Speakers and Panelists

Keynote Speakers

Mariah Parker

Mariah Parker, Ph.D., is a linguistics scholar, a former Georgia County Commissioner, a rapper (under the stage name Linqua Franqa), and an organizer with Raise Up the South, the Southern arm of the Fight for $15 and a Union workers movement.

Parker first made headlines after being sworn in as an Athens-Clarke County Commissioner, at age 26, with their hand on a copy of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" held by their mother. Photos of Parker taking the oath went viral, highlighting the growing numbers of millennial Black people making their voices heard in local politics nationwide. As county commissioner, Parker focused on creating economic stability and racial justice as well as criminal justice reform and raising the minimum wage.

Parker recently resigned from that position to work as a labor organizer with Raise Up the South, a pivot that gives them the opportunity to fight for social justice outside the constraints of political office. The move also coincided with the release of the music video for their single, “Wurk,” a powerful pro-worker, pro-union piece that has once again thrust Parker into the headlines when the song went viral.

Parker has performed the hit at union conventions and rallies as well as New York’s Lincoln Center, a performance RollingStone magazine called "explosive" and pointed to how the "queer, Black, nonbinary Southerner ... dominated the stage, all sinewy limbs, and kinetic energy and rapid-fire couplets. Those same tongue-twisting revolutionary rhymes and hyperliterate lyricism shine on their new album, 'Bellringer,' with lyrics on capitalism, police brutality, mental health, emotional turmoil, and workers’ rights smoothly cutting through the alternating slices of Southern hip-hop, neo-soul, indie-pop, and avant-garde electronic vibes that populate Parker's extended musical universe."

Parker's outspoken commitment to racial and economic justice has garnered the attention of other media as well including CNN, The New York Times, Teen Vogue, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Afropunk, The Root, and The Bitter Southerner, among others.

Rev. Kenneth Wheeler

The Rev. Kenneth Wheeler '74 is a retired ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is a sought-after preacher, public theologian, and writer. He is a guest lecturer on pastoral leadership in the 21st century at Wartburg Theological Seminary, where he received a Doctor of Divinity Degree honoris causa. He is an in-demand preacher for the national observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Most of his writings, sermons, and lectures focus on faith, race, and social justice. Wheeler is a respected elder and mentor to young pastors and seminarians. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, he earned a bachelor's degree in religion from Concordia College and a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

Panelists

Faith Dixon

Faith Shields-Dixon is a Chicago native who relocated to North Dakota in 2003. She is an entrepreneur and the founder of Faith4Hope, a nonprofit organization committed to helping low-income families achieve lasting independence. She also owns and founded Children of Hope Childcare and Urban Beauty Supply. Dixon has been a prominent voice in Fargo’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations as well as a leader of civic engagement, vice president of the ND NAACP, and organizing the masses in demanding accountability and transparency among the Fargo Police Department. In 2021, she advocated, led, and was successful in the approval of police-worn body cameras, banning chokeholds, Fargo's first Hate Crime Bill, and the first Police Oversight Board. Her leadership in working with Fargo City officials and the city commission has been beneficial in community engagement.

More panelists to be added