Congratulations to our 2022 Barksdale Award winners, Matt Knerr and Rabria Moore. 

MATT KNERR


Majoring in biochemistry with minors in neuroscience, biological sciences, environmental sciences and psychology, this Stamps Scholar is a 2021 UM Green Fund Award recipient and has completed research and internships with UM’s Office of Sustainability, the Black Earth Institute in Wisconsin, and the Air Force Research Lab in San Antonio, Texas, just to name a few.

Matt’s proposal, Investigating Italian Food Systems with Mississippi in Mind, won over the selection committee for the evident intentional and careful planning and passion for the project.

With his $5,000, Matt will examine the ways in which food is grown, processed, and sent to tables in Mississippi by observing, interviewing, and interacting with entities such as the Oxford Community Market, those at the Quitman County food processor, HomePlace Pastures, and Oxford’s own Ravine restaurant. This summer, our winner will live and work on farms in Southern Italy through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms and then spend time in Naples and the Amalfi Coast—a cluster of cities largely fed by local farms.

RABRIA MOORE

Rabria is seeking a dual-degree in political science and journalism with an emphasis in News-Editorial. She currently works as a marketing intern with UM’s School of Business and has worked with Washington, D.C.’s National Press Club as a policy research analyst. A volunteer for the Mississippi College Access Project and secretary for UM’s chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, this 4.0 student also spent several months as an assistant news editor for The Daily Mississippian. 

Rabria proposed a timely and simultaneously past-due project: An Exploration of Black Joy and How Its Practice Benefits the Black Community.

With her $5,000, Rabria will conduct interviews via Zoom or on-location with members of the Black Joy Parade in Oakland, California, Upset Homegirls in Fullerton, California, Black Village Foundation in Chicago, the “Soul Bowl” or “Capital City Classic” in Jackson, Mississippi, the National Council of Negro Women in Washington, D.C., the Annual Bayou Classic in New Orleans, The Black Joy Museum in Philadelphia, and a few others. 

In addition to covering various events, Rabria’s end goal is to create a series of stories and a short documentary that explores the unapologetic joy of the Black community. 

(Photo of Knerr by Bill Dabney; Photo of Moore by A.J. Norwood)