Tamara Best of the New York Times wrote on the social advocacy of writer Ralph Ellison and photographer Gordon Parks, both of whom used their talents to address racial injustice.

Todd Steven Burroughs recapped the James Baldwin International Conference held in Paris from May 26-28th.

Thomas Chatterton Williams explored the life of Albert Murray and his complex analysis of art. Paul Devlin’s new book [Murray Talks Music] is a collection of compiled interviews of Murray. Murray was a novelist, literary critic, and a founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Jamie Poniewozik reviewed the new remake of the “Roots,” which premiered earlier this week, in “‘Roots” for a Black Lives Matter Era.” Similarly, the Huffington Post highlighted a “Roots Syllabus” created by Black Twitter with a list of essential readings on slavery.

Dr. Natalie Cort spoke about succeeding as a person of color in a predominately white institution.

In local news, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas has named its first associate dean who will oversee diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. Dr. Jennifer Hamer will be in charge of strengthening the retention rates of underrepresented students.