Dr. Major Dewayne Mays is the current President of the Lincoln Chapter of the NAACP

and serves as Co-Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Project, which helped produce

the book Roots of Justice: A History of Race and Racism in Nebraska. The book has

many writers and authors of separate chapters.

This project is supported by Nebraska for Peace, a statewide organization that has

helped address public policy issues and educated Nebraskans about their role in

challenging systems and institutions.

Dewayne has a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the UNL. He lived in Lincoln for many years

and understands many of the challenges dealing with racism and race issues with a

small number of People of Color in that city, as contrasted to Omaha. Dewayne has

served on many boards of directors, including the Nebraska Appleseed Center, and has

volunteered at the Malone Center, which has historically served African Americans in

Lincoln. We will discuss the evolution of the book and some expected outcomes. The

focus will be on the chapter on African Americans, as it examines many aspects of

racism in Nebraska.

Roots of Justice: A History of Race and Racism in Nebraksa