Wednesday, February 26, 2025
6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Speaker Reception
Location: Nashville Public Library
This event is by invitation only and is sponsored by The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen's University Belfast.
Thursday, February 27, 2025
The Past: Hosted by Fisk University
*Times Subject to Change
8:30 A.M. - 9:00 A.M.
Check In and Registration
Location: Fisk University Chapel
9:00 A.M.
Welcome and Song
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Dr. Agenia Clark and the Fisk Jubilee Singers®
A welcome by Dr. Agenia Clark, President of Fisk University, and a special performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers®.
9:45 A.M.
Introduction to Peace Summit Themes and Speakers
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Dr. Joe Duffy
10:00 A.M. - 10:50 A.M.
Opening Plenary: Peace and Reconciliation
Dr. Agenia W. Clark and Dr. Greg Jones, in conversation with Dr. Richard English
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Dr. Agenia W. Clark, Dr. Richard English and Dr. Greg Jones
How can education help to alleviate the damage caused by polarization within society? What should universities do as they sustain cultures of education and dialogue in a seemingly fractured world? In this Plenary Session, Dr. Agenia W. Clark and Dr. Greg Jones reflect on these challenges, drawing on years of experience as educational leaders, and as people committed to nurturing human flourishing in the future.
11:00 A.M. - 11:45 A.M.
Concurrent Sessions
Session #1:
Exploring the Links between the African American and Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement
Location: Fisk Chapel
Speakers: Dr. Peter McLoughlin
Dr. Peter McLoughlin will discuss his paper, Exploring the Links Between the African American and Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement, which shows how the African American civil rights movement acted as both an inspiration and also a model for activists in Northern Ireland. However, it also considers the diversity of the two movements, with different relationships between moderate and more radical actors in each case. It also reflects on the tensions and contradictions in Irish American responses to both movements, considering how demographics and other factors played into this. Finally, the paper acknowledges the profound differences in both contexts – the U.S. case being rooted in racial politics, and the politics of the Northern Ireland problem extending beyond civil rights.
Session #2:
Bridging Histories, Building Futures: The Belmont-Fisk Social Justice Collaborative
Location: 1st Floor Library
Speakers: Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel and Dr. James B. Pratt, Jr.
Civil Rights legend John Lewis often asked, "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?" The Fisk-Belmont Social Justice Collaborative seeks to answer his call. Led by Drs. Mary Ellen Pethel and James Pratt, this session showcases the collaborative’s work, featuring a student poster session with research on prominent leaders like John Lewis and lesser-known figures such as Diane Nash, James Lawson, Kelly Miller Smith, Z. Alexander Looby, Avon Williams, and Matthew Walker Sr.
Last fall, students engaged deeply with civil rights history through visits to campuses, historic sites, and participated in conflict mediation training. Their contributions to the North Nashville Community Leadership Tour on Nashville Sites connected historical research to public history, leadership, and storytelling. Experiential learning also included meeting Lorenzo Washington, founder of the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, attending a talk with Betsy Phillips, author of Dynamite Nashville, and collaborating with Joyce Searcy, Fisk alumna and Belmont Director of Community Relations.
These students represent the next generation of social justice advocates, addressing systemic disadvantage and disenfranchisement through their research and projects. This session emphasizes their role in fostering inclusive excellence, mutual respect, and learning from the past. As Susan West, Belmont’s executive vice president, states: “Our commitment to reweaving the social fabric through hope and inclusive excellence begins with a thorough and thoughtful examination of the past, reflecting on areas where imbalance and inequality have persisted. Only with this acknowledgment can we move forward.”
Celebrate the transformative efforts of the Fisk-Belmont Social Justice Collaborative and the students advancing dialogue and action in Nashville and beyond.
Session #3:
The Pursuit of Peace: Healing Race-Based Trauma Through Community
Location: Roland Parrish Building
Speakers: Dr. Carmen Reese Foster
This presentation explores the profound and detrimental impact of race-based trauma and the vital role that community plays in the healing process. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how racialized experiences affect mental health and well-being, while learning strategies to foster collective healing, resilience, and peace.
12:00 P.M. - 12:45 P.M.
Lunch: Explore Nashville! See Event Program for Suggested Restaurants
1:00 P.M.
Afternoon Session Welcome
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speaker: Dr. Robert Carr
1:15 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.
Afternoon Plenary: Lift Every Voice: The Intersection of Music and Protest
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Dr. Jeffery L. Ames and Alice Randall
This session builds upon the powerful premiere of Requiem for Colour, a musical composition by Dr. Jeffery L. Ames of Belmont University, which pays tribute to Black ancestry by honoring the lives and legacies of enslaved people from 1619 to 1865 and contemporary Black martyrs who sacrificed themselves in the fight for freedom and equality. Dr. Ames masterfully fuses idiomatic Black musical genres with Western European compositional styles, creating a transformative work that embodies resilience, sorrow, and celebration.
