(ThyBlackMan.com) On November 5-6, 2016 Southern University New Orleans hosted the Cultural Heritage & Social Change in New Orleans, LA. Scholars, artists, community activist and writers converged on the conference to discuss many different aspects whereby heritage though art can affect the landscape of change. What made this conference very unique was the actual session setup. This was the first time I’ve attended a conference whereby the individual delegates literally determined the areas the sessions would cover. This format allows the attending delegates to be more engaged in every session as we were able to move to several different sessions at will. This allowed all those attending to get the most out of the conference sessions.
New Orleans is a city whose very culture is steeped in art, and heritage. This made the city a great location for the Summit. Some of the sessions were very powerful, and thought provoking. Glam space was a new term to me, but in a session with Professor kYm Keeton, 
from Lincoln University, she explained that it is the process of utilizing free open space for art purposes. The glam is making that space appealing and catchy for the community. Currently she is in the process of trying to open an art gallery within the Lincoln University library.
This session allowed us to focus our attention on open space within our community and current businesses as ways to promote art. Vera Warren-Williams, with the Community Book Center in New Orleans, took this as an opportunity to explore the space within her book center to add more art based projects for the local community. Art allows us to have so many open discussions regarding social change, and it enhances the quality of our communities.
Natasha Varner’s, with Japanese America history non-profit Densho, lead a session that took a look at an anti-social injustice movement within the school system. This was a tough session as it was an honest look at how teachers can be a part of a program that deals with the subject of social injustice in the classroom. The discussion lead to a real look at the complications of teachers teaching beyond their personal emotions, and doing what’s in the best interest of all children during the learning process. How does one tackle social injustice when some teachers refuse to teach what makes them uncomfortable?
This was a major source of discussion and one that affects education on a national level. I truly appreciated Ms. Varner’s approach because she did not shy away from the difficulty of this topic nor its ugly truth. Delegates were encouraged to engage the subject truthfully. Many of us walked away with plenty to consider, regarding education and social injustice, as we go back to our respective communities.
The areas of discussion were vast with knowledge and ideas. There were sessions that raised the question of when data/IT should be limited in media. What constitutes as news, and how should it be interpreted? How should historians, and journalist, view social media in regards to reporting what will should be news, and what should be archived? While some sessions focused on the art of storytelling, and how those stories are being retold as times change. This was specifically looked at through music via the evolution of Preservation Hall in New Orleans.
Culture will always have a hand in social change. It is another method by which community can express its pains, and triumphs. This conference served to bring many great minds together to focus on various conduits for change in our communities, states and nation. It was an eye opening experience to me while displaying the culture of Southern University New Orleans, which is home to the 3rd largest collection of African American Art in the country. Look into ways that culture and art can play a part in bringing about change in your community. We need more conferences like this whereby social activists from various parts of the nations, and globe, can bring ideas together to better the world we live in.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.