Booked and Busy: Miles College to Host The Judge U.W. Clemon Center Business & Research Conference on October 2

Hosted by the Miles College Women's Business Center · Friday, October 2, 2026 · 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CT · Kirkwood Balton Theater, Miles College, Fairfield, Alabama

RSVP: Reserve your seat

Preview the conference: clemonconference.netlify.app

FAIRFIELD, Ala. — The Judge U.W. Clemon Center for Economic and Social Justice at Miles College will present its first Business & Research Conference on Friday, October 2, 2026. The conference is hosted by the Miles College Women's Business Center and takes place during Homecoming 2026, "The Milean Hills." It is a full working day of research, business, entertainment, content creation, artificial intelligence, advocacy and civic engagement, featuring more than two dozen speakers. The event is free and open to the public, and it will also stream live on TikTok.

The conference is built for the Miles College community: small business owners, researchers, students and alumni. Several sessions are designed for students who already know the phrase "booked and busy," shorthand for a thriving business. Every speaker on the roster represents that idea in their own industry.

A Day in Three Parts

Research, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The day opens at 9:00 AM with the HBCU Scholars Research Presentations under NSF Award #2430319. Student researchers Marcus Reaves, Trinity Collier, Nyla Graves, Tederia Ashley and Robert E. Agee III will present their work. The session is part of the NSF-funded UJIMA Collective, which strengthens research capacity at Miles College, Howard University, Morgan State University, Tennessee State University and Winston-Salem State University.

Business and entertainment, sponsored by the Miles College Women's Business Center and the Miles College Sports and Entertainment Management Program. At 10:00 AM, Lent Lawson and Kevin Key lead "Turning Content into Currency." At 11:00 AM, "The Business of Entertainment" brings together the Hon. Lashunda Scales, DJ Stussy, Keshia Walker and Dr. Meda Montana.

The afternoon, presented by The Judge U.W. Clemon Center.

• 12:00 PM, "The Business of Me": Dr. Jamila T. Davis and Tara Wallace of I Love Me More, with Student Host Candance Kemp.

• 1:00 PM, "Small Business in the Age of AI": Shanté Bacon.

• 2:00 PM, the Keynote, "Changing the Narrative of Justice": Judge U.W. Clemon, President Bobbie Knight, Dr. Jamila T. Davis and Angelo Pinto, Esq. Davis and Pinto will be introduced as the Center's inaugural Scholars-in-Residence.

• 2:30 PM, "The Business of Advocacy and Influence": Tamika D. Mallory, Dr. Sheena Meade, Syrita Steib and Yandy Smith-Harris.

The day is hosted by Dr. Jarralynne Agee, Talibah Bayles and Dr. Roderick Van Daniel.

About the Namesake

The Honorable U.W. Clemon is a Fairfield native and Miles College graduate who will join the conference in person. He was among the first African Americans elected to the Alabama Senate after Reconstruction. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as Alabama's first Black federal judge, and he later served as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Miles College renamed its Center for Economic and Social Justice in his honor in 2026, with the family's consent.

"The Center's opening is not a ribbon cutting," said Miles College President Bobbie Knight, J.D. "It is people teaching, on the same afternoon, in the same rooms, in front of students who can walk into the work."

Building on a Tradition

The conference builds on President Knight's Master Class Series and the Special Speaker Series that came before it. It is held alongside the Miles College Women's Business Center, now in its fifth year, which is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration's national Women's Business Center network. The Women's Business Center provides free and low-cost business training, confidential counseling, capital-readiness help and federal-contracting support to entrepreneurs across Alabama.

Plan to Attend

When: Friday, October 2, 2026, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CT

Where: Kirkwood Balton Theater, Miles College, Fairfield, Alabama

Cost: Free and open to the public

Can't make it? The conference will stream live on TikTok.

RSVP here to reserve your seat, and preview the full conference, including the program, speaker bios and the Homecoming Week schedule.

October 2. Booked and busy.