On Sunday, February 23 – Du Bois’s birthday and the official holiday observation of W.E.B. Du Bois Day in Great Barrington – Macedonia Baptist Church will have a special convocation honoring Dr. Du Bois’ birthday. Guest pastor Reverend Traci Jackson will deliver the convocation. Pastor Traci is the founder and lead pastor of Wellspring Global Fellowship Church and a long time leader at Urban League in Boston. Pastor Traci Jackson serves as an international leader & speaker at the intersection of faith-based communities and domestic violence and sexual assault in communities of color. She will lead us in celebrating Du Bois’ legacy across the State.

Participants will join a processional Legacy Walk after the convocation, arriving for the birthday celebration, “Imagining Du Bois through the Arts: Past, Present, and Future” at the Mason Library at 11:00 AM. Novelist Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times and USA Today best selling author of more than 30 novels, will read a selection from her newest work of fiction, Harlem Rhapsody, which will be released at a tea & talk event at Ventfort Hall later in the day, at 3:00 PM. Gesel Mason of Freedom Moves: the Embodiment of a Legacy, and Dr. Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin and Dr. Khalil Sullivan of the Buffalo Team will join the Festival’s birthday celebration as we honor the 90th anniversary year of Black Reconstruction and Dr. W. E.B. Du Bois. Dr. Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, a Ted Talk Fellow, will share her personal and professional ties to Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois.

Also joining the event on Sunday will be Legacy Committee member Ari Zorn with Julie Michaels as representatives of the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project of Great Barrington. Legacy Committee Vice Chair Gwendolyn VanSant will serve as emcee and moderator. Legacy Committee member Leah Reed will welcome with song, and we are pleased to be joined by State Representative Leigh Davis and members of the Great Barrington Selectboard.

An artifact copy of Black Reconstruction from Du Bois’s personal library will be on view, courtesy of collector and Du Bois Legacy Committee co-chair Randy Weinstein.

Book signing, and lunch reception courtesy of Bae’s Global Kitchen.