2023 Inaugural Melvin Van Peebles Symposium

Thank you for making the first symposium a sweet, sweet success!

'We Got Your Back'

Ohio Wesleyan's Melvin Van Peebles Symposium Honors Struggles, Successes of Black Artists

Ohio Wesleyan University celebrated the legacy and artistic influence of 1953 OWU alumnus Melvin Van Peebles during a three-day, sold-out symposium March 30-April 1.

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Inaugural Melvin Van Peebles Symposium

Thursday, March 30 - Saturday, April 1, 2023
Keynote Speakers: Jasmine Guy, Wil Haygood, and Simone Drake
Featuring: DJ O Sharp and Marshall L. Shorts Jr.

Best known as a trailblazing Black filmmaker, Melvin Van Peebles was a twentieth-century Renaissance man, transcending the boundaries of race and gender as an innovator in film, theater, music, art, literature, and business. With his recent death, the aim of this symposium is to honor and celebrate his life and legacy by providing a platform to review, study, and share the historical and contemporary impact of Van Peebles, and how through this examination, we might gain important insights about broader political and cultural dynamics. Furthermore, the symposium seeks to recognize emerging artists and artistry that extend Van Peebles' radical tradition.

Read the About Van Peebles page for more information.

Symposium Speakers and Artists

Actress-dancer-director Jasmine Guy will provide the closing address at Ohio Wesleyan's inaugural symposium to explore the artistic legacy of groundbreaking Black filmmaker and 1953 OWU graduate Melvin Van Peebles.

The winner of six consecutive NAACP Image Awards, Guy is well-known for her role as Whitley Gilbert on NBC-TV's "A Different World" and for her works in films and mini-series including Spike Lee's "School Daze, Eddie Murphy's "Harlem Nights," Alex Hailey's "Queen," and Debbie Allen's "Stompin' at the Savoy." Guy will discuss the evolution of Black media, including television and film, during her 40 years as a performer.

During her career, Guy performed with Van Peebles' son, Mario, in "Stompin' at the Savoy" and in his Syfy production of "Superstition." She currently can be seen in "Harlem," the comedy series from Tracy Oliver for Amazon Prime, and "Vanished: Searching for My Sister," a movie for Lifetime that premiered earlier this month. Guy also stars in the new feature film "The Lady Makers," available on Amazon Prime, and recently completed filming the forthcoming "Not Just Another Church Movie."

The symposium also will feature award-winning writer Wil Haygood, author of "Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World," and academic, author, and artist Simone Drake, an Ohio State University professor whose research focuses on how people of African descent in the Americas negotiate the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nation. Drake also served as an editor of the book "Are You Entertained?: Black Popular Culture in the Twenty-First Century."

Read the Speaker Bios page for more information.

Artists