2025 Memorialization Gathering
September 5-7, 2025
Oxford, Mississippi
In a time of rising resistance to truth-telling and historical reckoning, communities across Mississippi and the South are sustaining efforts to remember, reflect, and resist. “Mississippi Remembers: Black Student Resistance and Community Memorialization” brings together two powerful gatherings in Oxford, Mississippi, uniting activists, scholars, descendants, and community members to explore the past and chart a path forward.
The 2025 Memorialization Gathering, hosted by the Lafayette Community Remembrance Project (LCRP), brings together communities engaged in truth-telling and historical racial justice work. The 1970 at Fifty-Five Symposium, taking place during the gathering on Saturday, September 6, marks 55 years since the end of massive resistance in Mississippi and uplifts the role of Black student activism in transforming university campuses during and after integration.
Together, we will explore:
How communities are reckoning with the past through memorialization and site-based storytelling
The legacy of Black student activism and resistance in 1970 at higher education institutions across Mississippi
Methods, strategies, and tools for preserving memory and catalyzing justice
What collective healing and justice look like in our current moment
Join us for three days of plenaries, breakout sessions, tours, and creative exhibitions to deepen our shared commitment to remembering.
Register by August 22 if you plan to join us for meals during the gathering.
Schedule Overview
Friday, September 5, 2025
8am-4:30pm pre-convening historical tour ($25 cost)
6pm-7:30pm Opening Plenary & Dinner
7:30pm-9pm Film Screening & Discussion
Saturday, September 6, 2025
8:30am-9:15am Morning Plenary
9:30am-10:45am Breakout Sessions - Block 1
11am-12:15am Breakout Sessions - Block 2
12:15pm-1:30pm Lunch Plenary
1:45pm-3:00pm Breakout Sessions - Block 3
3:15pm-4:30pm Breakout Sessions - Block 4
4:45pm-6:00pm Center for the Study of Southern Culture Campus Tour
6:15pm-7:30pm Unmasked Art Exhibit Reception
Sunday, September 7, 2025
9:00am-10:30am Closing Plenary Brunch
10:45am-12:30pm Lafayette County Memorization Tour ($5 cost)
Pre-convening Historical Tour - “Legacies of Resistance and Remembrance”
This one-day historical tour invites participants to explore the enduring legacies of Emmett Till and Fannie Lou Hamer by visiting key sites of racial terror, resistance, and remembrance across the Mississippi Delta. Departing from Oxford, Mississippi, the journey begins in Sumner, where the tragic story of Emmett Till’s murder and the miscarriage of justice that followed come to life through a visit to the Sumner Courthouse, site of the 1955 trail, and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. Next, the tour continues to Greenwood, where participants will view the Emmett Till Statue at Rail Spike Park, a powerful tribute to his memory and a symbol of ongoing public reckoning. A lunch break in Greenwood offers time to rest and reflect before heading to Winona, the site of Fannie Lou Hamer’s brutal 1963 arrest and beating. Stops in Winona include the Brutality in Winona Marker and the Former Jail Site Historical Marker, where participants will learn about the violence faced by civil rights activists and the courage that carried the movement forward.
Through facilitated discussion and guided stops, this tour offers an opportunity to honor the lives lost, recognize the resilience of those who fought for justice, and reflect on how their stories continue to shape the struggle for freedom today. Space is limited, and a $25 registration fee is required to reserve a seat. The $25 registration fee includes round-trip transportation to and from Oxford, and lunch in Greenwood, MS.
Breakout Session Tracks
As part of the joint gathering, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a series of breakout sessions organized into three thematic tracks. These tracks are designed to foster deep learning, connection, and collaboration across different approaches to memory work, resistance, and justice. Attendees can choose sessions within a single track or mix and match across all three.
Track One: Student Resistance in 1970
This track explores how Black student activists challenged racism and forced institutional change on Mississippi college campuses during a pivotal year. Sessions reflect on the legacy of 1970 and its lessons for student organizing today.
Track Two: Community Memorialization
This track features grassroots efforts to honor victims of racial violence and preserve local histories of injustice. Participants will share how communities are using memory to promote healing and social change.
Track Three: Tools for Remembrance Work
This track provides practical strategies and resources for those involved in or starting remembrance or memorialization efforts. Sessions focus on methods, ethics, and support for sustaining truth-telling in challenging times.
COST: Registration and attendance for convening plenaries, sessions, and the reception are free of charge. Attendees will be responsible for their own travel and lodging.
LODGING: There is a room block available at a reduced rate of $144 per night, plus taxes and fees at the Hampton Inn Oxford Conference Center (662-234-5565). You can make, modify, and cancel reservations online for the Hampton Inn Oxford Conference Center (https://group.hamptoninn.com/hc6c4b) or by calling the hotel and requesting the Lafayette Community Remembrance Project block. The room block expires on Tuesday, August 4, 2025 at 5:00pm CT.