Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad

(RED BANK, NJ) -- The T. Thomas Fortune Foundation is honored to announce Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a leading scholar as the 2023 T. Thomas Fortune Lecturer. Dr. Muhammad is the former executive director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. He is currently the Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. The event kicks off their Juneteenth celebration, a federal holiday commemorating Black liberation from the institution of slavery.

The will hold a fundraiser luncheon on Sunday, June 11 at 12:00pm with guest keynote speaker Dr. Muhammad at Two River Theater. Dr. Muhammad’s address will be followed by the 3:00pm matinee performance of Two Sisters and a Piano, by Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Nilo Cruz, a play about freedom and revolution, in Cuba. Doors for the luncheon will open at 11:30am.

Tickets for the fundraiser, which include the play, are available for a $100 donation online here.

Dr. Muhammad’s work is broad in its examination of racism and criminal justice, economic inequality, and democracy in United States history. He is the author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and The Making of Modern Urban America. His writings have appeared in national print and broadcast media and in filmmaker Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated documentary 13th.

As the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center prepares for the Fall opening of the exhibit The Black Press: Stewards of Democracy, Dr. Muhammad’s message on the state of democracy in United States history today is a timely one. The exhibit will underscore the prominence of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center’s designation as a National Historic Site for Journalism, by the Society of Professional Journalists. The exhibit will showcase Black pioneers in the field of journalism as political and social justice activists, with T. Thomas Fortune as a leading figure of this movement. It will also explore the shaping of black identity, Black Firsts in Mass Media and more. 

The T. Thomas Fortune Lecture series was born from the mission to uphold the civil rights and social justice legacy of T. Thomas Fortune. It provides an opportunity to connect to the past by amplifying Fortune’s voice about a compelling issue of our time, from a leading figure of today.

Two River Theater is located at 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, New Jersey.