New PAS Chair Hopes to Promote Professional Integrity, Study Abroad Programs for Students

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Mar. 3rd, 2011) ― Karin Stanford has always wanted to change the world. As a child growing up in Inglewood, she wondered why the black boys in her neighborhood were disappearing. She found out many were sent to the California Youth Authority, often wrongly accused and abused.

“I saw it as a problem,” Stanford said. “I thought I could make it better, make a difference.”

Today, Stanford is changing the face of Cal State Northridge’s Department of Pan African Studies (PAS) as only the second woman to head one of the oldest and largest black studies programs in the nation. She also has recently authored “Images of America: African Americans in Los Angeles,” a book she hopes will change the image of the “history” of blacks in Los Angeles.

Stanford went off to college with her mind set on becoming a prison warden or an attorney. She double majored in community service and political science and earned bachelor’s degrees from California State University, Chico. By 1988, she had earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California, but her interests began to change.

Karin Stanford, chair of the Department of Pan African Studies. Photo by Lee Choo

“I became increasingly involved in local politics and activism. Jesse Jackson had run for president. The anti-apartheid movement was big and I was learning more about international affairs,” Stanford recalled. She decided to leave Los Angeles and move to Washington, D.C. to earn a doctorate in political science at Howard University. Stanford said her view of the world began to change, influenced by her work as a congressional aide and with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and her travels to other countries. A college advisor at Howard urged her to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship that sent her career in another direction. “My life chances were rooted in my interest in learning,” Stanford said. “I never planned on being an academic.” She was a post-doctoral scholar and instructor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 1992-94 and then worked as an assistant professor at the University of Georgia in political science and African American Studies from 1994-97.

She was happy to return to California, her home state, in 2003, as a professor in California State University, Northridge’s PAS department.

“I believe being here is a gift to me,” Stanford said. She carved a niche on campus as an expert on “hip hop culture” as head of the department’s Hip Hop Think Tank and director of the DuBois-Hamer Institute.

Stanford said it is an honor to serve as chair of a department with such a rich history. The department was officially formed in 1969 as the Afro-American Studies Department. It was organized in the wake of campus protests and the mass arrest of hundreds of students who were angry about the treatment of students of color.

“This department has contributed to the growth and development of so many people,” she said. “When students graduate, they leave with a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem and respect for African and African-American culture.”

Her goals as chair include promoting professionalism and integrity, faculty development and expanding study abroad programs and courses that are more policy-oriented for students.

She is the author of several books and articles, including “If We Die: African American Voices on War and Peace,” “Black Political Organizations in the Post Civil Rights Era,” and “Beyond the Boundaries: Reverend Jesse Jackson and International Affairs.”

For her latest book, Stanford partnered with the Institute for Arts and Media at CSUN to put together a collection of images of black life from the beaches to Hollywood to the streets of Central Avenue. The book includes a mix of photos from everyday people to early settlers like Bridget “Biddy” Mason, 1940s and 50s singing great Nat “King” Cole, the legendary Mayor Tom Bradley and the late pop superstar Michael Jackson.

“I hope readers understand the diversity of black life in Los Angeles and the contributions we have made,” she said.

California State University, Northridge has more than 33,000 full- and part-time students and offers 66 bachelor’s and 53 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.

Media Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler || carmen.chandler@csun.edu (818) 677-2130

Emory Libraries to Preserve Rare African American Scrapbooks

Rare African American scrapbooks at Emory’s Manuscript, Archives and Rare Books Library (MARBL) can be saved from the perils of disintegration thanks to a $170,000 three-year matching Save America’s Treasures grant. 



The grant will be used to conserve African American scrapbooks and create digital surrogates to enhance access to the historical materials – the scrapbooks of artists, writers, students, vaudeville performers, preachers and former slaves. The Emory Libraries will provide the matching amount.

Thirty-four scrapbooks have been selected, with dates ranging from 1883 to 1975. They include the scrapbooks of author Alice Walker, vaudeville performers “Jolly” John Larkin and Johnny Hudgins, entertainer and playwright Flourney Miller, Spelman College graduate Virginia Hannon, and former slave and author W.S. Scarborough, who became a professor of classics at Wilberforce University, and eventually its president.

“Scrapbooks have often been treated as the unwanted children or the neglected orphans of the archives. They are difficult to handle, they are often in fragile physical condition, and they are a mix of memorabilia of every description and taste,” says Randall K. Burkett, MARBL’s curator of African American collections.

A page from Alice Walker's scrapbook

“These scrapbooks give us a glimpse into how these artists and students and former slaves thought about themselves, their families, their work. The funding for this project will allow us to preserve these important memory books.” 'The scrapbooks are deteriorating rapidly' MARBL and the Emory Libraries’ preservation department and Digital Curation Center will collaborate on the project, says Laura Carroll, manuscript archivist and principal investigator for the grant.

The scrapbooks contain items that disintegrate quickly or are easily damaged, such as folded newspaper clippings, pressed flowers and single-use paper items such as ticket stubs, napkins and telegram paper. The objects usually were attached with adhesives such as cheap tape, pastes or cement glue, also harmful to the archival materials.

The project is urgent because the scrapbooks are deteriorating rapidly, Carroll says. “We’re losing original information. People annotate their photographs.” Walker, for example, wrote original poems in her scrapbook. “The clock is ticking.”

Once the project begins, the scrapbooks first will be sent to preservation to be stabilized to prevent further damage. Digital surrogates will be created, which will be used in classrooms and MARBL’s reading room, unless researchers request the originals.

“The originals will still be available,” Carroll says. “Nothing replaces the original.” The work is expected to begin when funds arrive mid-year and will take place over the next three years.

The Save America’s Treasures grant is awarded through the Department of Interior and the National Park Service, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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Emory University 201 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30322 USA 404.727.6123

Contact:

1. Maureen McGavin: 404.727.6898
2. Elaine Justice: 404.727.0643

Dr. Clara Small Earns Harriet Ross Tubman Lifetime Achievement Award

SALISBURY, MD---When Harriet Tubman led escaped slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad, her brave acts helped pave the way for African-Americans in the United States for generations to come.

Today, community leaders like Dr. Clara Small, professor of history at Salisbury University, are ensuring those deeds are not forgotten.

For her efforts in preserving Tubman’s memory, Small is the African-American Tourism Council of Maryland’s 2011 Harriet Ross Tubman Lifetime Achievement Award honoree.

“I cannot think of any individual more deserving of this award than Dr. Clara Small,” said SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach. “Her efforts to preserve and promote African-American history, including Harriet Tubman, are well known throughout the state. Her dedication, however, does not end there. A leader on campus and in the community, her reputation as a scholar and educator extends beyond Maryland. We are proud that she has spent more than three decades enriching young minds at Salisbury University and that she continues to be a shining star at our Maryland University of National Distinction.”

