Overview: Benjamin spoke at Spelman College, her alma mater, as part of the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Distinguished Lecture Series. Her message centered on racial healing and progress — concepts that resonated with her audience of Black women. An esteemed sociologist and Princeton University professor, Ruha Benjamin is renowned for her work at the intersection of race and technology. In a Q-and-A session that spanned history, Black literature, Afrofuturism, and even a call-and-response chant, Benjamin implored the audience to envision themselves as owning their collective power in a future they create. For Black people, the “original A.I.” meant ancestral intelligence — the wisdom of elders and others who trod a similar path of hardship, Benjamin said.