TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A ceremony to dedicate new markers for the graves of two slaves buried on The University of Alabama campus is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 6-7 p.m. The program, sponsored by the Coalition for Change, the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusiveness, and the Office of the Vice President for Community Affairs at UA, will be at the gravesite next to the Biology Building on Hackberry Lane.

The program, titled “Road to Kujichagulia or Self-Determination,” will include poets, dancers and artists from the UA campus and Alabama’s Black Belt. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Cassie Simon, assistant professor of social work at UA.

Other speakers will include Coalition for Change leaders Robert Turner and Zenobia Harris, both UA students, and Rondee Gaines, a UA graduate. UA law professor Al Brophy, who has done research on the history of slaves at the University, will also speak.

Performances will include “Gournee Africa” (Children of God), a children’s African dance troupe from Selma; UA’s African-American Gospel Choir, and Stephen Black, a nationally ranked performer on UA’s forensics team. Father Gerald Holloway of St. Francis Catholic Parish will give the invocation.

A memorial service was held last spring at the small cemetery where the two slaves were buried.