Joining Dr. Ames on the panel is celebrated songwriter and award-winning author Alice Randall, whose groundbreaking contributions to American music history include being the first Black woman to cowrite a number one country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl).” Randall’s exploration of Black influence on country music celebrates the legacies of pioneering artists like DeFord Bailey, Lil Hardin, Ray Charles, Charley Pride, and Herb Jeffries. Her book My Black Country is a “delightful, inspirational story of persistence, resistance, and sheer love” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) that traces how Black artists have shaped and enriched country music while finding joy and beauty amid hardship.
As country music experiences a renaissance with a new wave of Black artists rising to prominence, this session explores how music serves as a profound form of protest and healing. Attendees will engage with the ways in which both Ames’s and Randall’s work amplify the intersection of music, history, and social justice, showcasing the transformative power of sound in society.
2:10 P.M. - 2:50 P.M.
The Ongoing Work in the Fight for Civil Rights and Peace
Congressman Joe Kennedy III in conversation with Dr. Joe Duffy and Dwight Lewis
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Congressman Joe Kennedy III, Dr. Joe Duffy, Dwight Lewis
The conversation with Congressman Kennedy will focus on two parts. Firstly, we will journey back to the early 1960’s examining how the civil rights movement unfolded both nationally and in the Nashville region, earning the city’s moniker as a ‘university of non-violence’. Historically, this period is important, particularly preceding The Civil Rights Act, introduced to United States law on July 2, 1964, by President Lyndon Johnson. The efforts of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy in the years leading up to this watershed moment will be an important area for reflection with Joe Kennedy III. This will aim to shine a light on the commitments of both President Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy to end segregation in public services, facilities and education. The 1964 Act meant that US citizens would no longer be treated unfairly and unequally based on ethnicity[race], religion or nationality. This achievement is an important legacy that has been left by the Kennedy family and others. This conversation will also illuminate the key allegiances formed by the Kennedys with the late Dr. Martin Luther King and Congressman John Lewis. Finally, the Congressman will discuss his organization, Groundwork Project, and its mission to support frontline organizers on the most crucial fronts in this generation’s battle for civil rights, equality and democracy. This aspect of our dialogue will be led by Dwight Lewis, a retired reporter with The Tennessean who, during his work, reported widely on the civil rights era.
The second part will focus on the interplay between civil rights and peace. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement of April 10, 1998, marked the end of Northern Ireland’s 30-year history of violent political conflict. 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of this important Peace Agreement which, like the US Civil Rights Act, would see key principles of human rights, social justice and equality become core to citizenry in Northern Ireland. This was the beginning of Northern Ireland’s journey towards peace, towards a new future free from the conflagration of its violent past. The journey towards peace in Northern Ireland was long and arduous as was the campaign for civil rights in the US. The connectedness between civil rights and peacebuilding where respect, equality, rights and social justice are thus all essential sequelae to the very essence of civilised and just societies, is what this part of the conversation with Congressman Kennedy will unpack. This aspect of the dialogue will be led by Dr. Joe Duffy and will focus on the role of Joe Kennedy III as Special Envoy to Northern Ireland and within this, his reflections on Northern Ireland and his vision for peace going forward.
2:50 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Break
Location: TBD
3:00 P.M.- 3:45 P.M.
Closing Plenary: Blasts From the Past: Reckoning with Racial Terror, Memory and Justice in Nashville
Location: Fisk University Chapel
Speakers: Betsy Phillips, Dr. Learotha Williams, Jr.
On September 10, 1957, Hattie Cotton Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee, was bombed. This was followed by attacks on the Jewish Community Center in 1958 and Civil Rights attorney Z. Alexander Looby’s home in 1960. These unsolved bombings were part of a coordinated campaign of racial terrorism designed to intimidate integrationists and disrupt the Civil Rights Movement.
In Dynamite Nashville (Third Man Books, 2024), Betsy Phillips uncovers how white supremacists used Nashville as a testing ground for dynamite attacks, often evading justice due to law enforcement complicity or inefficiency. Her investigation reveals the deep roots of white supremacist violence and its pivotal role in shaping the racial terrorism of the 1960s and beyond.
Dr. Learotha Williams, Jr., co-editor of I'll Take You There: Exploring Nashville's Social Justice Sites (Vanderbilt University Press, 2021), expands on this history by highlighting community resilience and the ongoing struggle for racial justice. Through contributions from more than 100 Nashvillians, this work explores places often overlooked, bearing witness to how power has been wielded to tell—or silence—certain stories. At the same time, it celebrates the power of counternarratives as tools of resistance. Each entry becomes a story about place, power, and the continuous fight for a more just city.
