Dr. Elijah Saunders Receives 2011 Herbert W. Nickens Award VIDEO

Baltimore, MD – Cardiologist Elijah Saunders, M.D., FACC, FACP, FAHA, FASH, professor of medicine and head of the Section of Hypertension at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has received the 2011 Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The Nickens Award honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to promote justice in medical education and health care equality. For more than 50 years, Dr. Saunders has worked to achieve medical equality and eradicate health care disparities within African-American communities.

Dr. Saunders is an international expert on hypertension in African-Americans, consistently recognized for his patient education efforts to raise awareness of high blood pressure and for his exploration of new treatment options for African-Americans. He has devoted his career to developing innovative programs to reach patients in non-traditional settings, such as barber shops, to educate at-risk patients about the importance of cardiovascular health.

Dr. Saunders developed his clinical and leadership skills at a time when there were few African-American colleagues and even fewer mentors within the field of medicine. Dr. Saunders became the first African-American resident in internal medicine at the University of Maryland in 1960 and the first African-American cardiologist in the state of Maryland in 1965. Despite the challenges, Dr. Saunders followed his own vision for equality in health care and became a compassionate leader for what was, at the time, an often overlooked patient population.

“It is quite fitting that Dr. Saunders be recognized for his extraordinary efforts towards medical equality, during a time in our history when medicine lacked strong African-American leadership,” says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “His selection for this award speaks to the strong emphasis placed upon the recruitment and promotion of underrepresented minority leaders at the School of Medicine. I commend his efforts for the betterment of all patients.”

“I am honored to be recognized for efforts that have only been a natural extension of my philosophy towards medicine,” says Dr. Saunders. “We’ve made great strides, but my greatest hope is that the efforts we’ve put in place to achieve health care equality will continue to be nurtured by the current and future generations of practitioners.”

After operating a successful private practice for the first 20 years of his career, Dr. Saunders believed he could do more to fight hypertension and raise awareness of the condition if he joined the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he could pursue research that would help advance treatment options for hypertension. In an academic setting, he was able to push the challenges of African-American hypertension into the spotlight. His research showed that some blood pressure medications are more effective than others for African-Americans. As a result of his findings, drug companies now make a point of including African-Americans in their studies.

Other notable highlights of Dr. Saunders’ career:

Played an instrumental role in the desegregation of University of Maryland hospital wards in the 1960’s. The standard until then was to locate patients in the hospital by gender and race. Dr. Saunders and a few of his colleagues chose to integrate the wards by grouping patients according to medical category, thereby putting African-American patients and white patients together.

Co-founded the Association of Black Cardiologists and later served as chairman of the board and president.

Co-founded, was past president and past chairman of the board of the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks.

Co-founded the Heart House of the American College of Cardiology.

Co-founded the American Society of Hypertension.

Received funding from CareFirst to begin the Hair, Heart and Health program in 2006, which received national and international attention and continues to train barbers and hairstylists to pre-screen their customers for hypertension and make appropriate referrals for medical care if necessary.

Received the Louis B. Russell Award, the highest award for contributions to cardiovascular minority health.

Served as chair of the cardiology section of the National Medical Association.

Honored by Associated Black Charities in 2009 as a “Living Legend” honoree for his enduring contributions.

Dr. Saunders received his Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State College in 1956 and his doctoral degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1960, where he was one of only four African-American medical students in a class of 140. He subsequently trained in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Maryland from 1960 through 1965.

Donald E. Wilson, M.D., dean emeritus of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and former vice president of Medical Affairs, was the first University of Maryland honoree to receive the Nickens Award, in 2000.

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For patient inquiries, call 1-800-492-5538

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2011 Contact: Bill Seiler bseiler@umm.edu 410-328-8919

University of Maryland Medical System, 22 S. Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. 1.800.492.5538 TDD: 1.800.735.2258 Physician Referral: 1.800.373.4111

Danielle McGuire At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance

The Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive and African American Studies Program at University of Detroit Mercy is hosting speaker Dr. Danielle McGuire on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. The talk will take place in the School of Architecture building on the McNichols campus.

McGuire will be discuss her book, "At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance,” inspired by Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement. The book begins by describing events and people from our past, and challenges in the Detroit leader’s life that led to such a spectacular movement for the world. McGuire will also talk about how social class and sexual violence affected the lives of so many people in such difficult times. “At the Dark End of the Street “ acknowledges that women were treated differently at that time and how they endured through the stress and violence of the day.

This event is co-sponsored by UDM’s Women and Gender Studies and African American Studies Programs.

This is a free event and is open to the public. For more information, please contact CLASA Director Dr. Gail Presbey 313-993-1124 or at presbegm@udmercy.edu.

Contact: Gary D. Lichtman. Media Relations Director, Marketing and Public Affairs, University of Detroit Mercy. (313) 993-1254, Release date: November 09, 2011 # # #

Danielle McGuire

The University of Detroit Mercy is Michigan's largest private Catholic University, offering approximately 100 majors and programs in 60 academic fields. Sponsored by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the University has three campuses located in downtown and northwest Detroit.

Mad at Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth

UofL Theatre presents ‘Mad at Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth’
A funny, angry and lyrical look at the dark side of relationships between men and women

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –“Mad at Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth,” a new dramatic adaptation of the book by Pearl Cleage that explores love, violence and relationship boundaries, will be performed by the University of Louisville’s Department of Theatre Arts African American Theatre Program (AATP).

