The UNC Charlotte Africana Studies Department and the Africana Studies Faculty Council inaugurated the Dr. Bertha Maxwell Roddey Distinguished Africana Lecture in 2008 on the occasion of the fortieth anniver-sary of Africana Studies at UNC Charlotte. The lecture is envisioned as an annual intellectual and social fo-rum for scholars, students, community leaders, and policy-makers on pertinent issues facing Africa-descended populations regionally and globally. The lecture honors and celebrates Dr. Maxwell Roddey’s service to the academic field of Africana Studies as an administrator, teacher, scholar, and community leader.