New College of Florida will host its annual New Schools of Black Thought symposium on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 10 a.m.-5 pm at the Sudakoff Conference Center. This year’s symposium, “Systemic Injustice and the Meaning of Citizenship in America’s Democracy,” brings activists, artists, and academics together to focus on the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on minorities. The public is welcome to attend and encouraged to be a part of the discussion, which examines institutionalized barriers that people of black and Latinx communities who have been incarcerated face as they try to reintegrate into society.

The symposium is part of New College's combination of artistic and academic events in honor of Black History Month. Established by the work of Dr. Queen Zabriskie (pictured), assistant professor of sociology, and four undergraduate students, Nasib McIntosh, Donovan Brown, Paul Loriston, and the late Ijeoma Uzoukwu, New College's inaugural Black History Month program took place in February 2015. For more information and to register, click here.