“On behalf of California State University Stanislaus and the Department of History we write to thank you for your exceptional presentation for Black History Month, February 9, 2016. Students and faculty alike have offered many favorable comments on your presentation, entitled, “21st Century Lynchings? Meditations on Police Shootings of Unarmed Black Men.” Your keynote address was timely and drew larger than normal attendance as evidenced by the deluge of people surrounding you with questions following the event. Furthermore, it served to inspire opportunities for class discussions and great contemplation on linking past precedents to inform current circumstances.”
Dr. Marjorie Sanchez Walker
History Chair, California State University
“Dr. Karlos Hill visited our campus on February 9, 2016 as a keynote speaker for our campus’s annual observation of Black History Month. The talk, titled “21st-Century Lynchings? Meditations on Police Shootings of Unarmed Black Men,” was cogently presented and very well attended. Its explanation for the application of the historically grounded and emotionally-charged term “lynching” to recent episodes of racial violence is compelling and generated considerable discussion afterward. The quality of this talk was important in making our BHM event a success.”
Dr. Bret Carroll
Chair of Black History Month, California State University
“Dr. Hill’s engaging lecture “The Lynching Blues: Robert Johnson’s ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ as Anti-Lynching Protest” was the highlight of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture’s Blues Today Symposium at the University of Mississippi in 2015. Hill’s insights prompted students and faculty alike to think more deeply about blues as protest music. We’ll not soon forget his visit to our campus.”
James G. Thomas
Associate Director, Center of the Study of Southern Culture
“Dr. Hill took part in a panel presentation at the Bullock Museum in the summer of 2014 which set up a framework through which our audience could analyze updates to our interpretation of late 19th and early 20th century Texas history—specifically, the history of the KKK and its ongoing importance in Texas history. Dr. Hill provided a succinct and well-delivered overview from his perspective as a historian of lynching and addressed questions from both a moderator and from the audience, giving an understanding of a very violent time in our state’s history that brought the moment to life without sensationalizing it. His knowledge of and passion for his topic was clear and the conversation following the program (always one of our greatest markers of success) was robust.”
Kate Betz
Head of Education, The Bullock Texas State History Museum
Speaking
Campuses and organizations
across America are tasked not
only with educating people
through speaking, events and
initiatives – but inspiring a
deeper change in their systems
and communities.
Journalists, filmmakers,
and storytellers are seeking
historical perspective to more
clearly illuminate what is
significant about the story
they have to tell – on topics
from race in America, to police
brutality, to reconciliation
and repair.
LEARN HOW KARLOS K. HILL CAN SPEAK
at your next event or lecture series, be a guest on your show, or
contribute to your story – with a historical perspective
that powerfully connects the past to current events today.
Speaking Topics
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The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre:
Lessons and Legacies: In 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood District “Black Wall Street” was one of the most affluent black communities in America. However, on May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked Greenwood and as a result nearly every significant structure within the community was destroyed and as many of three hundred people were killed. Nearly one hundred years later, the race massacre continues to reverberate. Dr. Hill’s presentation will discuss the history of the race massacre, the lessons the history offers, and the current-day legacies that must be confronted.
Additional Topics May Include:
From anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, African Americans have been some of the most ardent supporters of the second amendment. Black support for gun rights belies that fact that they have been disproportionately victims of gun-related fatalities. In a thought provoking lecture, Dr. Hill explains how Americans can gain greater clarity on the gun debate by understanding the black historical experience.
Despite the fact that it is more likely that a domestic terrorist is a young white male and that white Americans have a more extensive history of terrorism against people of color in the U.S., Arab Americans are routinely portrayed as terrorists. In a wide-ranging discussion of topics such as the history Ku Klux Klan to contemporary white prison gangs, Dr. Hill debunks the pervasive myth of the Arab terrorist.
Today and in recent years, black-on-black homicides are the leading cause of death among black males between the ages 15 and 34. The vast majority of these deaths involve a hand gun. Dr. Hill explains why black America is experiencing unprecedented rates of handgun violence and steps black communities afflicted with the epidemic are taking to make their communities safer.
Black Lives Matter activists contend that better officer training is not enough to solve the problem of police brutality. Rather true change, won’t arrive until police officers officers who clearly violate established protocols are held accountable for using deadly force against non-threatening and unarmed blacks. Dr. Hill explains what has happened and what needs to happen to transform policing in America.
Since the police killing of unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown and especially after the police killing of 12 year old Tamir Rice, black Americans have increasingly labeled police killings as modern day lynching. In a provocative lecture, Dr. Hill explores what are the implications of embracing or rejecting police killings of unarmed blacks as lynchings and why this discussion matters.
Historically, mainstream American history excluded black Americans’ contributions to U.S. society and typically demeaned black Americans as racial inferior. Only since the civil rights movement have African Americans and other racial minorities gained much deserved recognition. Black History Month remains an important American institution (regardless of the criticisms that have been launched against it) because it attempts to repair the accumulated damage that racism and historical amnesia have wreaked on American culture and society. In this presentation, Dr. Hill argues that Black History Month has become a comforting ritual for congratulating ourselves on how far we as a nation have come rather than critical assessing the work that remains to be done.