January 29, 2007
SIUC to observe Black History Month
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale will host an acclaimed African-American studies scholar and an expert on hip-hop politics during Black History Month, which starts Thursday, Feb. 1.
This year's theme, "From Slavery to Freedom: The Story of Africans in the Americas," will be the topic of the keynote speech delivered by Manning Marable, founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University. The event is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Student Auditorium.
Also on the calendar is Bakari Kitwana, co-founder of the first-ever National Hip-Hop Political Convention and author of "The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture." He will speak about "Why White Kids Love Hip Hop" at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, in Van Lente Auditorium in the James W. Neckers Building.
The presentations by Marable and Kitwana are just a sampling of the activities planned for Black History Month at SIUC, which will also include art exhibitions, brown bag luncheons, a Black Repertoire Theatre presentation and a Black Faculty Appreciation Celebration.
Pamela A. Smoot, assistant professor of Black American Studies, is chair of the SIUC Black History Month committee. The National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Black Accountants and Blacks in Business and American Association of University Women are national sponsors. Campus sponsors include Black Affairs Council, African Student Council, Sigma Tau Delta, Student Programming Council, Women's Studies program, Black American Studies program, Caribbean Students Association, School of Art and Design, Africana Theater Laboratory, Department of Theater, fine arts activity fee, Racial/Ethnicity Minority Student programs, Black Graduate Student Association and Zeta Phi Beta.
All events are free and open to the public, except where noted. For more information, contact SIUC's Black American Studies program at 618/453-7147. The full schedule follows:
Thursday, Feb. 1
• Black History Month "Kick-off" reception, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Student Center Old Main Lounge.
Feb. 1 - 13
Photo exhibition by Fern Logan, associate professor of cinema and photography, "Woman of the African Diaspora," Student Center Art Alley.
Wednesday, Feb. 7
• Keynote address by Manning Marable, 7 p.m., Student Center Auditorium. Marable is founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University.
Friday, Feb. 9
• Old school film night, 6:30 p.m., Faner Hall, Harry T. Moore Auditorium. Black films produced between 1920 and 1970 will be shown to study how the roles and portrayal of African Americans have changed over time.
Tuesday, Feb. 13
• Brown bag luncheon with Fern Logan, noon, Student Center Illinois Room. She will discuss "Women of the Diaspora."
Feb. 13-28
• Art exhibit by Robert A. Ketchens, a renowned painter and visiting artist at SIUC, "Displaced, Disbursed and Then, Dissed," Student Center Art Alley.
Thursday, Feb. 15
• Lecture by Timothy L. Smoot, 7 p.m., Student Center Kaskaskia/Missouri Room. Smoot is the senior vice president, chief financial officer and co-founder of Meridian Management Group, Inc. of Baltimore, Md., a manager of commercial loan and equity funds focused on minority and women-owned businesses. His lecture is entitled, "So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?"
Friday, Feb. 16
Lecture by Robert A. Ketchens, 6:30 p.m., Lawson Hall room 141. Ketchens will discuss his work, "Displaced, Disbursed, and Then Dissed."
Saturday, Feb. 17
• St. Louis-based Black Repertoire Theatre production of "Mr. and Mrs. Dred Scott," 7 p.m., Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theater.
• Night of Elegance: an evening of music and dance. Reception at 5 p.m., program at 6 p.m., Student Center Ballroom D. William Davis, an SIUC alumnus and state representative, will be honored. By invitation only. Free admission.
Monday, Feb. 19
• Lecture by Psyche A. Williams-Forson, 7 p.m., Student Center Mississippi Room.
Williams-Forson, assistant professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, will discuss, "Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power."
Wednesday, Feb. 21
• SIUC Knowledge Bowl competition, 7 p.m., Student Center Auditorium.
Thursday, Feb. 22
• Lecture by Barbara Tagger, 7 p.m., Student Center Illinois Room. Tagger, National Park Service representative, will discuss "How the National Park Service Interprets African American History: Gullah Geechee, New York African Burial Ground and the Underground Railroad."
Friday, Feb. 23
• Lecture by Bakari Kitwana, 8 p.m., James W. Neckers Building, Van Lente Auditorium. Kitwana, co-founder of the first ever National Hip-Hop Political Convention and author of "The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture," will speak about "Why White Kids Love Hip Hop."
Saturday, Feb. 24
• Finer Womanhood Banquet with speech by Michelle Porter-Norman, Zeta Phi Beta immediate past state director, 6 p.m., Student Center Ballroom D, Public is invited, $30 for individuals, $50 for couples, $20 for children 12 and under.
• Play, "A Circle of Friends - A Circle of Love: The Widows of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.," 7 p.m., Stone Center. Contact is Jeannie Killian at 618/536-6646.
Sunday, Feb. 25
• Film "Tsotsi" (UK/South Africa) 2005, 7 p.m., Wham Building Davis Auditorium.
Part of the University Honors Program's International Film Series.
Monday, Feb. 26
• Brown bag luncheon with Leonard K. Gadzekpo, noon, Student Center Illinois Room. Gadzekpo, SIUC associate professor of Black American Studies, will discuss "What Makes a Person Black: Reclaiming Our Roots."
• Lecture by Pamela A. Smoot, 6 p.m., Student Center Saline Room. Smoot, assistant professor of Black American Studies, will discuss, "August Wilson's Pittsburgh."
Tuesday, Feb. 27
• Poetry reading by Frank Chipasula, 7 p.m., Student Center Kaskaskia/Missouri Room.
Chipasula, SIUC associate professor of Black American Studies, will read from "Homage to Will Brown: Omaha, Nebraska, September 1919."
Wednesday, Feb. 28
• Presentation by Father Joseph A. Brown, 7 p.m., Lesar Law Building Auditorium. Brown, director of SIUC's Black American Studies program, will present, "A Meditation on Lynching."