, US)

01:00-02:55 pm (UK)

02:00-03:55 pm (Nigeria)

11:00pm-12:55 am, Sat. (Australia)

Chair:

Dr. Sekhmet Maat, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

High John the Conquer: Transgressive, Transformative, a Model of Hope

Rebecca S. Dixon, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

“I Wanna Be Ready”: Black Cultural History in P. DJeli Clark’s novella Ring Shout

Jennifer L. Hayes, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Coming to America: Addressing Stereotypes and the Hype within the African Diaspora

Zeba Shahbaaz, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Octavia Butler and the Popular yet Revolutionary Tradition of African American Utopian Literature

Olufemi Oyebade, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

The South, the Gift of Black Music, and the Myth of the “White Man’s Country”

Michael T. Bertrand, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

PANEL 7: DIGITAL CULTURE AND COMIC ART

10:00-11:55 am (CDT, US)

03:00-04:55 pm (UK)

04:00-05:55 pm (Nigeria)

01:00-02:55 am, Sat. (Australia)

Chair:

Dr. Olufemi Oyebade, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Panelists:

Telling the Black Truth: Richard Durham

Jacquelyn Johnson, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

From Man to Superman

Kalonji McClellan, Independent Researcher

Decolonizing Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’: A Transdisciplinary Team-Teaching Approach

Emily F. Murray, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

Kyle Patrick Murray, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee

The Emerging Digital Cultural Transformation in Africa: An Analysis of the Impact of the Internet and Digital Culture in Nigeria, 1996-2021

Israel Saibu, Anchor University, Lagos Nigeria

Felix Bayode Oke, Loyola University, Chicago

Strategies for Mitigating the Effect of Digital Divide on the Spread of Popular Culture in Rural Communities in Nigeria

Opeyemi Iroju, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Oluwaseun Ojerinde, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

Olaronke Iroju, Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo, Nigeria

PANEL 8: BLACK FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

12:00-01:15 am (CDT, US)

05:00-06:15 pm (UK)

06:00-07:15 pm (Nigeria)

03:00-04:15 am, Sun. (Australia)

Chair: Dr. Dannielle Joy Davis, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

Panelists:

Black Families and Diasporic Knowledge Generation

Dannielle Joy Davis, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

Jordan Tejeda, AYA Educational Institute & The Circle of Excellence

Brooklyn Thompson, The Circle of Excellence

Family Stress and Coping Among Blacks Across the Diaspora

Cassandra Chaney, Louisiana State University, St. Louis, Missouri

Healing Afro-Caribbean Mother-Daughter Relationships

Erica McBride, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri

CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

01:30-02:15 pm (CDT, US)

06:30-07:15 pm (UK)

07:30-08:15 pm (Nigeria)

04:30-05:15 am, Sun. (Australia)

Introduction of Keynote Speaker

Dr. Gashawbeza Bekele, Professor of Geography

Tennessee State University

Keynote Speaker

DR. PAMELA NEWKIRK

Professor of Journalism, Center for the Humanities

New York University

Title of Address

BLACK PORTRAYALS IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF HISTORY

Pamela Newkirk is a journalist, professor, author, and multi-disciplinary scholar whose work examines contemporary and historical depictions of African Americans in popular culture. Her latest book, Diversity Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business, exposes the decadesold practices and attitudes that have made diversity a lucrative business while they fail to realize diversity. The book was included on TIME Magazine’s “Must-Read” books of 2019, and featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and TIME. Her previous book, Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, was awarded the 2016 NAACP Image Award, and was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and named a Best Book of 2015 by National Public Radio (NPR), The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Dr. Newkirk has compiled and edited two collections of African American letters, and is also the author of Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media, which won the National Press Club Award for Media Criticism, and was recently optioned for a feature film. Her articles have appeared in a number of leading publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and TIME magazine.

Prior to joining the journalism faculty at New York University, Dr. Newkirk was a daily reporter at four news organizations including New York Newsday, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prizewinning reporting team. She holds journalism degrees from Columbia and New York universities, and a PhD from Columbia University.

CLOSING REMARKS

02:15-02:30 pm (CDT, US)

07:15-07:30 pm (UK)

08:15-08:30 pm (Nigeria)

05:15-05:30 am, Sun. (Australia)

Dr. Joel Dark, Professor of History and Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Tennessee State University

Dr. Adebayo Oyebade, Professor of History, Chair, Department of History, Political Science, Geography, & Africana Studies, Tennessee State University

Journal Announcement

The Annual Africa Conference announces its journal, Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies, an open access, peer-reviewed online publication. The journal will offer a unique perspective to historical and contemporary issues of political, economic, social, and cultural significance to Africa and the African Diaspora. It will publish full-length original research articles of 20-30 double-spaced pages, and book reviews of 1-4 double-spaced pages. Two issues will be published per year, in January and July. The inaugural issue of the journal scheduled for publication in July 2023, will be devoted to Health and Health Issues in Africa and the African Diaspora, the theme of the 2022 conference. The January volumes will be special issues devoted to papers presented at the Annual Africa Conference on the theme of the conference. Accordingly, we invite conference presenters who wish to have their papers considered for publication in the journal to submit them for peer review no later that June 1, 2023. Papers should be prepared in Microsoft Word format and submitted as email attachment to TSUAfricaConference@Tnstate.edu

Editors

Editor-in Chief: Adebayo Oyebade

Associate Editor: Gashawbeza Bekele

Managing Editor: Adebayo Oyebade

Further information and instructions for contributors will be forwarded to the participants after the conference.

Previous Conference Speakers

2012 Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Toyin Falola

The Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities University Distinguished Teaching Professor University of Texas at Austin

2012 Plenary Keynote Speaker

Ambassador Neneh MacDouall-Gaye Former Gambian Ambassador to the United States

2013 Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Akanmu Adebayo Professor of History Former Director, Center for Conflict Management Kennesaw State University.

2013 Plenary Keynote Speaker

Dr. Peter Nwosu Former Professor of Communications Former Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Tennessee State University

2015 Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Bessie House-Soremekun Professor and Associate Dean College of Liberal Arts Jackson State University

2015: Plenary Keynote Speaker

Mrs. Elizabeth Harbour McClain Retired Professor of History, Tennessee State University.

2016: Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Mayowa Ogedengbe Adjunct Professor of Africology Temple University

2016: Plenary Keynote Speaker

Dr. Olayiwola Abegunrin Late Professor of Political Science Howard University

Late professor of history

Former Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Tennessee State University

Africology & African American Studies

East Michigan University

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

2017: Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Bobby L. Lovett

2017 Plenary Keynote Speaker

Dr. Victor Oguejiofor Okafor Professor & Department Head

2018: Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Abiodun Alao Professor of African Studies Director of the African Leadership Center s College, University of London, UK

2018: Plenary Keynote Speaker

Dr. Kidane-Mariam Retired Professor of Geography

Department

Tennessee

2019: Plenary Keynote Speaker

Dr. K.T. Ewing Associate Professor of history Tennessee State University

2019 Banquet Keynote Speaker

Dr. Jane Landers Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor Department of History

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

2022 Opening Keynote Speaker

Dr. Wendelyn Inman Professor of Public Health

of Public Health, Health Administration & Health Sciences

State University, Nashville, Tennessee

2022 Closing Keynote Speaker

Dr. James E. Atolagbe Professor of Public Health & Preventive Care Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences

Adeleke University, Ede, Nigeria