Small also will be recognized during the Maryland General Assembly on Thursday, March 10, during the 11th annual Harriet Ross Tubman Day of Remembrance, commemorating the 98th anniversary of Tubman’s death in 1913.

Dr. Clara Small

The history professor is currently working as with the National and Maryland park services to help establish the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park near the site of Tubman’s birthplace in Dorchester County, MD. Recently, she shared her admiration for Tubman as a sculpture dedicated to the anti-slavery pioneer was dedicated on SU’s campus: “Can the value of this remarkable woman be doubted? Her efforts to end slavery, and additionally, her fight for women’s suffrage, speak eloquently about her ability?”

In addition to helping establish the Underground Railroad, Tubman aided the Union Army during the Civil War, recruiting and training spies and scouts, and leading at least one charge along the Combahee River in South Carolina that disrupted Southern supply lines and freed more than 750 slaves. Following the war she promoted education in the South and, with friend and supporter Susan B. Anthony, became a national spokeswoman for the suffrage movement.

A member of the Maryland Governor’s Commission to Study the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland, Small is well known in the community for her talks on African-American and women’s history, averaging about 90 each year at schools, churches, prisons, halfway houses and civic meetings.

She is the author of an article, “Abolitionists, Free Blacks and Runaway Slaves: Surviving Slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the book A History of African-Americans on Maryland’s and Delaware’s Eastern Shore, and two books: A Reality Check: Brief Biographies of African-Americans on Delmarva and, with the Rev. David Briddell, Men of Color, to Arms! Manumitted Slaves and Free Blacks From the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland Who Served in the Civil War.

In addition to her scholarly work, she adds her leadership to a number of local organizations, including Pemberton Hall Manor, SU’s Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, and the Thomas E. Polk Sr. chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers. Through a grant from the Community Foundation, she helped promote and sponsor the annual Buffalo Soldiers Summer Youth Workshop to educate area children.

At SU, Small has been a noteworthy professor both in and out of the classroom. She has served as an advisor to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first African-American sorority on campus. She was the long-time advisor for SU’s Union of African-American Students and was a catalyst for establishing a student chapter of the NAACP.

She also organized the Maryland Gamma chapter of the Pi Gamma Mu honor society in the social sciences at SU, serving as its co-advisor since 1982. Nationally, she was named its chancellor of the northeastern region in 1991 and has been re-elected to the post every three years since. In 2005, the international organization honored her with its Faithful Service Award.

Beyond her service to the campus, Small has provided food and comfort to those in need. She coordinated efforts in the Salisbury community to send more than 140 boxes of relief supplies to victims of Hurricane Floyd in her native North Carolina, going beyond local collection to drive three vanloads of food, blankets, clothing and other needed items to the stricken area. She was the first person at SU to organize relief efforts for victims in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. At the local level, she continues to coordinate the collection of non-perishable goods for the Maryland Food Bank in Salisbury and other agencies.

Small is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the University System of Maryland’s highest faculty honor, the Board of Regents Award for Excellence, and the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s Frank H. Morris Humanitarian Award. She also has earned the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council’s Tee O’Conner Award for outstanding contributions to African-American heritage issues, as well as the Wicomico County Commission for Women’s Community Service Award and the SU Alumni Association’s Faculty Appreciation Award.

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Salisbury University · 1101 Camden Ave. · Salisbury, MD 21801 · 410-543-6000 For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.

LISTINGS FROM DIRECTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARCHITECTS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

Cincinnati -- A University of Cincinnati-developed tool to enhance the professional prospects of African American architects has just gone "high tech."

The Directory of African American Architects, developed by UC professor of architecture Dennis Alan Mann and by former UC colleague and current Hampton University professor of architecture Bradford Grant, was most recently published in hard- copy form in 1996. A recently updated listing of licensed African American architects practicing in the United States totaling 1302 names has just been placed on the Web at blackarch.uc.edu.

"The Web listing serves as an accurate means for professionals in the field to gauge the progress of African Americans within architecture until a revised hard copy of the directory can be published. For instance, it's a valuable tool for first-generation African American firms where the founders are nearing retirement age. Many of these firm founders are looking for young African American architects to bring in as partners, to eventually take over," explained Mann.

The new website currently contains an alphabetical listing of licensed African American architects and the city and state where they reside. A state-by-state listing is also available. More detailed contact information, such as business addresses and phone numbers, is not available on this site but can be obtained through the hard-copy directory or other sources. "Most states have contact information for licensed architects on the Web or available via phone," Mann added.

Dennis Alan Mann

In the near future, this site will also contain summaries of the surveys of African American architects that Mann and Grant have completed. It will contain an "in memoriam" section listing licensed African American architects who have passed away since publication of the last directory. It will also link to related sites. Through ongoing research connected to African Americans in architecture, Mann has noted some encouraging trends. For instance, the number of African American woman practicing architecture has more than doubled in the last decade.

When the first Directory of African American Architects was published in 1991, 49 African American women were listed as licensed practitioners. Today, that number stands at 111. As a whole, however, African Americans represent just slightly more than 1 percent of the country's licensed architects. -30-

Jan. 20, 2000 Contact: Mary Bridget Reilly 513-556-1824 mary-bridget.reilly@uc.edu

Signal Soldiers commemorate African Americans' service

Signal Soldiers commemorate African Americans' service Feb 26, 2011 By Spc. Charlene Apatang Mendiola.

Strength, courage, and determination describe the African-American men and women who have struggled and contributed to their success within the U.S. military.

The 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion hosted the Black History Month celebration on Camp Victory, Feb. 16, to highlight the distinguished military heritage of African Americans who have, since the Civil War, committed themselves to the nation's defense.

Highlights of the 90-minute event included a slideshow presentation of "Little Known Black History Facts," singing of the National Anthem and the Black National Anthem and keynote speaker, Maj. Ericka M. Brooks, executive officer with the 40th ESB.

Brooks, a U.S. Military Academy graduate, remembers a time when her attendance at West Point as an African American female was not an option. My grandfather and all of his brothers were in the military at a time when only whites could be officers, she said. "I am standing here as an officer in a fully integrated unit."

Spc. Tyrek Parham, a human resources specialist with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40th ESB sings the Black National Anthem during the Black History Month celebration. Photo Credit: Spc. Charlene Apatang Mendiola.

Brooks' accomplishments are not insignificant. Despite the number of military conflicts African Americans were involved in, they were not fully integrated into the U.S. armed forces until 1948. It is important that history is taught and learned, Brooks said, otherwise past mistakes will be repeated. Photos of African American heroes such as President Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.E.B. Du Bois hung on the walls, creating a timeline honoring those who lead, overcame, and broke down barriers to make America a nation of unity.