Together, Phillips and Williams will examine the intersections of racial violence, historical accountability, public history, and memory. They will also discuss how communities, in Nashville and beyond, can confront difficult truths and use history as a pathway toward justice and reconciliation.
4:00 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.
Nashville Sites and Civil Rights: An Experiential Journey and Bus Tour
Location: The Bus Tour will begin and end at Fisk University
Separate Registration Required
Join historian Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel and NPL program specialist and storyteller Elliott Robinson for an immersive bus tour of Nashville's Civil Rights Movement landmarks. Based on NashvilleSites.org Civil Rights Driving Tour, this experience highlights stories of resilience, leadership, and change during one of the most transformative periods in American history.
This guided journey provides a deep dive into the intersection of education, religion, commerce, and government that fueled the movement in Music City. From the leadership cultivated at institutions like Fisk University to the faith-based organizing at First Baptist Church, the tour illuminates how these pillars of society enabled change. This tour promises to inspire and inform but space is limited and requires prior registration. Join us as we honor the legacy of those who fought for equality and justice.
Tour Highlights
- Fisk University (Education): Discover how students and faculty at Fisk organized protests and advanced the movement through activism and advocacy.
- Z. Alexander Looby's Home (Advocacy): Learn about Looby’s critical role as a civil rights lawyer and the 1960 bombing that galvanized the Nashville community.
- First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill (Religion): Visit the spiritual hub where nonviolence training and strategic planning for sit-ins took place.
- Public Square and Diane Nash Plaza (Government): Reflect on Diane Nash’s leadership and the negotiations with city officials that dismantled segregation.
- John Lewis Way and Former 5th Avenue Stores (Commerce): Walk through the commercial district where sit-ins challenged segregation at lunch counters.
Friday, February 28, 2025
The Future: Hosted by Belmont University
*Times Subject to Change
9:00 A.M. - 9:40 A.M.
Coffee and Registration
Location: The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
9:45 A.M.
Welcome and Introduction
Location: The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Speakers: Dr. Greg Jones
A welcome from Dr. Greg Jones, President of Belmont University
10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.
Opening Plenary: Recipe for Leadership: Curiosity, Candor, Empathy and Humility
Location: The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Speaker: Jon Meacham
In this compelling plenary session, Jon Meacham, presidential historian and best-selling author, will examine the essence of leadership, focusing on four key characteristics: curiosity, candor, empathy and humility. Drawing from his extensive knowledge and expertise, Meacham will discuss the leadership traits that transcend time and remain relevant as we face current challenges.
Meacham emphasizes the role of intellectual curiosity, highlighting Jefferson’s pivotal contributions to American democracy as an example of how leaders benefit from a deep engagement with ideas. He explores the importance of candor, through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s forthright leadership, which was based on trust, honesty, and effective communication. Empathy, exemplified by George H.W. Bush’s compassionate decision-making, will be discussed as a cornerstone of prudent and thoughtful leadership. Finally, humility will be highlighted through John F. Kennedy’s ability to learn from early missteps, such as the Bay of Pigs, to achieve diplomatic success during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Concluding with a forward-looking perspective, Meacham challenges us to be more empathetic, humble, honest, and curious. This session promises to inspire reflection, strengthen our bonds of affection, and reflect on the on the enduring role of character in leadership.
11:15 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Concurrent Sessions: The Future of Peace and Civil Rights
Session #1:
Conflict and Peace in the 21st Century
Location: Fisher Center Main Auditorium
Speakers: Dr. Richard English
Are there aspects of the global experience of conflict which might guide us all towards a more peaceful future? What can be learned from those conflicts which seem to have been resolved, in terms of understandings that are relevant to ongoing violence? In this lecture, Dr. Richard English examines numerous cases of violent conflict, to suggest patterns of politics that might help inform debate about how to build a less divided and violent future.
Session #2:
From Conflict to Change: Transforming Injustice Into Social Equity
Location: The Fisher Center South Ballroom
Speakers: Dr. James B. Pratt, Jr. and Dr. Adena Smith Williams
Led by Dr. Adena Smith Williams, daughter of Reverend Kelly M. Smith, Sr., and Fisk associate professor Dr. James B. Pratt, Jr., this workshop examines the interplay between conflict transformation and social justice. Social justice is framed as the equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges, promoting dignity, human rights, and inclusion while addressing systemic inequalities and uneven power structures that often lead to conflict.
Williams and Pratt will guide participants in recognizing, analyzing, and responding to conflicts. By better understanding conflict, we can move beyond dispute resolution toward fostering long-term peace and equity grounded in social justice principles. The session highlights historical and contemporary movements such as the Civil Rights, Anti-Apartheid, Indigenous Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights, and Environmental Justice, exploring their successes, gaps, and opportunities for applying conflict transformation concepts.
