“Voices for a Just World” Launches at Tougaloo College
with Marc Lamont Hill
Tougaloo College and Mississippi for a Just World (MSJW), in partnership with Black With No Chaser, launched the Voices for a Just World lecture series on October 29 with a powerful address by scholar, journalist, and activist Dr. Marc Lamont Hill.
Speaking to a standing-room crowd, Dr. Hill connected global oppression to Mississippi’s local realities and challenged students to imagine—and build—a freer future. The lecture drew over 350 registrations, with nearly 200 attendees in Woodworth Chapel and about 100 students engaged in BGT Auditorium visit before the event.
Radical Imagination & Freedom Dreams
Framing the evening around the concepts of Radical Imagination and Freedom Dreams, Dr. Hill traced a powerful lineage from the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary struggles for justice in the U.S. and across the globe. He reminded the audience that social change is not born from despair, but from the courage to envision a better world—even when it seems impossible. Drawing connections between Tougaloo’s own legacy of activism and today’s movements for racial, gender, and economic justice, Dr. Hill urged students to see activism not as a momentary reaction to injustice, but as a continuous moral responsibility rooted in a centuries-old Black tradition of collective care, creativity, and resistance.
MSJW’s mission—bridging Mississippi’s struggles with global ones—echoed throughout the evening, underscoring the shared fight for dignity and liberation across borders. Dr. Hill drew parallels between local histories of resistance in Mississippi and the ongoing struggles for freedom in places like Palestine, Haiti, Sudan, and the Congo. By connecting these movements, he emphasized that justice is not confined by geography or nationality; rather, it is a global pursuit that calls on each generation to confront oppression wherever it appears and to stand in solidarity with those whose voices have been marginalized.
🎥 Experience the Speech
Why Mississippi? “As goes the South, so goes the nation.”
Quoting W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr. Abdul‑Tawaab emphasized Mississippi as a proving ground for the country’s moral and political will. Despite a history marked by tragedy for Black and Indigenous people, she described Mississippi as “ripe and fertile for beautiful things to happen,” with the institutional knowledge to lead contemporary liberation movements.
Tougaloo College has long stood at the heart of that movement—its very foundation rooted in social justice, community uplift, and the pursuit of equality. Since the Civil Rights era, the College has served as a training ground for activists, scholars, and visionaries committed to transforming society through education and civic engagement. Generations of Tougaloo students and alumni have carried forward that legacy, using their voices and platforms to challenge injustice and create lasting change. Continuing in this tradition, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill met with students in the historic BGT Auditorium, engaging them in an honest dialogue about the intersections of race, power, and imagination in shaping a more just world.
Movement & Mission: Mississippi for a Just World
- From coalition to 501(c)(3): Founded by Dr. Candace Abdul‑Tawaab with Blake Feldman and Delana Tavakol, MSJW began organizing around Palestine and expanded into a nonprofit linking Mississippi to global struggles.
- Connecting local to global: MSJW highlights shared experiences between Black Mississippians and communities facing oppression worldwide—fostering analysis, action, and solidarity.
- Partners: Tougaloo College & Black With No Chaser helped launch the series to bring esteemed voices to young people of color across the state.
Moments of Reflection and Resistance
From Woodworth Chapel to BGT Auditorium, the “Voices for a Just World” series brought together scholars, artists, and students to explore the power of imagination, memory, and action. These moments capture Tougaloo College’s living legacy—where dialogue becomes movement and ideas become change.
