Multiple truths can help us build a better, more liberated future—a world on the other side of racial inequity.

Join our Arts & Education Conference April 29-30, 2023 in Florence, Massachusetts

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 are excited to announce the first in an ongoing series of experiential, educational, and artistic conferences to push our public use of education to create a just future. 


The Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival envisions a world where arts and education are utilized to bring about communities where justice and equity are the standards, not outliers. We center the practice that the arts and humanities are powerful tools to imagine and create a more just world.


The 2nd Annual Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival will be held April 29-April 30, 2023 in Florence, MA and will be centered at the Bombyx Centre for Arts & Equity. Between now and the end of April, Self-Evident Education will partner with other local organizations to organize “The Power of Truths Tributaries” programming. This will be a series of events including, but not limited to film screenings, musical performances, book discussions, and more. 

Join the Self-Evident Mailing list for important updates.

Please join our community of educators, artists, and activists in this critical work to understand and eradicate systemic racism.

Help us to plan the best conference this year by 

Power of Truths 2023 will be held April 29-30, 2023 at the 

Acclaimed activist-artist and speaker, Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely is a former 

working member of the historic Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (“SNCC”)

 that included among its founding members two civil rights legends—Rep. John Lewis, while a student protest leader in Nashville and 

, then a Morehouse College student—both of whom Peggy worked with during that history-changing time, along with other civil rights stalwarts. She also captured that experience with her essay "It was Simply in My Blood" in the 

.  In addition, her time, along with others, was visually captured by SNCC photographer Danny Lyon in 

Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement

Beyond her own involvement in history-making events, Ms. Preacely is the descendant of a historic multi-faceted family tree. Among her ancestors are: Mary Hemings Bell, the sister of Sally Hemings; esteemed early civil rights activist, 

, who escaped enslavement through Mrs. Craft passing as the white male owner of Mr. Craft.

The Second Annual Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival will feature the world premiere of Self-Evident Education’s newest film, “

”, about Ms. Preacely’s great great grandparents, Ellen and William Craft. Ms. Peggy served as the head script advisor and will also be featured in the film. She will join us to discuss the film and will also play a role as a storyteller and a poet.

Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely

 is an Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She studies the lived experiences of Black people with a focus on slavery, abolitionism, the Civil War, political violence, Black women’s history, and film. She is the author of the award-winning book, 

 which won the SHEAR James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, and other outlets. She has also been interviewed for her expertise on Netflix, Apple TV, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, PBS, Vox, CNN, the BBC, the History Channel, Al Jerzeera, Slate, and a host of documentaries.

Carter Jackson is also a Historian-in- Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston. She also serves as a commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission, where she represents the Museum of African American History in Boston.

Currently, Carter Jackson is completing two book projects. 

The Remedy: Black Response to White Violence

 which examines the multiple ways Black people have combated white supremacy from the Haitian Revolution to the Present (Basic Books) and 

Losing Laroche: The Story of the Only Black Passenger on the Titanic

 which examines the unexplored aspect of race, migration, and our obsession with one ship thought to be supreme.

Lastly, Carter Jackson loves a good podcast! She is the co-host of the podcast, “

” with Jody Avirgan and Niki Hemmer and serves as the Executive Producer and host of 

“Oprahdemics: The Study of the Queen of Talk”

 by Radiotopia with Leah Wright Rigeuer. You can follow her on Twitter

Kellie will bring all of this and more when she comes to this year’s Power of Truths!

Kellie Carter Jackson

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor specializes in 19th-century U.S. history and race. Her first book, Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War, is a social history of black activists who, long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, fought against segregation on public vehicles. Pryor argues that their protest elevated the cars, compartments and cabins of public transportation to the frontlines for the battle over equal rights in the 19th century. Her essay, “The Etymology of [the N-word]: Resistance, Language, and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North,” won the Ralph D. Gray Prize for the best article of 2016 in the Journal of the Early Republic. Her next project, inspired by the article as well as her teaching at Smith College, is a historical and pedagogical study of the n-word framed, in part, by her experience as a biracial woman in the United States. Her Ted-X talk on “

Why It’s So Hard to Talk About the N-Word

”, is a powerful and poignant reflection. At the Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival, Professor Pryor will speak to these themes and more.

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor

Bayeté Ross Smith is an interdisciplinary artist, photographer, filmmaker and education worker, working at the intersection of photography, film & video, visual journalism, 3D objects and new media.

Columbia Law School’s inaugural Artist-In-Residence

Bayeté Ross Smith

Written Quincey is a spoken word artist, emcee, event host, educator, father and entrepreneur.

Known as one of the dopest poets and spoken word artists in the Town, Written created the legendary Cypher120 event series which plays a major role in the development of Tulsa’s hip-hop culture. Written also works on the FILA curriculum team to turn the album’s content into material that can be taught in schools. He is a teacher for Tulsa Public Schools.

Written Quincey

Over his career, Dr. Power-Greene’s scholarship has been recognized with various fellowships, most notably the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities’ sponsored scholar-in-residency program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. A sought-after lecturer, Dr. Power-Greene has been invited to present his scholarship in Germany, France, England, Ghana, and China. He reviews books for American Historical Review, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, among others.

Ousmane K Power-Greene

Michael is a believer in the power of well told, honest stories to change the world and build a just future. He is the executive director of 

, a non-profit dedicated to helping educators and communities in their quests to honestly and rigorously understand the histories and legacies of systemic racism. He founded Self-Evident Education in September 2019, in response to the urgent need for our society to honestly and rigorously engage in work to understand the histories and legacies of race and institutional racism.

Michael Lawrence-Riddell

Jared Bridgeman, better known by his stage name Akrobatik, is a Hiphop artist from the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He has toured all over the world, with some of Hiphop’s biggest acts. He performs with energy, wisdom, and humor; his stage show never disappoints. In addition to his powerful music, message, and stage show, Akrobatik is an educator. He is currently a professor in the American Studies department at UMass Boston, where he teaches a course called, "The History of Hip Hop and Hip Hop as History".

Akrobatik will serve as a host and a performer, as well as director, for "Know the Ledge—Hiphop History Live!", which will be the showcase event at the Second Annual Powerr of Truths Arts & Education festival.

Power of Truths

Arts & Education Festival

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