Often excluded from our worldbuilding efforts, Black girls and Queer folks lie on the fringes of our anti-Black patriarchal world. As demonstrated by the decline of movement spaces like BYP100 and Black Lives Matter National, even the most radical organizations cannot escape the insidious erasure of gender oppressed peoples. The 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor exemplifies a popular culture that is ill-equipped to defend Black womanhood, while the murder of Oluwatoyin Salau illustrates a movement culture that is unprepared to protect Black girlhood. Sitting in what feels like systemic erasure and betrayal, what if we built a home at the end of the world? Taking inspiration from Haiti's Radical Tradition, Melly claims that the answer to our freedom dreams lies in Maronage: The act of removing oneself from slavery. Attendees will take a deep dive into the contemporary landscape of Black womanhood and queerness to illuminate new alternatives for experiencing Liberation in our lifetime.

Attendee Takeaways

• An understanding of how gender oppressed Black peoples have been perpetually sidelined, de-valued, and ultimately excluded from radical leftist movement spaces—spanning across American slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement and even the Black Lives Matter Movement.

• The challenges that gender oppressed people disproportionately face across education, healthcare, and income.

• Why Melly chose to leave the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020.

• The urgency for building solidarity with other gender oppressed people across racial identity & class.

• New alternatives for building power in our new political landscape.

Mainstream approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) idealize democratized and multicultural campus environments that serve as a marketplace of ideas. While campuses may intend to implement the best DEI frameworks in programming and throughout the institution, a failure to address structural anti-Blackness places Black, Indigenous, and other students of color at risk for further marginalization and censorship. In this presentation, attendees will learn how college environments can constrict the imagination and learning potential of Black students through structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal Anti-Blackness.

Attendee Takeaways

• A working definition of contemporary Black Culture.

• Defining the different challenges Black students face in academia.

• A comprehensive understanding of William A. Smith’s concept of Racial Battle Fatigue.

• An analysis of horizontal oppression that occurs between Black students, faculty, staff, and administration.

Youth-led political resistance has always been central to our radical movements. In our modern Attention Economy, organizations and educational institutions may find it difficult to engage our new generation of changemakers. Ahead the 2024 presidential election, award-winning activist and filmmaker Melly argues that our new culture of learning requires we adopt a popular education model that bridges pop culture and politics. In this presentation, attendees will learn new strategies they can implement in their programming to capture and sustain the attention of youth audiences.

Attendee Takeaways

• An analysis of the modern Attention Economy.

• A working definition of the Youth Activist Industrial Complex.

• Case studies for how film, music, and other forms of multi-media can be used to broaden organizational reach, engage new audiences, and retain large followings.

What if you lived down the street from a pop star? What if rappers held concerts at your local library? What if mainstream musicians used their influence to empower their fans, and how would that change your relationship to your local community? Influenced by Amanda Harris Williams, Melly is glamorizing the cultural worker—using music to inspire people to self-empowerment and social activism. Leveraging music and visual art, Melly is an award-winning musician disrupting pop culture with a new model for pop stardom. Join Melly for a master class on how artists and fans can transform the political landscape with music.

Attendee Takeaways

• A working definition of the modern Cultural Worker.

• An infographic and case study outlining the differences between the traditional artist and Cultural Worker.

• An audit of the contemporary music industry through Melly’s experience working as a musician and artist manager.

• How to cultivate a working environment rooted in the holistic care of the artist: From the stories you tell; to the people who tell them; and the processes you create.

Women are getting angrier, and no one knows that better than Melly. When your rage is left unexpressed, we risk developing a new generation characterized by increased rates of depression and communal isolation while continuing to rid girls, women & femmes of systemic political power. Ahead the 2024 presidential election, Melly is tackling this issue with a rather unique proposal: She organizes political rallies where attendees are encouraged to smash used cars because it is a safe, controlled, and non-violent way for girls, women & femmes to express their rage. What has resulted of these rallies is a political movement called "Dirty Girl," the girls empowerment organization bringing the party to your protest.

Attendee Takeaways

• The inner-workings of the #1 party protest experience in the world.

• How rage can be transmuted to empower girls, women & femmes to build the futures they want to see.

• Learn how Melly directly engages Gen-Z and Millennial changemakers through music, event programming, and political education.

• Case studies for party protests held across the United States to protest for abortion access; educational equity; and workers rights amidst massive tech layoffs.

Traversing a medley of songs derived by Black artists hailing from the 1970s, Melly invites her guests on a story arc characterized by triumph, loss, and self-actualization. Melly’s Awakening Experience offers a vignette into the vocal talent and gifted storytelling audiences can continue to expect from the enterprising artist.