"Dr. Martin Luther King is a remarkable icon," said Sgt. Dustin Leechadwick Yates, a radio and communications security repairer with Company B, 40th ESB. "He is known to be one of the initiators of the civil rights movement who fought for fair treatment and equality for every person in America."

Every ethnicity has played a role in getting where we are today, Brooks said. There are values in people, their culture, traditions and experiences; sharing this helps make U.S. forces much more
powerful.

"Behind the lines of race, color, or creed, we become a stronger force," said 1st Lt. Anthony Browitt, a battalion maintenance officer with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40th ESB. "A force united through common goals and through racial lines makes us the strongest military in the world."

"Black history is a part of American history," said Brooks. "We wouldn't be the America we are today if it weren't for that."

From THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. September 18, 1972. The Raelettes are: Vernita Moss, Susaye Green, Mable John, Dorothy Berry, & Estella Yarbrough.

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: The Official Homepage of the United States Army

VIDEO CREDIT: cavettbiter

Honoring John Henry (“Dick”) Turpin, Chief Gunner’s Mate, USN. (1876-1962)

National African American History Month in February celebrates the contributions that African Americans have made to American history in their struggles for freedom and equality and deepens our understanding of our Nation””s history. This February, we””ve selected a few African Americans who served in the U.S. Navy to feature here on the blog. For more on the African American Experience in the Navy over the years, visit the Naval History & Heritage Command””s website or the award-winning African Americans and the U.S. Navy presentation.

John Henry Turpin was born on 20 August 1876. Enlisted in the Navy at New York City on 4 November 1896, he was a member of USS Maine’s crew when she was destroyed by an explosion in February 1898. He survived that disaster, and the boiler explosion on USS Bennington in July 1905, as well as serving on several other ships before he left active duty in 1916. Recalled to service when the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, on 1 June of that that year, Turpin became Chief Gunner’s Mate on USS Marblehead, one of the Navy’s first African-American Chief Petty Officers. He served actively in that rank until transferred to the Fleet Reserve on 8 March 1919. John Henry Turpin retired as a Chief Gunner’s Mate on 5 October 1925.

When not serving on active duty, Turpin was employed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, as a Master Rigger. He also qualified, in his civilian capacity, as a Master Diver. From 1938 through World War II, he voluntarily made inspirational visits to Naval Training Centers and defense plants. John Henry Turpin died on 10 March 1962. Navy Live is the official blog of the United States Navy and is maintained by Department of the Navy, Office of Information (CHINFO). February 23rd, 2011 posted by tjohnson This is a World Wide Web site for official information about the United States Navy. It is provided as a public service by the U.S. Navy's Office of Information, Washington, D.C..

The purpose of this Web site is to provide information about the United States Navy to the general public. All information on this site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

Sonia Sanchez is a special guest on the UMass Dartmouth Campus on February 28 and March 1

February 28: 7p.m.: In closing the Black History Month events, renowned author and poet Sonia Sanchez will give a keynote address and book signing. Books will be available for signing in the auditorium foyer at the end of the event.

On March 1, 2 p.m.: Opening kick-off for Women's History Month Sonia Sanchez will give a poetry reading and hold a writing workshop.

The public is invited to these free events in the UMass Dartmouth main auditorium at the Dartmouth Campus, 285 Old Westport Road, North Dartmouth. Parking is in lots 5 and 7.

Sonia Sanchez. is a poet--mother--professor and a national and international lecturer on black culture and literature; women's liberation, and peace and racial justice. Sanchez is a sponsor of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Board Member of MADRE:

Sanchez is the author of over 16 books including Homecoming, We a BaddDDD People, Love Poems, I've Been a Woman, A Sound Investment and Other Stories, Homegirls and Handgrenades, Under a Soprano Sky, Wounded in the House of a Friend (Beacon Press, 1995), Does Your House Have Lions? (Beacon Press, 1997), Like the Singing Coming off the Drums (Beacon Press, 1998), Shake Loose My Skin (Beacon Press, 1999), and most recently, Morning Haiku (Beacon Press, 2010). In addition to being a contributing editor to Black Scholar and The Journal of African Studies, she has edited an anthology, We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Stories by Black Americans. BMA: The Sonia Sanchez Literary Review is the first African American Journal that discusses the work of Sonia Sanchez and the Black Arts Movement.

Sonia Sanchez

Sanchez is recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts, the Lucretia Mott Award for 1984, the Outstanding Arts Award from the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, she is a winner of the 1985 American Book Award for Homegirls and Handgrenades, the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities for 1988, the Peace and Freedom Award from Women International League for Peace and Freedom (W.I.L.P.F.) for 1989, a PEW Fellowship in the Arts for 1992-1993 and the recipient of Langston Hughes Poetry Award for 1999.

Does Your House Have Lions? was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Sanchez is the Poetry Society of America's 2001 Robert Frost Medalist and a Ford Freedom Scholar from the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her poetry also appeared in the movie Love Jones.

Sonia Sanchez has lectured at over 500 universities and colleges in the United States and has traveled extensively, reading her poetry in Africa, Cuba, England, the Caribbean, Australia, Europe, Nicaragua, the People's Republic of China, Norway, and Canada. She was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University and she held the Laura Carnell Chair in English at Temple University. She is the recipient of the Harper Lee Award, 2004, Alabama Distinguished Writer, and the National Visionary Leadership Award for 2006. She is the recipient of the 2005 Leeway Foundation Transformational Award. Currently, Sonia Sanchez is one of 20 African American women featured in "Freedom Sisters," an interactive exhibition created by the Cincinnati Museum Center and Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition and she was the recipient of the Robert Creeley award in March of 2009.

For more information contact Donna Moore, dmoore@umassd.edu or call 508-999-9222.

Author: Donna Moore [Contact] Date: February 25, 2011 Department: Cultural

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth • 285 Old Westport Road • North Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300 Phone: 508 999-8000 • TDD: 508 999-9250 (for the hearing impaired)

Racism Shapes African-American Women’s Views on Depression Care

Study of African-American women living in Portland, Ore., reveals racism, expectation to be a “strong Black woman” are significant obstacles to depression care

African-American women’s beliefs about depression and depression care are consistently and systematically influenced by racism, according to a new study conducted at Oregon Health & Science University. The results are published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

To be eligible for the study, participants had to be 18 or older, consider themselves African-American, have a score of 15 or higher on Patient Health Questionnaire Depression scale and have experienced intimate partner violence at some time in their lives. Thirty women participated in four private focus groups facilitated by African-American female community members of the research team.

