The COMloquium Series features monthly one-on-one intimate conversations with Dr.
Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead and a selected guest to discuss relevant and timely
issues around racial, social, and healing justice. The goals are to provide a starting
point for engaging with these issues, both on campus and around the country; explore
solutions on how to foster understanding of the causes and consequences of systematic
sources of injustice; analyze the inter-relationship between race and social justice;
and, identify and discuss potential strategies for resolving violent conflict and
building and sustaining peace. Guests will include authors, activists, artists, columnists,
politicians, and community leaders.
The third annual Wilson Peace Symposium was held on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The
symposium’s theme was “Brown at 70: The Path Forward" and featured insightful discussions
and reflections on the landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it
was unconstitutional to separate public school students on the basis of race. The
event explored the history, impact, and ongoing relevance of Brown v. Board of Education
as experts and others who are passionate about education and equality engage in thought-provoking
conversations.
The event included music by Grammy-award winning artists Dan + Claudia Zanes, readings
from Baltimore City high school students, and a panel discussion with Dr. Stephanie
Flores-Koulish, Ph.D.; Dr. Danielle Green, Ed.D.; and Dr. Miya Carey-Agyemang, Ph.D.
Dr. Kaye Interview with Jonathan Cahn
Dr. Kaye had the opportunity to interview Jonathan Cahn, a prominent international
lawyer and development strategist who specializes in energy law, project finance,
and international trade. On her radio show "Today with Dr. Kaye," Dr. Kaye and Jonathan
Cahn explore his story. Some of the questions dive deep into what inspired him to
pursue work in such a critical intersection between law and economic development,
as well as some of the work he has done in this crucial field. This interview aims
as well to talk about the inner workings of Cahn's occupation, and how it impacts
who we are at this moment in history.
Karsonya Wise Whitehead: "My Mother's Tomorrow" Book Talk
Baltimore City, like most urban spaces, has a particular type of rhythm. It has a
pulse, and it moves and breathes. It is an Upper South city that has survived despite
the challenges that it faces. It is a city full of stories and storytellers. Dr. Kaye
Wise Whitehead is a collector of Baltimore's stories and has shared them on her award-winning
radio show, Today With Dr. Kaye, and in her former Afro column, Conversations With
Dr. Kaye. In 2017, during the Black Lives Movement, Dr. Kaye began a three-year in-depth
ethnographic study within Baltimore's Black Butterfly neighborhoods, documenting and
recording the stories and experiences of the community in a bi-weekly Opinion Editorial
column in the Afro. Those stories were then shared in schools and communities across
the city, sparking conversation and debate about who runs this city, who owns it,
and who is going to inherit it. my mother's tomorrow: dispatches through the lens
of Baltimore's Black Butterfly brings together all of the editorials in one collection.
my mother's tomorrow is a love letter to Baltimore--documenting everything from school
shootings to Black Lives Matter, Trump's first presidency to Black Covid Stories--it
is their words, their lives, and their experiences written and shared so that they
won't be forgotten. Karsonya Wise Whitehead will be joined in conversation by social
entrepreneur and educator Dr. LaMarr Darnell Shields.
MLK Convocation with Father Bryan Massingale
Father Bryan Massingale, one of the most distinguished voices in theological and social
ethics, sat down with Dr. Kaye during Loyola University Maryland's annual Martin Luther
King, Jr., Convocation. The topic was "Racial Justice Then and Now; Honoring the Past,
While Looking to the Future' and explored new perspectives on the historical and contemporary
challenges of racial justice and explore how education can be used to combat racism
and promote reconciliation.
Black Visionary Series: President Freeman Hrawbowski, Ph.D
Dr. Kaye in conversation with President Freeman Hrawbowski, Ph.D.
President Hrawbowsik served as the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County for three decades, 1992-2022. He was named by President Obama to chair the
President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Black Visionary Series: a special series designed to record and share the stories
and experiences of Baltimore-based African American leaders who have helped to shape
the culture, legacy, and history of Baltimore City. This project is partly funded
by the Making Black America series and is a collaboration between the Karson Institute,
WEAA, and Maryland Public Television.
