The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis is honored to welcome Daphene R. McFerren as our guest speaker for our next community meeting on Monday Sept. 12, 2022 at the Barth House at 6:00 pm CST.
Daphene R. McFerren is the executive director of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. The Hooks Institute’s mission is teaching, studying, and promoting civil rights and social change. The Hooks Institute’s research publications, public lectures and exhibits as well as University campus programs to increase the academic and professional success of African Americans males and women, are all focused on eliminating disparities among minorities and other marginalized groups. McFerren is responsible for strategic initiatives, program development and implementation, staff management and financial oversight of Hooks Institute operations.
McFerren has produced or been a member of the production team on the following documentaries: Freedoms Front Line: Fayette County, TN (2008), which tells the story of the grassroots civil rights movement in that county from the 1950s-1970s (2008 Director’s Choice Award, Black Maria Film and Video Festival); Duty of the Hour (2016; executive producer) a documentary film about the life of civil rights activist Benjamin L. Hooks, which was broadcast on WKNO-TV, Memphis and on KCET Los Angeles, one of the largest broadcast areas in the country (recipient of the 2013 Director’s Citation, Black Maria Film and Video Festival and 2016, the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust Recognition on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC; and The Civil Rights Movement: A Cultural Revolution (2014), which details the impact of the civil rights movement on the nation’s music, fashion and culture. (Silver Telly, Film/Video; People’s Telly; Bronze Telly, Cultural (2014 Telly Awards) and an Award of Merit, 2014 Best Shorts Competition). She is also the executive producer, and producer of a documentary on Ida B. Wells, Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells which premiered in Memphis, TN on April 19, 2022.
Prior to joining the Hooks Institute, McFerren was in private practice in Washington, DC; was senior counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission; was counsel to the late Attorney General Janet Reno; and was later Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland prosecuting, among other cases, forced labor and involuntary servitude cases involving foreign victims.
In 2016, McFerren was selected by the Memphis Business Journal as a Superwoman in Business. In 2016 she was also selected as “100 Women to Watch in the U.S.” by Bizwomen.
McFerren grew up in Fayette County, Tenn., where she completed public high school. She attended Yale College and Harvard Law School.
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