Study participants were asked about their experiences and beliefs surrounding the relationship between violence and health in general, mental health, depression, and depression treatments. They also were asked to discuss their recommendations for improving depression care. The researchers found one issue dominated discussions about depression care — the participants’ deep mistrust of what they perceived to be a “White” health care system.

From left to right: Christina Nicolaidis, M.D., OHSU; S. Renee Mitchell, Interconnections Project community partners at large; Mary Jo Thomas, Multnomah County Department of Mental Health and Addiction; Vanessa Timmons, Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Portland; and Stephanie Wahab, M.S.W., Ph.D., School of Social Work, Portland State University

“These women were extremely wary of most depression treatments and providers they associated with ‘White’ systems of care. Although they acknowledged that violence, depression and substance abuse adversely affected their health, discussions about health care revolved around their perceptions of racism,” said Christina Nicolaidis, M.D., M.P.H., principal investigator and an associate professor of medicine (general internal medicine and geriatrics), and public health and preventive medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine. “Based on our findings, we recommend health and mental health providers endeavor to better understand and acknowledge how racism informs the experiences and perceptions of their patients.”

The expectation of being a “strong Black woman” also was a significant barrier to recognizing depression and seeking care. Co-investigator S. Renee Mitchell has used this finding to launch a campaign asking: “Strong Black woman – what are you burying, your feelings or the myth?” The research team also has organized several community depression and violence awareness events titled “Redefining the Blues.” An additional event is planned for the fall.

Study participants expressed a desire for community-based depression programs that addressed violence and drug use and are staffed by African-Americans with “real-life experiences.” In response to this request, the research team used their study data to create a community-based, culturally tailored depression-care program, which they currently are pilot-testing at Bradley-Angle House’s Healing Roots Center, a drop-in center for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

The researchers make clear that their results aren’t reflective of all African-American depressed women, especially those who live in places with larger African-American populations, those with higher incomes and those who have not experienced intimate partner violence.

“Future study is needed to test the generalizability of our findings, as well as the effectiveness of culturally specific interventions in reducing depressions severity and improving depression care among African-American women,” the researchers concluded.

The research team comprised Nicolaidis; Vanessa Timmons, Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Portland; Mary Jo Thomas, Multnomah County Department of Mental Health and Addiction, Portland; A. Star Waters and S. Renee Mitchell, Interconnections Project community partners at large, Portland; Stephanie Wahab, School of Social Work, Portland State University; and Angie Mejia, OHSU Department of Medicine.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, and the Northwest Health Foundation Kaiser Permanente Community Fund.

About Oregon Health & Science University

Oregon Health & Science University is the state's only health and research university and Oregon's only academic health center. OHSU is Portland's largest employer and the fourth largest in Oregon (excluding government). OHSU's size contributes to its ability to provide many services and community support activities not found anywhere else in the state. It serves patients from every corner of the state, and is a conduit for learning for more than 3,400 students and trainees. OHSU is the source of more than 200 community outreach programs that bring health and education services to every county in the state.

Media Contact: Tamara Hargens-Bradley 503 494-8231 Email Tamara

Florida’s first African American Guardsman continues service in community

Grandson carries on family tradition of National Guard service By Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens Florida National Guard Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., (Feb. 23, 2011) – It was 1963. Northeast Florida was center stage of the Civil Rights Movement. Protests, marches and riots – some peaceful, some violent – marked a period of resistance from segregation and movement toward equal rights in America.

Amidst the racial tension, James Solomon Bryant, an African American postal worker from Jacksonville, Fla., became the first African American to enlist in the Florida National Guard in October 1963. Bryant remembers feeling proud as he walked down the streets of downtown Jacksonville in uniform for his first drill at the Maxwell C. Synder Armory, located on the corner of Market and State Streets.

“When it was announced that I was the first black Guardsman, people would look at me like, ‘What? Him?’” remembers Bryant. “It was an accomplishment, you can imagine. We just thought of the armory as some place of socializing, but it was the headquarters that controlled the first line of defense; and you’re a part of it.”

Bryant served in the Air Force during the Korean War, before returning in 1953 to North Florida to find a job as a postal worker. The opportunity to join the Florida National Guard came from a co-worker at the post office, a second lieutenant in the 55th Command Headquarters. He mentioned to Bryant that he was interested in getting an African American into the National Guard. Bryant, though unwilling at first after nearly 10 years out of the service, decided to give it a go.

Pride of service

Bryant remembers taking his physical and the oath of enlistment into the Florida National Guard in the evening so as not to draw too much attention. His aptitude tests indicated he had mechanical abilities. A slot was available in the motor pool section of the 55th Command Headquarters, so Bryant came into the Florida National Guard as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic.

“I grew up around trucks, so it wasn’t anything I hadn’t done as far as changing tires, working on engines and transmissions,” said Bryant. “I was not a novice to that.”

Bryant served four years in the Florida National Guard. During that time, he had the opportunity to serve on state active duty during Hurricane Dora in 1964 by providing a generator to power a local school. He was also on active duty during the 1964 race riots in Jacksonville, pulling duty at the armory where rioters were held. Bryant was also chosen for the honor of driving Governor Kirk and Generals Ballard and Simmons for a review of the troops during Kirk’s gubernatorial inauguration in 1967.

During annual training at Fort Stewart, Ga., in 1966 Bryant received top marks and praise from reviewers while serving as the chief of the unit’s motor section. The report states that, “Specialist 5 Bryant of Maintenance was in charge and is very capable, a definite credit to the unit.”

“In the motor pool, we just prided ourselves because we wanted our vehicles to look top-notch,” said Bryant. “The deuce and a half had to hum right. We tuned them to perfection and they recognized that.”

Bryant said there were some problems because of his race, but, for the most part, he got along well with his fellow Soldiers.

“I look at it as God-given, how you treat people,” said Bryant. “Because I came not as a novice, I came as a citizen; I came as a married person; I came as a deacon; I came as a valued employee with the postal service. So a combination of skills that were God given – just being able to treat people right – endeared me to them and we got along good.”

After leaving the Florida National Guard, Bryant became more involved with the post office and received his introduction into postal management when he became the first black assistant safety officer in 1971. He continued to advance in leadership positions throughout his 35-year postal career before retiring in 1988.

“God’s Men”

Bryant took the values he learned in the military, along with his concern for people, and put them into service within the Jacksonville community. He was ordained as a deacon at the Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Jacksonville in 1958. Through the church he became involved in local politics, where he had the opportunity to meet and interact with many different people within the community.

“God called me into ministry, not as a pastor of a church, he just simply spoke to me early one morning,” said Bryant. “He said, ‘God’s men,’ very audible. He gave me direction of what he wanted, which is to make men of caliber – not in the limelight or spotlight – just men.”

