CALL FOR PAPERS / PRESENTATIONS

The 5th Annual

Cotton Kingdom / Sweat Equity Symposium and Cotton Pickers Ball

Conference website: http://cottonpickers.us/symposium/ ~ 662.347.8198

Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) in collaborative partnership with Khafre, Inc forge ahead once again to organize America’s premier interdisciplinary meeting on the Cotton Kingdom, sharecropping and the cultural significance of Cotton Pickers to the success of the American economy. This year’s theme: “THE ECONOMY OF THE COTTON KINGDOM AND THE CONFEDERATE SOUTH” will stimulate two days of discussion about historic preservation, leading-edge research, innovative practices, and foundational values. Plan now to join Khafre, Inc in Itta Bena, MS at MVSU, for the fifth annual “Cotton Kingdom / Sweat Equity Symposium.” This year’s event begins with a special brownbag “art-talk” session featuring renowned artist John Jones, Thursday, November 10th @ noon; and a full day of stimulating lectures, dramatic performances, and visual arts on Friday, November 11, beginning at 9:00am.

A Call for Participation is underway to attract the interest of private collectors and archivists who may have access to confederate dollars, antebellum (or post-antebellum) plantation currency that features cotton production or agriculture (of any form).  In addition, the 2nd Annual Historical Narrative Competition enhances this year’s Symposium. Mississippi Delta high school seniors and MVSU students will compete for a trophy and gift card provided by local businesses. The rules are simple: address this year’s theme; constructed on presentation board; use any material: paper, cloth, photos, etc.; and include a synopsis describing the currency’s narrative … more details will follow. Local businesses are encouraged to participate with sponsorships and gift certificates for the best poster presentations. Both the student research projects and the celebrated works of Mr. Jones will be on public display on the MVSU campus throughout the symposium and afterwards for the remainder of the month of November in da’ House of Khafre, located at 300 Main Street, in downtown Indianola, MS. 

Khafre, Inc is all about building monumental programs that allow reflection, reconnection, and renewal. The agency and resistance of these narratives will also reflect on the subtle and continuing impact of cotton on life in the Delta and throughout the South. The one-day event concludes with a good old fashion “black-tie” (or period-piece costume) “Cotton-Pickers’ Ball and Ancestral Celebration” at da’ House of Khafre located at 300 Main St. Indianola, MS.  

The three overlapping designations lend to a broad array of topics, both “cultural” and “economic:”

• Culture; the visual and performing arts, including music, dance, tapestry, sculpture and paintings, burial sites, cotton fields, shotgun homes and juke joints, private land-plantations, prison farms/industrial complexes
• The determined spirit to be free and independent; and the accommodating vision to do the work for future generations
• National parks at all levels: federal, state/provincial, county, and city

Want to share your work, your ideas, and your ideals about the Southern narrative with the larger academic and cultural communities? The Cotton Kingdom Symposium is the place to do it. We invite abstracts and proposals from people who want to:

• present a paper/poster/ poem/song/dance in Tribute to the Ancestors, or an exhibit
• conduct an inter-generational interview/exchange/discussion (w/ grand-mama-nem, or former cotton pickers), or organize a workshop.
• Student Historical Narrative Competition

This wide variety of options makes for an exciting, informative, and uniquely diverse symposium. To submit your idea(s), go to: www.khafreinc.org and follow the links. The deadline is Friday, October 21, 2016.

Plan to join us in the Mississippi Delta! We look forward to welcoming you to the place where America’s Root Music and Culture was born!

For More Information, Please Contact:

C.Sade Turnipseed, Khafre, Inc

sade@khafreinc.org ~ 662.347.8198 ~ http://cottonpickers.us/symposium/