Black Visionary Series: Larry Gibson, Esq.
Dr. Kaye in conversation with Professor Larry Gibson, Esq.
Professor Gibson is a law professor, lawyer, political organizer, and historian. He
currently serves as a professor at the Francis King Carey School of Law in the University
of Maryland, Baltimore, where he has been on the faculty for 38 years.
Black Visionary Series: a special series designed to record and share the stories
and experiences of Baltimore-based African American leaders who have helped to shape
the culture, legacy, and history of Baltimore City. This project is partly funded
by the Making Black America series and is a collaboration between the Karson Institute,
WEAA, and Maryland Public Television.
Creating Spaces to Explore Peace and Pursue Social Justice: the ongoing work to achieve
international and domestic peace
At the Karson Institute's Peace Symposium on Saturday, April 30th, George Lopez Ph.D.
joins founding director Karsonya Wise Whitehead Ph.D. to talk about international
and domestic peace.
The Ongoing Debate about Critical Race Theory, From the Courtroom to the Classroom
At the Karson Institute's Peace Symposium on Saturday, April 30th, Judge Billy Murphy
Esq. joins founding director Karsonya Wise Whitehead PhD. to talk about critical race
theory.
COMloquium: Live from Ukraine; Taras and Uliyana
Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead got the opportunity to speak with Taras and his wife Uliyana.
Both are currently in Ukraine. Watch to hear their thoughts on the escalating situation
there.
Politics, Prose & Peace: A Conversation with His Excellency Dr. William Ruto, the
Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya and Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead
Dr. Ruto and Dr. Whitehead discussed the long arm of African and African American
history; the precarious and changing state of the environment; the connections between
peace and social justice; and what democracy looks like and how it is defined in both
America and Kenya.
Providing Hope for the Black community through Food and Faith- Black History Month
COMloquium
Loyola University Maryland’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and
The Baltimore Sun have partnered to host “Black History Month Conversations,” a special
COMloquium series that will highlight some of The Baltimore Sun’s Black Marylanders
to Watch. “Providing Hope for the Black Community through Food and Faith” with Rev.
Heber Brown III, D.Min., senior pastor, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, and founder,
Black Church Food Security Network.
Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women- Black History Month COMloquium
Loyola University Maryland’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and
The Baltimore Sun have partnered to host “Black History Month Conversations,” a special
COMloquium series that highlights The Baltimore Sun’s Black Marylanders to Watch.
“Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women” is with Martha S. Jones, Ph.D., professor,
The Johns Hopkins University.
The Black Renaissance: Arts, Artists, and Artistry- Black History Month COMloquium
Loyola University Maryland’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and
The Baltimore Sun have partnered to host “Black History Month Conversations,” a special
COMloquium series that will highlight some of The Baltimore Sun’s Black Marylanders
to Watch. Watch our second COMloquium “The Black Renaissance: Arts, Artists, and Artistry"
with Jacqueline ”Jackie” Copeland, chairwoman, Maryland State Arts Council.
Stony the Road We Trod: Black History from South Africa to America-Black History Month
COMloquium
In honor of Black History Month we are in conversation with Rev Nontombi Naomi Tutu.
Rev Tutu is an educator and human rights activist. She founded the Tutu Foundation
for Development and relief and was on the board for multiple years. She is the daughter
of Bishop Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid and human rights activist. Produced through
Today With Dr. Kaye on WEAA 88.9 FM
Peace is the Presence of Justice- Black History Month COMloquium
Loyola University Maryland’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and
The Baltimore Sun have partnered to host “Black History Month Conversations,” a special
COMloquium series that will highlight some of The Baltimore Sun’s Black Marylanders
to Watch. Watch our first COMloquium "Peace is the Presence of Justice” with Erricka
Bridgeford, co-founder, Baltimore Ceasefire, and executive director, Baltimore Community
Mediation Center.