Bryant assembled a group of approximately 20 men to make a difference in the community. He believed that good men of character from all walks of life could have a positive impact in the Jacksonville area.

“I told them this, ‘I don’t care who you are; you leave that at the door, because now we are all men of equal ground. We are able to do things for people God’s way,’” said Bryant.

Bryant is involved in several projects within the Jacksonville community through his ministries. He works closely with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Advisory Council, which encourages partnerships between law enforcement and the community. Bryant also helps ex-offenders who are coming out of the prison system and works closely with the Baker County Correctional Facility. This past Christmas, Bryant and his peers helped 63 local children through the Angel Tree program.

“We look at religion as a blessing,” said Bryant. “Not because of title or prominence, but to be able to do something for people and keep that common touch.”

Family ties

As the eldest of six children, family has always been very important to Bryant. His large family includes four children (one who died in 2000), seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Patriotism and sense of service are evident in the military tradition within his family. Bryant’s son, the late James S. Bryant, III, served in the Florida National Guard and one of his grandsons, Sgt. Douglas Bryant, currently serves in the Florida National Guard as an information technology specialist.

“When I was younger, I used to visit Camp Blanding,” said Douglas. “My grandfather would take me out there and show me around a little bit and he gave me the story along the way about him being the first black national guardsman.”

Like many, the youngest Bryant saw the benefits that the Guard offered for education, but has come to appreciate the impact the National Guard has had upon his family and the opportunities that are available to him.

“As I started going through the day-to-day operations of the Guard and as I went through school, it allowed me to find a career within the Guard,” said Douglas.

With a degree under his belt, Douglas is focused on the future, a future he sees with the Florida National Guard. One of his goals is to become a warrant officer.

“I want to be the first officer in the family,” said Douglas. “Being a trailblazer; it’s kind of hard to picture yourself doing that; because nobody before me has done that. I not only want to make myself proud, but also my family and my country. I want to try to make some more first time-type history within the family.”

The eldest Bryant doesn’t regret his military service and carries an immense amount of pride in his accomplishments and service.

“It gave me an opportunity to really know how to transition from civilian to military at a phone call,” Bryant said. “I call it ‘Operation Ready.’ You become the state’s first defender. You never forget that ever that you’ve sworn the duty.”

Although his military service was groundbreaking, Bryant’s service to the Jacksonville community has been with less display but is no less important. A self-professed workaholic, Bryant plans to continue to work to make a positive difference in the Jacksonville community.

“There are so many good programs to keep our young people involved,” said Bryant. “We take pleasure in sharing what’s happening in Jacksonville. We have a cross section of things that we’re doing; we’re not making a big splash, just doing it.” ###

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Florida National Guard Public Affairs

Submariners Recognized as Black Engineer Award Winners

By Kevin Copeland, Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Five submariners were recognized at the 2011 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) in Washington, D.C., Feb. 19.

Rear Adm. Bruce E. Grooms, Lt. Cmdr. James Mahoney, Lt. Michael Paisant, Lt. Thomas Dotstry and Lt. j.g. Cameron Lindsay were all recognized at the awards ceremony for demonstrated technology leadership contributions within the African-American community.

Two award competitions are held annually for BEYA recognition, one for Professional and Career Achievement, and one for the organization's Modern Day Technology Leaders. Sponsored by the Career Communications Group, the BEYA awards program recognize men and women from around the country who demonstrate outstanding performance in a technical field and show great potential for shaping the future course of science, technology, engineering and math.

Grooms was recognized for with the award for Professional Achievement in Government. This award is presented to a highly professional past the midpoint of their career which signifies achievements in government as a role model and leader for other minorities.

110218-N-ZB612-090 WASHINGTON (Feb. 18, 2011) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead delivers the keynote address at the 2011 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) Stars and Stripes dinner. The event is part of the BEYA Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Tiffini Jones Vanderwyst/Released)

Grooms is currently assigned as the Assistant Deputy, Operations, Plans and Strategy (N3/N5B) on the Chief of Naval Operations staff in Washington, D.C. Mahoney, Paisant, Dostry and Cameron were recognized as Modern Day Technology Leaders. Mahoney, a native of Sumter, S.C., is currently assigned as deputy assistant chief of staff for Resources and Requirements for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain; Paisant, an Atlanta native, is currently assigned as navigator and operations officer aboard Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Montpelier (SSN 765); Dotstry, a native of Newport News, Va., is currently assigned as admissions advisor at the U.S. Naval Academy; and Lindsay, a Kernersville, N.C. native, is currently assigned as assistant engineer, sonar officer, and dive division officer on Virginia-class attack submarine USS Texas (SSN 775) homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Capt. Richard R. Bryant was also announced as a recipient of the Professional Achievement in Government award and will be recognized as the 14th recipient of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Golden Torch Award for Lifetime Achievement in Government at the 37th Annual NSBE Conference in St. Louis March 26.

"I am very humbled, and internally pleased to be recognized for this award," said Bryant. "Just to be considered is an immense honor, but to be selected is something more touching. I am glad that I am able to bring the message about the Navy's nuclear propulsion program to some who do not understand the program and may not have the opportunity to see it. It is a challenge to maintain a diverse work force in the Navy's nuclear program, because individuals who qualify for nuclear engineering are certainly qualified for other civilian occupations."

"It is poignant and very spiritual for me to receive this award in my hometown of St. Louis, because I grew up in the rough section of Kinlock and not many nuclear engineers come from there," continued Bryant. "Presentation of the award there sends a strong message that hard work and determination can be springboards to future success. Once again, I am extremely humbled by my selection, and having known previous recipients, it is tough for me to realize I belong in their company."

NSBE is the premier organization serving African-Americans in engineering and technology, and are the link between the African-American community and the world of technology. The Golden Torch Awards link the accomplishments of distinguished African-American engineers and technical professionals with college bound dreams of pre-college students.

Bryant is currently the Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Chairman's Action Group at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He will soon assume command of Commander, Submarine Squadron Three in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

For more news from Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/sublant/.

Randall Kenan will be the 2010-11 Sturm Writer-in-Residence at WVU

Randall Kenan, an award-winning author and professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been chosen as the 2010-11 Sturm Writer in Residence at West Virginia University.

Kenan will read at 7:30 p.m. Monday (March 7) in the Gold Ballroom in the Mountainlair. In addition to this public reading, Kenan will work with 12 WVU creative writing students for the remainder of the week.

