When Ryan Coogler sought to create an authentic portrait of 1932 Mississippi for his film Sinners, he turned to Dr. Hill as historical consultant on racial violence, Black resistance, and survival under Jim Crow. In this compelling presentation, Dr. Hill reveals the behind-the-scenes process of serving as a historical consultant to major Hollywood filmmakers, demonstrating how academic historians can shape popular understanding of our most difficult histories. Drawing on his consultation with Coogler, Dr. Hill explores the challenges and opportunities of historical accuracy in entertainment media—from ensuring authentic portrayals of racial terror to representing the economic realities that trapped Black communities in cycles of exploitation. This presentation illuminates how filmmakers, when committed to truth-telling and guided by rigorous historical scholarship, can create powerful vehicles for historical education that reach millions who might never open an academic text. Dr. Hill argues that historical consultation on films like Sinners represents a new frontier for public history: using the emotional power of cinema to bear witness to historical trauma while honoring the dignity and resistance of those who endured it. For scholars and educators, this presentation demonstrates how to bridge the gap between academic research and popular culture, and for filmmakers and cultural institutions, it offers a model for centering historical authenticity in storytelling.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners uses the vampire genre to explore the true horror of Jim Crow Mississippi—a creative choice that reveals profound truths about how we process historical trauma. As a historical consultant on the film, Dr. Hill examines why horror has become one of the most effective genres for confronting America's racial past, from Jordan Peele's Get Out to Coogler's Depression-era nightmare. This presentation explores how entertainment media can make historical atrocities accessible to contemporary audiences without sensationalizing suffering or diminishing the humanity of victims. Dr. Hill discusses the ethical responsibilities of historians who work with filmmakers, the power of genre to illuminate historical truth, and how films like Sinners create openings for difficult conversations about racial violence that academic discourse alone cannot achieve. He demonstrates how the metaphor of vampirism—creatures that drain life, steal humanity, and promise false belonging—captures essential truths about white supremacy's parasitic relationship to Black communities. This is healing history pedagogy through popular culture: using shared cultural experiences to facilitate dialogue, deep listening, and ultimately, collective healing.

In 1921, Tulsa's Greenwood District "Black Wall Street" was one of the most affluent Black communities in America. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked Greenwood, destroying nearly every significant structure and killing as many as three hundred people. Dr. Hill's presentation discusses the history of the race massacre and its current-day legacies that must be confronted. Drawing on insights from his work as historical consultant on Ryan Coogler's Sinners, which depicts similar racial violence in 1930s Mississippi, Dr. Hill explores how bearing witness to historical trauma through multiple media—scholarly books, graphic histories, teacher training, film consultation, and public speaking—creates the conditions for healing and justice. He demonstrates how the Tulsa Race Massacre, long suppressed, has gained national attention through sustained efforts to bring hidden histories into public consciousness, offering a model for confronting other acts of racial terrorism that remain unacknowledged.

Historically, mainstream American history excluded Black Americans' contributions and demeaned Black people as racially inferior. Only since the civil rights movement have African Americans gained deserved recognition. Black History Month and Juneteenth are critical American institutions because they repair the accumulated damage that racism and historical amnesia have wreaked on our culture. In this presentation, Dr. Hill argues that remembering Black contributions and sacrifices requires new strategies for reaching contemporary audiences—from teaching institutes to entertainment media. His work as historical consultant on Ryan Coogler's Sinners demonstrates how popular culture can become a vehicle for historical education, reaching global audiences who may never encounter formal Black history curricula. Dr. Hill contends that the work of remembering is more critical than ever, requiring historians, educators, artists, and community members to collaborate across traditional boundaries to ensure these histories remain alive and relevant.

Black Lives Matter activists contend that better officer training is not enough to solve the problem of police brutality. True change won't arrive until officers who violate protocols are held accountable for using deadly force against non-threatening and unarmed Black people. Dr. Hill traces contemporary police violence to longer patterns of state-sanctioned racial terror—the same systems of violence he researched for his work on lynching, the Tulsa Race Massacre, and his consultation on Ryan Coogler's Sinners, which depicts organized white violence against Black communities in Jim Crow Mississippi. By illuminating these historical continuities, Dr. Hill helps audiences understand why structural change, not individual reform, is necessary. He explores what has happened and what needs to happen to transform the culture of anti-Black violence in the United States and globally, arguing that bearing witness to historical victims can galvanize contemporary movements for justice.

On August 19, 1958, thirteen young Black activists walked into the Katz Drug Store lunch counter in Oklahoma City to challenge segregation through nonviolent direct action—an act that would prefigure the famous Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 by nearly two years. In this compelling presentation, Dr. Hill tells the story of Clara Luper and the Oklahoma Youth Council's courageous campaign, which forced the desegregation of lunch counters across Oklahoma and inspired sit-in movements throughout the South. Drawing on primary source research and oral histories, Dr. Hill explores why this pivotal moment in civil rights history has been largely overlooked in national narratives dominated by Greensboro. He examines how thirteen ordinary teenagers, ordering thirteen Cokes at a segregated lunch counter, sparked a nonviolent revolution that would transform American race relations. This presentation honors the pioneers of the sit-in movement, particularly Clara Luper's visionary leadership, while asking crucial questions: Why are some histories amplified while others are suppressed? How do we ensure that all freedom fighters receive their due recognition? Dr. Hill demonstrates how unearthing these hidden histories becomes an act of justice and healing.

Dr. Hill, creator of healing history pedagogy, believes we can heal in relation to our most traumatic histories together through dialogue, deep listening, and compassion. Deeply influenced by Ubuntu philosophy—the African concept that our humanity is inextricably bound to others—Dr. Hill presents a transformative approach to engaging with histories of racial violence, genocide, and oppression. Rather than turning away from painful pasts or becoming paralyzed by guilt and grief, healing history pedagogy offers a path toward collective recovery and justice. Drawing on his work teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre, consulting on films like Sinners that depict racial terror, and training thousands of teachers, Dr. Hill demonstrates how communities can face their most difficult histories without fracturing. This presentation is essential for organizations navigating historical reckonings, educators teaching controversial content, communities addressing past injustices, and anyone seeking to understand how acknowledgment of historical harm can become the foundation for genuine healing and transformation.