“Until lions have historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” Historian Danita Mason-Hogans advocates that the way we tell and document history is a social justice issue. She shares her family and community’s multi-generation involvement in the civil rights movement, and how the importance of who tells a historical story and from who’s perspective they are told, is as important as the story itself.
Danita Mason-Hogans is a Civil Right Activist and Historian. Appointed by Mayor Pam Hemminger, she serves on the Chapel Hill Historic Rights Commemorations Task Force and works as Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies Program Manger for their critical oral histories component. Danita Mason-Hogans is the daughter of Dave Mason, who began the famous first sit-in of Chapel Hill’s civil rights’ movement, igniting decade of protests against segregation.