Randall Kenan is the author of “Let the Dead Bury Their Dead,” a collection of short stories published in 1992 by Harcourt, Brace. It was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Fiction, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was among The New York Times Notable Books of 1992. He is also the author of “A Visitation of Spirits,” a novel published by Grove Press in 1989; a young adult biography of James Baldwin published in 1993; and “The Fire This Time,” a work of nonfiction, published in July 2007. He wrote the text for Norman Mauskoff’s book of photographs, “A Time Not Here: The Mississippi Delta” (1997). “Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century” was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1999, and was nominated for the Southern Book Award.

“We are extraordinarily fortunate to have Randall Kenan come to WVU as our Sturm Writer-in-Residence,” said Mark Brazaitis, associate professor of English and the director of the Creative Writing Program. “He is a superb craftsman who writes beautifully in a number of genres. I also understand he is a mesmerizing reader of his work.” From 1985 to 1989, Kenan worked on the editorial staff of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. In 1989 he began teaching writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University. He was the first William Blackburn Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University in the fall of 1994, and the Edourd Morot-Sir Visiting Professor of Creating Writing at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1995.

He was the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Memphis, and held the Lehman Brady Professorship at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. He has also taught urban literature at Vassar College.

He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, the Sherwood Anderson Award, the John Dos Passos Award and was the 1997 Rome Prize winner from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the North Carolina Award for Literature in 2005.

Students are selected for the Sturm Workshop on the basis of a campus-wide writing competition. Any student may submit a sample of writing for consideration. Those selected are among the University’s finest creative writers.

The reading, which will be followed by a reception and book signing, is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Mark Brazaitis, director of Creative Writing, at (304) 293-9707. Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Marketing and Communications Coordinator 304-293-7405, ext. 5251, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

University Relations 48 Donley St. 4th Floor, Marina Tower P.O. Box 6688 Morgantown, WV 26506-6688 Email: John Bolt Phone: 304-293-6997

IMAGE CREDIT: Department of English and Comparative Literature Greenlaw Hall, CB #3520 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3520 phone: (919) 962-5481 | fax: (919) 962-3520

Black-Owned Businesses Grow at Triple the National Rate

February is Black History Month, a time when our nation celebrates the contributions of people of African-American heritage.

It’s also an appropriate time to acknowledge the growing impact the black community has had on our nation’s economy.

Data released today from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) highlight black-owned businesses and their growing numbers since 2002.

What’s exciting about the new SBO data is that it gives us a complete look at black-owned businesses (including industries and size of business), insight that we have not had since the last statistics were released from the 2002 survey. So what do these new data show us about black-owned businesses?

Between 2002 and 2007, the number of black-owned businesses increased on a rapidly upward track (60 percent), more than triple the national rate (18 percent) to 1.9 million businesses. The data show that, in terms of sheer number, black-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of our economy.

Map of Black Owned Businesses

In addition, black-owned businesses’ revenue increased to $137.5 billion (a 55 percent increase) between 2002 and 2007. These businesses employed 921,032 workers in 2007 (an increase of 22 percent from 2002) and their payrolls totaled $23.9 billion (an increase of 36 percent). According to the data, nearly four in ten black-owned businesses operated in health care and social assistance; and repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services.

The SBO survey does much more than give us a complete picture of black-owned businesses nationally. It also provides us with a detailed look of black-owned businesses by smaller geographic areas, including cities, counties and metro areas.

For more information on black-owned business in your area, Survey of Business Owners (SBO).

Harvard Professor Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham to Lecture on African American History at Adelphi University on February 23

Adelphi University is pleased to host Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham as she delivers the John Hope Franklin Distinguished Lecture “From Slavery to Freedom and the Legacy of John Hope Franklin: A Tribute.” The event will take place on Wednesday, February 23, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the Ruth S. Harley University Center’s Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY. The annual distinguished lecture, which pays homage to the great African American culture and history scholar, John Hope Franklin, who first delivered the lecture in 1996, is sponsored by The Center for African, Black, and Caribbean Studies and the John Hope Franklin Distinguished Lecture Series. The event is part of Adelphi’s Black History Month celebration.

Dr. Higginbotham is the Victor S. Thomas professor of history at Harvard University, as well as the chair of the African and African American Studies Department at the school. This year, she was invited to be the first John Hope Franklin Professor of American Legal History at the Duke University Law School. She also served as acting director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute in spring 2008.

Dr. Higginbotham has revised and re-written the classic African American history survey, From Slavery to Freedom, and co-authored the book’s latest edition with the late John Hope Franklin. She also co-edited the African American National Biography with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Guide to African-American History, and authored Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880-1920, among numerous other works and accomplishments.

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

Her accolades include induction into the American Philosophical Society for promoting useful knowledge, the 2008 Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the 2008 Legend Award from the Urban League, among others. In March 2005, she made the AOL Black Voices’ list of “Top 10 Black Women in Higher Education.” In April 2003 she was chosen by Harvard University to be a Walter Channing Cabot Fellow in recognition of her achievements and scholarly eminence in the field of history. Professor Higginbotham earned a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in American History, an M.A. from Howard University, and her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Before coming to Harvard, she taught on the full-time faculties of Dartmouth, the University of Maryland, and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, she was a visiting professor at Princeton University and New York University.

For more information about this and other events on campus, please visit adelphi.edu, or call the Cultural Events Hotline at 516.877.4555.

About Adelphi University: Adelphi is a world class, modern university with excellent and highly relevant programs where students prepare for lives of active citizenship and professional careers. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults.

Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,000 students from 41 states and 60 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University, chartered in 1896, maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.

Media Contact: For additional information, please contact: Kali Chan Director of Media Relations p - 516.877.4040 f - 516.877.3266 e - chan@adelphi.edu

Texas Tech Celebrates Black History Month

February is Black History Month, and Texas Tech University’s history department is commemorating with faculty-led talks, film screenings and panel discussions, one of which honors 25 years of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Black History Month is an annual celebration recognizing the achievements and momentous role that African-Americans have and continue to contribute to U.S. history.

Barton Myers, history professor and Civil War historian, said the history department has been trying to put together a series of talks and panel discussions for Black History Month over the past few years, and it finally came together this year.

“It’s always been my opinion that as Americans we own all of American history,” Myers said, “both the good and the bad.”

Myers said he thinks it is wonderful that Texas Tech is hosting events to celebrate Black History Month, and it is important to highlight the role of minority communities in American history.

Barton A. Myers

“As a Civil War historian,” Myers said, “I think it is fundamental to study African-American history.” Myers said it is important not to only look back at 20th century black history and the Civil Rights movement, but also to go as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries. Myers led a brown bag lunch and discussion that covered a wide range of black history, but specifically examined black military resistance to the Confederacy during the Civil War. He said approximately 180,000 African-American soldiers aided the Union Army to victory, which was pivotal to American history.