MLK Convocation with Michelle Alexander
Bestselling author Michelle Alexander will deliver Loyola University Maryland’s annual
Martin Luther King, Jr., Convocation address on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, at 6:30 p.m.,
via livestream. “The New Jim Crow: An Evening with Michelle Alexander” convocation
will be moderated by Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., founding director of the Karson
Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and associate professor of communication
and African and African American Studies at Loyola.
Michelle Alexander speaking at a podium to an audienceAlexander will offer new perspectives
while discussing her critically acclaimed bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration
in the Age of Colorblindness, which examines racial injustice in the modern legal
system and calls us all to action for improved human rights in America.
October 20, 2021
The Latinx National Heritage Month COMloquium is hosted by Assistant Director Maria
Colompos-Tohtsonie, Ph.D. candidate and is joined by Dr. Simón Weffer in a COMloquium
event that explores the history, culture, and experiences of Latinx communities within
the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries with emphasis on colonialism and
imperialism; community formation; labor markets; race and racial formations; immigration
and migration; collective action; social justice movements; gender and sexuality;
and popular culture.
October 14, 2021
From Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day, telling the truth about America’s history
will discuss and explore the true historical account of Indigenous Peoples Day and
examine the misrepresentation of Indigenous people's contemporarily in the United
States.
*The Lies Our Teachers Told Us COMloqiuim Series is a year-long series designed to
challenge the myths, lies, and untruths that have been taught and told about America’s
social, political, and economic history.
September 22, 2021
In partnership with the National Women’s Studies Association and Ms. Magazine, the
Karson Institute presents “COMloquium: The Perils of Teaching about Critical Race
Theory: A Conversation with K-12 Teachers.” This conversation dives into the difficulties
teachers across the country when it comes to teaching American history and the impact
of Critical Race Theory.
Link to Transcript of the COMloquium
July 28, 2021
Dr. Alicia Moore, Dr. Walter Greason, and Founder of the Karson Institute, Dr. Karsonya
"Kaye" Wise Whitehead, took on the differences and interconnectedness between critical
race theory and culturally responsive teaching within education.
April 22, 2021
In light of the verdict in the case against Derek Chauvin, the Karson Institute for
Race, Peace, & Social Justice is hosting a special communitywide COMloquium to rethink
America's policing system and the ways in which race, police, and social justice intersect
at this moment. Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead speaks with civil rights attorney
Kobie Flowers, Esq.; Adam J. Jackson, CEO, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle; Rev Scott
Adams, Assistant Director of Loyola University Maryland's Campus Ministry; and Dr.
Nishaun Battle, associate professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Virginia State
University.
April 8, 2021
In partnership with Messina and in honor of Ella Baker Day, Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise
Whitehead in conversation with Lisa Snowden-McCray, managing editor and Baltimore
editor of The Real News Network. Prior to her role at The Real News Network, Ms. Snowden-McCray
was a journalist and editor with Baltimore City Paper, The Baltimore Sun, as well
as The Baltimore Beat, an alt-weekly she co-founded.
*Ella Baker Day is an annual event held each April. The tradition originally started
in response to a 2010 declaration by then-Governor of Virginia, who declared April
"Confederate History Month" as a celebration of the confederacy. Ella Baker Day was
founded that year at the University of Virginia as a way to push back against this
dangerous and unjust narrative and has grown exponentially over the past eight years.
March 24, 2021
A conversation with Alice McDermott, novelist, writer, and former Richard A. Macksey
Professor of Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. McDermott has spoken and written
about Flannery O’Connor’s influence on her own writing. McDermott’s eighth novel,
The Ninth Hour, was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2017 Kirkus
Prize for Fiction. In 2018, The Ninth Hour was awarded France’s Prix Femina for a work in translation. Her seventh novel, Someone, was a New York Times bestseller, a finalist for the Dublin IMPAC Award, the National Book Critics Circle
Award, the Patterson Prize for Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Her essay
collection, What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in August.
