Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The University of South Carolina's African American Studies Program held their 21st Annual Robert Smalls lecture on Wednesday night.
Each year the lecture is put together to highlight intellectual thought in African American studies with the general public.
This year's keynote speaker was community activist and co-founder of the Dream Defenders organization, Phillip Agnew.
The Dream Defender organization focuses on racial and socio-economic justice issues like prison privatization, racial profiling and "zero tolerance" policies in schools.
They also help students and young people with nonviolent political movements.
Agnew's theme was the '2020 Vision and the Black Radical Tradition' and explained "we need a political agenda that reaches beyond party and candidate. We should be looking at past historical black traditions to inform our future, and how we should be thinking about a 2020 vision and beyond."
On Wednesday night he encouraged students in the audience to be active in organizations around the campus and work to spur change in their communities.
"Don't join a group fighting hate," says Agnew. "Hate is a ghost that you can't hit, you don't know when you're successful and when you're not. They love it like that. Don't join an organization fighting racism. Join an organization that's contending for power, the power to decide our tomorrows."
Along with Agnew's speech, several awards were given out during the event recognizing excellence in the African American Studies Program.