Written by Audrey Rickel Contact: Barton Myers, history professor and Civil War historian, Texas Tech University, barton.myers@ttu.edu, or (806) 742-3744

Preaching with Power: A Forum on Black Preaching and Theology

Preaching with Power: A Forum on Black Preaching and Theology returns to Philadelphia for the 29th year from Sunday, March 6 through Thursday, March 10. Preaching with Power is a program of the Urban Theological Institute (UTI) of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), and features five sermons and one lecture by six distinguished African American preachers and theologians, along with an Ash Wednesday service with preaching by seminary professor the Rev. Dr. Charles Leonard.

Local churches in the Philadelphia community host the evening worship services, plus the lecture and music celebration held on the LTSP campus in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. All are welcome! Come and be inspired! The worship offering proceeds go to The Rev. Dr. Joseph Q. Jackson Endowed Scholarship Fund, which benefits UTI students.

Dates and preachers/programs for 2011 are:

Sunday – March 6, 2011, 6:00 pm, The Rev. Dr. William H. Curtis preaching at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, 2800 West Cheltenham Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19150

The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

Monday – March 7, 2011, 7:30 pm, The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. preaching at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, 25 West Johnson Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144 Tuesday morning – March 8, 2011, 11:30 am, Dr. Anthea D. Butler lecturing at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119 Tuesday evening – March 8, 2011, 7:30 pm, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, Mt. Pisgah AME Church, 428 North 41st Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Wednesday morning – March 9, 2011, 11:30 am, Ash Wednesday: Word and Sacrament service, Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel, LTSP Campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119

Wednesday evening – March 9, 2011, 6:30 pm (note earlier time), The Rev. Dr. Loran E. Mann preaching at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, 6401 Ogontz Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19126

Thursday – March 10, 2011, 7:30 pm, The Rev. Dr. Kevin Dudley preaching at Reformation Lutheran Church, 1215 East Vernon Road, Philadelphia, PA 19150

The week concludes with a Prospective Student Day on Saturday, March 12 starting at 8:30 am on the LTSP campus. Is God calling you? Come and See what is available for you at LTSP!

For more information on Preaching with Power, including venue directions and preacher profiles, and to register for Prospective Student Day, go to the seminary Web site: www.Ltsp.edu.

About the UTI: The Urban Theological Institute (UTI) of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, celebrating 30 years, is dedicated to providing theological education to church leaders that is relevant and upbuilding for the African American community. The UTI sponsors Preaching with Power, a series of public lectures and several certificate programs for lay church leasers, as well as academic programs to prepare MDiv, MAR and DMin credentialed leaders for the black church. UTI Director The Rev. Dr. Quintin Robertson can be reached at qrobertson@Ltsp.edu or call 215-248-7324.

About LTSP: One of eight seminaries certified by the 4.6-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), LTSP (www.Ltsp.edu) has prepared well over 4,000 church leaders during its history. The school has been located on its Mt. Airy campus in Philadelphia since 1888 and has embraced seminarians from some 30 Christian traditions. Its 30-year-old Urban Theological Institute has prepared scores of African American leaders for church service in the Greater Philadelphia area.

John Kahler Director of Communications The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia 7301 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19119 215-248-6397 fax 215-248-4577 jkahler@ltsp.edu

For Immediate Release For more information please contact: John Kahler, Seminary Communications, communications@ltsp.edu, 215-248-6397

GRAMMY-WINNING GROUP SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK PERFORMS AT OTTERBEIN

Westerville, OH—The Otterbein University Signature Series will host a performance by the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 11, in the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St. This event is free and open to the public. Free tickets must be picked up in advance at the Campus Center Office, 100 W. Home St., between 8:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There will be a limit of two tickets per person. For more information, call (614) 823-3202.

Founded in 1973 at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company, Sweet Honey in the Rock is an ensemble of six African American women internationally known for their a cappella sounds of blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, hip hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation.

Called “a national treasure” by First Lady Michelle Obama, Sweet Honey has performed at the White House and prestigious venues across the country. Audiences can see them at Otterbein before their upcoming performances at the Rose Center in New York as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Symphony Hall in Boston as part of the Celebrity Series, and Carnegie Hall in New York as part of the Around the Globe Series.

White House photos 2/18/09 by Joyce N. Boghosian.

Sweet Honey won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording in 1989 for their version of Leadbelly’s Grey Goose and have been nominated for several other Grammy Awards, including one in 2008 for their latest release, Experience…101. They have been featured on NPR, PBS, and the Ken Burns epic documentary, The Civil War. For more information, or to listen to samples of their work, visit www.sweethoney.com.

The Otterbein University Signature Series was created to bring national and international artists and lecturers to Otterbein to share their experiences with Otterbein students, faculty and staff and the general public. The presenters also teach classes and interact with students and faculty during their visits. The Signature Series has previously featured renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz and his exhibition of art from Ground Zero, a performance of the musical piece On the Transmigration of Souls by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams, independent filmmaker Gus Van Sant, and a performance by Grammy Award-winning musician Branford Marsalis featuring guest soloist Ellis Marsalis.

Otterbein University

Poets Gary Jackson and Yusef Komunyakaa headline NOMMO African American Authors Series

What: Seventh annual NOMMO African American Authors Series
Who: Poets Gary Jackson and Yusef Komunyakaa
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24
Where: Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center, University of Minnesota West Bank campus, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis
Tickets: $15. Complimentary tickets available to U of M students and Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Call (612) 624-2345 or visit www.tickets.umn.edu

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/15/2011) —Gary Jackson and Yusef Komunyakaa will appear at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, in Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, on the university’s West Bank. Both Jackson and Komunyakaa will read from and discuss their works with series host Alexs Pate, University of Minnesota professor and author of the novel "Amistad."

The event is part of the annual NOMMO African American Authors Series. This is the fourth year the series has been co-presented by the Givens Foundation for African American Literature and the University of Minnesota Libraries. Additional sponsors for this event are the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center, (www.uroc.umn.edu), Cave Canem (www.cavecanempoets.org) and Graywolf Press (www.graywolfpress.org).

Gary Jackson and Yusef Komunyakaa will headline NOMMO African American Authors series with host Alexs Pate, University of Minnesota professor and author of the novel "Amistad."

"Nommo" is a Dogon word meaning "the magic power of the word." "Too many vital African American writers, and I count myself among them, find our work sprouting shallow roots on the periphery of public awareness," Pate says. "My conversations with these authors present rare opportunities to publicly define the state of the art of African American literature and to locate our work and contributions within the present authoring of our literary tradition." More about Gary Jackson and Yusef Komunyakaa

Winner of the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize for his manuscript "Missing you, Metropolis," Jackson was born and raised in Topeka, Kan. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of New Mexico in 2008 and his poems have appeared in "Inscape," "Magma," "The Literary Bohemian" and local chapbooks. Published by Graywolf Press, "Missing you, Metropolis" is lauded by critics such as Komunyakaa, who writes that the book “embodies and underscores a voice uniquely shaped and tuned for the 21st century.” Jackson currently teaches English as a Second Language in Seoul, South Korea.