March 29, 2021
Loyola’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and The Baltimore Sun have
partnered to host a “News and Conversation: Caring for the Kids During COVID,” a special
COMloquium conversation that will focus on childcare challenges and solutions amid
the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The “News and Conversation” COMloquium will include
expert commentary from local and state-level childcare providers including Joan Johnson
from the Howard County Child Care Resource Center; Tracy Jost, owner of Kid's Campus
Early Learning Center in Dunkirk, Md.; Christine Peusch, executive director of the
Maryland State Childcare Association; and Imani Angela Rose, director and delegating
nurse from Joshua’s Place in Baltimore City.
February 22, 2021
A conversation with Dr. Lawrence Brown, founder of The Black Butterfly Academy and
author of "The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America,"
discussing why Baltimore City is ground zero for racist housing policies; the long-term
impact of structural racist policies, practices, and procedures in Baltimore; the
politics of the Black Butterfly and the White L; why it will take a multi-billion
investment in Baltimore to transform the neighborhoods, schools, and jobs; and, what
it will take to move from community policing to community peacekeeping.
Immediately following the moderated conversation, the Karson Institute hosted a Coffee
and Convo that included seventh graders from a local middle school, teachers, professors,
staff, and community members from around the country brainstorming solutions on how
they can move Baltimore City forward.
February 15, 2021
A conversation with Jamelle Bouie, New York Times columnist and CBS News political analyst, on American politics; the January 6 failed
insurrection; voter suppression; the future of Trump and the Republican Party; and
the work that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should focus on
doing during their first 100 days.
Immediately following the moderated conversation, the Karson Institute hosted a Coffee
and Convo to discuss Mr. Bouie's ideas on the future of American democracy.
This Black History Month COMloquium was sponsored in part by the Cumming and Caulfield
families.
January 21, 2021
In conversation with Dr. Barbara Ransby, a professor of African American Studies and
the John D. MacArthur Chair at the University of Illinois at Chicago, along with students,
professors, and community members discussing Dr. Ibram Kendi’s research on antiracism;
the presidential inauguration and the future of democracy; and, what does it mean
to work for equality, justice, and racial equity.
January 18, 2021
A conversation with Dr. Clayborne Carson, Ph.D., professor of history at Stanford
University, and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute,
on Dr. King's legacy; what we get wrong about Dr. King; what Dr. King's message would
be to America today; and, what is Dr. Carson's unfinished business. (This interview
originally aired on WEAA's "Today With Dr. Kaye" on 88.9 FM)
December 14, 2020
A conversation with The Honorable Kweisi Mfume (D), U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional
District, on the future of America; the state of a Black America; the Henrietta Lacks
Enhancing Cancer Research Act; and how we go forward as a nation from here. (This
interview originally aired on WEAA's "Today With Dr. Kaye" on 88.9FM)
December 7, 2020
A conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top leading expert on infectious
diseases, on the impact of COVID-19 on the Black, Latinx, and indigenous communities;
the reasons why Americans should trust a COVID-19 Vaccine; President-elect Joe Biden's
plan to ask all Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days; and, where we go from
here as a nation and as a planet.
*This interview originally aired on WEAA's "Today With Dr. Kaye" on 88.9 FM.
November 12, 2020
A conversation with Jerika Richardson, the Senior Vice-President of the National Urban
League, on the state of Black America; the short- and long-term impact of Election
2020; and, the future of grassroots political organizing within the Black community.
November 2, 2020
A special Election 2020 conversation discussing why your vote is your voice; the future
of white supremacy and the impact of voter intimidation and suppression; and, why
the last 60 years of progress are in danger of being overturned with Leonard Pitts,
Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist and the author of The Last Thing You Surrender.
October 28, 2020
A conversation on the history of Medical Bondage and the impact of racism and white
supremacy within the medical field with Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, the award-winning
author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynecology.