Each year, the Teaching Black History conference, our signature event, convenes hundreds of teachers to learn the best curricular and instructional practices surrounding Black history education. We host expert speakers and entertainment, but the stars of the conference are our teachers. Each conference session is led by a classroom teacher who shares their Black history strategies. The sessions are interactive, so participants will have hands-on experiences to bring to their classrooms. We welcome community educators, parents, school-aged students, librarians, museum curators and anyone who loves to learn about Black history. Attendees are eligible for 24 professional development credits.
Information is being added daily. Please check back frequently to keep up with the most current developments.
In 2024, the conference theme is Black to the Future: Afro-futurism as Black History. Join us as we reimagine the world without racism and antiblackness. Our conference work will focus on reconceptualizing the past and present through writing about the future. We will push the boundaries of learning, using our knowledge of the past as commentary for Black people’s future, not one of despair but one that reimagines what it means to be Black in a society that historically was meant for us not to survive.
The conference will be held over three days:
Friday, July 26-27 will be in-person. Sunday, July 28 will be held virtually.
*Note that this year we will not have asynchronous or live stream learning for our virtual attendees.
This year, the conference theme is "Black to the Future: Afro-futurism as Black History." Afrofuturism is seen as a cultural aesthetic combining science-fiction, history, and fantasy to explore and connect the African American experience to their forgotten African ancestry. Others have noted that Afrofuturist imagines a world absent of white supremacist thought and institutional structures hindering and oppressing Black communities. Afrofuturism evaluates the past to create a better present and prepare for a future void of those problematic histories. Afro-futurism is about using science fiction that is fact based to teach about Blackness that diverges from societal understandings about Black people and their history.
Afrofuturism is typically associated with Black science fiction and includes various sub-categories, including cyberpunk (art in futuristic settings focusing on futuristic technology and scientific achievement, think Artificial Intelligence, and cyber culture), Black speculative fiction (futuristic literature focusing on race and the history of race, may also include fantasy and horror), and music such as Afropunk and funk, art, fashion, costumes, and films. Yet, it is history education that ties everything together. To reimagine a safe and free world for Black people, Afrofuturism must use history as its foundation. For many, it is commentary on where we have been. In many ways, it is about teaching us about our history that has been forgotten or ignored.
Three Days
Friday, July 26, 2024 (in-person)
Saturday, July 27, 2024 (in-person)
Sunday, July 28, 2024 (online only)
Diefendorf Hall
University at Buffalo
South Campus
Buffalo, NY 14214
125 High Street
Buffalo, NY 14203
Guests can start booking rooms beginning Monday February 19, 2024. All guests can book at the discounted rate of $117/night until Tuesday June 25, 2024.
Book by phone:
Call the reservation line (877) 999-3223
Book online:
Hotel website:
www.wyndhamhotels.com/hotels/49184
When booking use GROUP/BLOCK CODE: 072324TEA
10 Lafayette Square
Buffalo, NY 14203
Book by phone:
Please contact Hilton Reservations at 1-855-446-1178 or contact the hotel directly at 716-848-1000. Please inform an associate of the dates that your guests wish to book under the code of UBBH to receive event rate..
Book online:
Please proceed to the hotel website: www.buffalodowntown.hgi.com. On the home page, enter the arrival and departure dates for the stay. Before selecting the Check Rooms and Rates button, click the link underneath to “Add a Special Rate" and enter your group code UBBH in there.
The cutoff date for reserving under the block is June 23, 2024 at midnight. Rooms not reserved in the block will be released back into our general inventory.
Please note that this year we will not have asynchronous or live stream learning for our virtual attendees.
This year's conference will include the opportunity to participate in a writing retreat. This two‐day session best serves researchers and scholars who are interested in writing collaborations around Black history and race research. Snacks and drinks are provided.
Dates: July 24-25, 2024
Time: 9 a.m‐3 p.m.
Location: University at Buffalo South Campus- Diefendorf Hall
Questions-Contact LaGarrett King lagarret@buffalo.edu or 716-645-2455
This two day retreat will include presentations by social studies coordinators around developing Black history and racial literate curriculum. Each day will also include collaborative planning sessions. Snacks and drinks are provided.
Dates: July 24-25, 2024
Time: 9 a.m‐3 p.m.
Location: University at Buffalo South Campus- Diefendorf Hall
Questions-Contact LaGarrett King lagarret@buffalo.edu or 716-645-2455