Komunyakaa is the critically acclaimed author of 14 books of poetry, including "Copacetic" and "Neon Vernacular: New & Selected Poems 1977–1989," for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book of poems, "Warhorses," was published in 2008. His prose is collected in "Blues Notes: Essays, Interviews & Commentaries," and he coedited "The Jazz Poetry Anthology." In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, his honors include the 2004 Shelley Memorial Award, the 2001 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Hanes Poetry Prize and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. He is professor and Distinguished Senior Poet at New York University.

Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University of Minnesota Libraries, welsh066@umn.edu, (612) 625-9148 Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552

Hispanic and African American Vets at greater risk of living on the streets shelters

Our guest blogger today is Mark Johnston, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Programs

For the first time ever, HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published the most comprehensive analysis of the extent of homelessness among American veterans. According to HUD and VA’s assessment released this week, nearly 76,000 veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009, while roughly 136,000 veterans spent at least one night in a shelter during that year – a national tragedy.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan has said that “understanding the nature and scope of homelessness among all our veterans is critical to meeting President Obama’s goal of ending veterans’ homelessness by 2015.”

Overall, veterans are fifty percent more likely to become homeless compared to all Americans, and the risk is even greater among poor minority veterans. Of all veterans in shelters, 34% were African American and 11% were Hispanic. By comparison, only 11% of all veterans are African American and 5% are Hispanic. That means that Hispanics and African Americans are significantly overrepresented in the homeless population. The risk of homelessness among poor minority veterans is even greater. Poor Hispanic veterans are twice as likely to use a shelter compared with poor non-Hispanic veterans. African American veterans in poverty had similar rates of homelessness.

Mark Johnston, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Programs.

HUD and VA are currently working together to administer a joint program specifically targeted to homeless veterans. Already, through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, HUD provides rental assistance for homeless veterans while VA offers case management and clinical services. Since 2008, a total investment of $225 million is working to provide housing connected to VA health care for some 30,000 veterans who had been homeless. And last month, HUD awarded $1.4 billion to keep nearly 7,000 local homeless assistance programs operating in the coming year. These programs house hundreds of thousands of persons who had lived on our streets and in emergency shelters. Finally, the Department also allocated $1.5 billion through its newHomeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program, to prevent people from becoming homeless due to the recession and to rapidly re-house those who fell into homelessness.

TEXT CREDIT: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410 Telephone: (202) 708-1112 TTY: (202) 708-1455

Ceremony Honors Service of African Americans in Korean War

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2011 – African Americans fought against Communism during the Korean War of 1950-53 to protect the rights of individuals, even as their own civil rights were denied at home, the Defense Department’s top equal opportunity official said here yesterday.

Speaking during a Pentagon ceremony to honor African American veterans of the Korean War, Ronald M. Joe, acting director of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, said America now remembers the contributions of African American veterans during the war sometimes called “The Forgotten War” or the “The Forgotten Victory.”

“Yours is a distinguished generation in the history of African American military service,” Joe said to a group of seven Korean War veterans in attendance. “You belong to a legacy older than the Declaration of Independence, one that includes the legendary service of the Massachusetts 54th in our Civil War, the Buffalo Soldiers in the West, the 92nd Division and the Tuskegee Airman of World War II.”

For too long, he said, the service of African Americans during the Korean War was forgotten, “but it should be clear to all of you that you are forgotten no more.”

Mr. Ronald M. Joe, Acting Director of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity.

Joe said the armed forces has played a pivotal role in the nation’s pursuit of equity for all Americans, following President Harry S. Truman’s 1948 Executive Order 9981, which called for the end of segregation in the military. The Korean War “interrupted” work to desegregate all-black units, so many of those units went into the conflict. It was when fighting intensified in Korea that the armed forces realized they had “a manpower problem,” Joe said. Increasingly, large numbers of black American draftees and volunteers were in the training pipeline, but no more room existed in the segregated units. Joe said Army studies showed “integration was a more efficient policy than segregation.” The result, he said, was that “Black Americans were individually assigned to units on an as-needed basis, and the Army began working toward true integration.”

The last two years of the Korean War, after all-black units were disbanded and ended segregation in the U.S. military, African Americans had served in command positions, in elite units such as combat aviation, and served in a variety of technical specialties, Joe said.

The military began a social movement, he said, that served as a model or the nation and as a pattern for other military organizations. The armed force has made impressive progress toward equality, but work is yet to be completed, because women and minorities are still under-represented, Joe added.

A number of other speakers made brief remarks at the ceremony, including members of a panel of Korean War veterans; South Korean Defense Attaché Brig. Gen. General Lee, Seo Young; and Frank Martin, producer of “For the Love of Liberty: The story of America’s Black Patriots.” The audience watched a 15-minute segment of Martin’s four-hour documentary.

Today’s Black History Month observance stems from the Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemorative Committee, created by Congress to honor the service and sacrifice of Korean War veterans, their families and those who lost loved ones in the conflict.

American Forces Press Service By Terri Moon Cronk American Forces Press Service

I. India Geronimo Named Director of the Damon J. Keith Law Collection of African American Legal History

DETROIT (Feb. 11, 2011)—I. India Geronimo has been named Director of the Damon J. Keith Law Collection of African American Legal History.

Geronimo previously served as a law clerk to Judge Damon J. Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and more recently clerked for the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Previously, she clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Carter in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and was as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program, where she was the Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow. She has been involved in litigation and advocacy surrounding a variety of civil rights issues.

“I am pleased to welcome Ms. Geronimo to Wayne Law,” said Wayne Law Dean Robert M. Ackerman. “Her legal expertise combined with her commitment to upholding Judge Keith’s legacy will benefit the Wayne Law immeasurably.” Geronimo will also be working with the Keith Center to develop programming around its “education as a civil right” initiative.

The Keith Collection, which houses exhibits such as Marching Toward Justice and Saluting a Giant, was created to meet the need for a central repository for the nation’s African American legal history.

The collection is dedicated to recording the history of African American lawyers and judges. It was firmly established upon the founding contribution of papers and records by Judge Keith. - ### - Visit the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at: keithcenter.wayne.edu. Contact: Kristin Copenhaver Wayne Law communications director, with any questions, media inquiries or if you'd like to subscribe to Law School news releases. Or, visit our news and publications page online at law.wayne.edu/about/news for more information.