In honor of Black History Month the #UMBlackout: Mobilizing Black Communities for Radical Transformation in the Digital Age symposium invites your participation in a working session about contemporary black activist leadership for transformative change through digital forums. Through workshops, lectures, and a panel discussion, a wide variety of scholars, campus and grassroots organizers will engage in diverse reflections about the role of the internet in social change efforts through strategic mobilization. Join us in a collective discussion to advance discourse and direct action in community practice in the digital age.

Collective Working Goals
Unpacking the role of the internet in community mobilization
Building bridges among scholars, national and campus activists
Learning from black activist leadership for transformative change
Establishing coalitions through solidarity across social identities
Promoting youth engagement
Facilitators & Presenters

Alexis Pauline Gumbs Ph.D - Community accountability scholar, activist and organizer
Andre Brock Ph.D - Department of Communications and Digital Studies, faculty, University of Michigan
Austin McCoy - Department of History Doctoral Student, and Campus organizer, University of Michigan
Desmond Patton Ph.D - Professor of Social Work, Columbia University
Jamie Moshin Ph.D - Communications and Discourse Scholar, Staff at the National Center for Institutional Diversity
Jonathan Jackson - Co-founder of urban activist news and blog webspace, Blavity
Kim Katrin Milan - Human rights educator, activist, organizer, artist
Mark Anthony Neal Ph.D - Professor of African and African American Studies, & Director for the Center for Arts, Digital Culture & Entrepreneurship (CADCE)
Morgan Willis, Allied Media Conference Program Director, Detroit - based activist and organizer
Muniba Saleem Ph.D - Department of Communications and Digital Studies, University of Michigan
Zellie Imani - National community activist, Black Twitter contributor, organizer, and youth educator