Interactive exercises also encourage participants to apply these ideas to real life issues. Using models and analytical tools, William and Pratt teach us how to recognize and respond to different types of conflict. A better theoretical understanding of conflict can lead to better outcomes for mediation and resolution. This approach moves beyond resolving disputes to foster long-term peace and equity.
This workshop is supported by the Kelly Miller Smith Foundation, where Dr. Williams serves on the board and Pratt as a fellow. Reverend Smith, Sr. pastored First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill (1951–1984) and served as assistant dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School (1969-1984). As president of the Nashville NAACP and founder of the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference (NCLC), he led nonviolent protest training and hosted student activists before the pivotal 1960 sit-ins. In fact, student activists in the 1960 sit-ins gathered at FBCCH and other Black churches near Capitol Hill before setting out for the Fifth Avenue shopping district. Smith’s legacy is the motivation for this session, connecting past and present struggles for justice.
Session #3:
Storytelling and Peacebuilding
Location: Beaman Student Life Center A&B (separate building from the Fisher Center)
Speakers: Dr. Joe Duffy and Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton
The focus of this presentation will be on the transformative power of lived experiences and stories in deepening our understanding of topics and subjects which are complex and potentially challenging to grasp. The presenters will provide examples from both Northern Ireland and Tennessee to highlight ways in which these approaches have been utilized.
Dr. Joe Duffy will focus on how social work students have been positively enabled in their understanding of trauma by exposure to the lived experiences and stories of individuals who have been directly affected by trauma. He will provide examples of how he applied this distinct pedagogical approach at both Queen’s University, working with those affected by ‘The Troubles’ and at New York University, working with Survivors from the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton will analyze writing theory that demonstrates the power of sharing stories as a way to move from trauma to resilience in marginalized communities. Dr. Hodges Hamilton will share her experience using writing and listening when working with marginalized groups, specifically one in Nashville, Tennessee working with women coming out of addiction and complex trauma and one in Belfast, Northen Ireland, working with marginalized youth. In both communities, storytelling has helped survivors find connection and community through three stages of recovery: 1) establishing safety, 2) reconstructing the trauma story, and 3) reestablishing the connections between the survivor and the community (Herman. 2023).
12:15 P.M. - 1:15 P.M.
Lunch: Explore Nashville! See Event handout for suggested restaurants
1:15 P.M.
1:30 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.
Bridging History and Hope: Civic Leadership and Celebrating Nashville and Belfast’s Partnership
Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Lord Mayor Micky Murray in conversation with Demetria Kalodimos
Location: The Fisher Center for Performing Arts
Speakers: Demetria Kalodimos, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, and Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray
Join Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray for a panel discussion on the role of history in shaping the future of cities and urban identity. The session will explore the transformative power of memory from Nashville's civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s to Belfast's experiences during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. These pivotal moments in both cities' histories offer lessons on how communities confront injustice, foster dialogue, and rebuild after periods of division and unrest.
The panel also serves to celebrate an important anniversary—30 years of partnership between Nashville and Belfast through Sister Cities. Through the lens of leadership, Mayor O’Connell and Lord Mayor Murray will discuss how their cities honor historical legacies while addressing pressing issues such as social equity, economic development, and public service.
As Nashville and Belfast mark these significant milestones, this session offers a unique opportunity to hear from two dynamic local leaders. Join Mayor O’Connell and Lord Mayor Murray as we celebrate the shared journeys of these two cities and explore how history continues to shape their evolving roles on the global stage. Come to learn and be inspired about how you can make a positive difference in your community.
3:10 P.M. - 4:10 P.M.
Closing Plenary: A Reflection on the Past, A Call to Action
The Honorable Howard Gentry and Rick Rekedal in conversation with Tasneem Ansariyah Grace
Location: The Fisher Center for Performing Arts
Speakers: Howard Gentry, Tasneem Ansariyah Grace and Rick Rekedal
As the final event of the Peace Summit, this session embodies the Peace Summit's guiding principle: A Reflection on the Past, A Call to Action. Join moderator Tasneem Grace for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation with the Honorable Howard Gentry and Rick Rekedal. This session is centered around the vital question: In reflection of our past, how do we work across life experiences and beliefs to build a better tomorrow? Together, the panel will discuss the ways in which history informs our present moment. Their conversation will offer diverse perspectives, insightful dialogue, and a call to action—leaving us inspired and empowered to go forth and do good work in the world.
4:15 P.M.
4:30 P.M.
Closing Reception
Location: The Fisher Center South Ballroom
This event is by invitiation only and is sponsored by Nashville Sister Cities.