Past Symposiums
March 25-28, 2008
Theme: The Powerless Majority: The Black and Latino Experience in America
Speaker: Ron Kirk
April 26-27, 2007
Theme: Bridging Economic Disparity Through Education
Speaker: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
April 24-28, 2006
Theme: Health Care Disparities: A Civil Rights Issue
Speaker: Dr. Deborah Prothow-Stith
April 25-29, 2005
Theme: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
Speaker: U.S. Representative John Lewis
April 20-23, 2004
Theme: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision
Speaker: Dr. John Hope Franklin
April 23-25, 2003
Theme: PROGRESSION VERSUS REGRESSION: The State of the African American Community
Speaker: Ed Gordon
April 11-19, 2002
Theme: Reparations: Does America Owe African Americans a Debt?
Speaker: Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.
April 17-20, 2001
Theme: Capital Punishment In Texas: Is Justice Served?
Speaker: John Artis
April 11-14, 2000
Theme: The New Civil Rights—Fifty Years After the Sweatt Decision
Speaker: Dick Gregory
April 12-16, 1999
Theme: The Role of Art and Artist’s in the Struggle A Retrospective Look at Civil Rights in the 20th Century
Speaker: Nikki Giovanni
April 16-17, 1998
Theme: From Sweatt to Hopwood to Success: Solutions for Creating a Diverse University
Speaker: Wilhelmina Delco
April 17, 1997
Theme: Heroes in Action: Building a Community of Respect and Dignity
Speaker: Performance of Camp Logan
April 26, 1996
Theme: A Celebration of African American Music: Songs from the Soul in the Struggle for Justice
Speaker: Barbara Conrad
April 19, 1995
Theme: Civil Rights Revisited
Speaker: Jesse Jackson
April 1-8, 1994
Theme: Images of Blackness: Past, Present & Future
Speakers: Bell Hooks, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
March 24-25, 1993
Theme: Beyond Kente: A Cultural Continuum from Ghana to Texas
Speakers: Kofi Awoonor, Randall Robinson
Performance By: The Ghana National Dance Ensemble
April 2-3, 1992
Theme: A Sense of Origins - The African Global Presence
Speakers: Joseph E. Harris, Howard Dodson, Jr., Olly W. Wilson and Deborah L. Mack
April 3-4, 1991
Theme: Community, Self-Help and Entrepreneurship: The Roots of Civil Rights
Speakers: Robert L. Woodson: "Resurrection of the Black Self-Help Tradition," followed by a panel discussion moderated by John Q. Taylor King
March 29-30, 1990
Theme: Multiculturalism: Different Cultures Sharing Common Ground
Speaker: Dr. Samuel D. Proctor: "Education and the Pursuit of Genuine Community in America," followed by a panel discussion moderated by Betty Sue Flowers
March 30-31, 1989
Theme: The African-American Experience: The Paradox of Civil Rights
Speaker: William J. Wilson: "The Inner City Ghetto," followed by a panel discussion moderated by Ray Marshall