The play will be performed Nov. 30-Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. nightly plus matinees at 3 p.m. Dec. 4. All performances are at the Thrust Theatre, 2314 S. Floyd St.

Interpreted and directed by AATP director and theatre arts professor Deana Thomas, the play is set against the backdrop of jazz icon Miles Davis and Cicely Tyson’s troubled marriage.

Thomas first heard readings of Cleage’s original essays in 1989 when she and Cleage were faculty members at Spelman College. Inspired by her own experience and stories of abuse wrought by Davis and others, Cleage explored themes of violence, love and unhealthy relationships in what later formed her book.

“Cleage’s stories of women speak out to the age-old mystery as to how men can love us and still hurt us,” Thomas said. “Women grapple with how to survive after reality shatters the idealism of love. The play speaks frankly of the qualities women desire in their men.”

A cast of six mix music and humor in stories that try to understand the paradox of love and pain that many women face in their relationships. Show tickets are $12 for the general public, $10 for faculty and staff, and $8 for students and senior citizens. For tickets and information, call 502-852-6814 or visit louisville.edu/theatrearts/.

John Chamberlain (502) 852-6171 john.chamberlain@louisville.edu

Condoleezza Rice Speaks at University of Miami VIDEO

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Speaks at UM

November 03, 2011 — After maintaining a relatively low profile since her eight years of service in the George W. Bush administration, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose the University of Miami as the first stop on her national book tour, discussing a range of topics that included the war on terror, immigration, education, and Latin America in a discussion held November 3 on the institution’s Coral Gables campus.

Her visit was part of the Charles E. Cobb Leadership Lecture Series, named for the UM trustee and former chair of the Board of Trustees, and was held in collaboration with Books & Books, a partnership UM President Donna E. Shalala called “the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”

Her lecture also came on the same day of the release of her new book No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, 300 copies of which were given to UM students in attendance as gifts by Ambassadors Chuck and Sue Cobb.

Rice was introduced by the Cobbs, both of whom are alumni of Stanford University, where Rice was provost from 1993 to 1999 and is now the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a professor of political economy and political science.

Rice, who was the first African-American woman to serve as secretary of state, signs a copy of her new book for a UM student. Some 300 copies of her book were given to students as gifts from Ambassadors Charles and Sue Cobb.

Thursday’s event was conducted in an interview format with President Shalala asking questions, the majority of which were submitted by students.

Rice, who was the first African-American woman to serve as secretary of state, signs a copy of her new book for a UM student. Some 300 copies of her book were given to students as gifts from Ambassadors Charles and Sue Cobb

Rice discussed everything from how she came to be secretary of state to how she gave up being a piano major in college when she realized she would probably end up teaching 13 year olds or playing in a department store. She said she was fortunate to wander into an international studies class taught by Josef Korbel, the father of another Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, which ignited her passion for Soviet affairs.

She recounted a moment during her White House career when she found herself in a Marine One helicopter with Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, thinking, “I’m really glad I changed majors.”

She also recounted advising then-Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak not to wait until his people were in the streets to make efforts at reform. She discussed Cuba, saying that when Fidel Castro dies the people of Cuba must be able to elect their next leader and that the presidency must not just be handed to his brother, Raul.

Of President George W. Bush’s top leadership team, she commented, “We got along just fine until the most stressful times, which were the war on terror and Iraq.”

With regard to Iraq, she said Saddam Hussein “was considered the biggest threat in the Middle East.”

“Authoritarianism is not sustainable,” she explained, noting that if people don’t have a way to change the government they will do it violently. “When fear breaks down, all that’s left between a dictator and the people is anger.”

She addressed changes in national security post-9/11 and touched on other major topics such as Latin America and the Caribbean, education, and immigration. “I don’t know when immigrants became the enemy,” she said, citing the need for comprehensive federal immigration reform. “If we don’t fix this, we will undo one of the greatest strengths” of the United States.

The lecture drew some 450 students and 300 other attendees from the UM and surrounding community.

Rice, who served as secretary of state to President Bush from 2005 to 2009, was the second woman and first African-American woman in history to be appointed to that post. She has written numerous books. In addition to No Higher Honor, her bestselling memoir Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family (2010) was available at the event.

Student media took part in a press conference prior to the lecture. WVUM political talk show Counterpoint will devote a future show to the event, said hosts Michael Matthiesen and Wesley Rogerson.

In its 25th year the Cobb Leadership Lecture Series is dedicated to presenting leaders from all walks of life who are experts on leadership.

University of Miami Media Contact: Contact Person: UM Communications umcommunications@miami.edu

Not in Our Lifetimes The Future of Black Politics

Press Release: Not in Our Lifetimes

“Not in Our Lifetimes is vintage Michael Dawson. This book is replete with insights on the black/white public opinion divide in the aftermath of the Katrina crisis. The implications of the increasing class cleavages among African Americans and the growing wave of immigrants for multiracial political alliances are also discussed with authority and remarkable clarity, and provide a backdrop for a compelling argument on why new visions are needed to guide black politics in the twenty-first century. Dawson’s penetrating analysis is a must-read.”

William Julius Wilson

“Taking his patient and prescient eye to modern events, Dawson gives us a clear-eyed look at black America. The popular wish to believe the races are (finally) equal is unsettled in this sober and illuminating account of black political thought. What Du Bois gave us one hundred years ago, Dawson offers us today: an empathetic, but critical look at race relations in America today. This is social scientific truth-telling at its best.”

Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day

Not in Our Lifetimes The Future of Black Politics Michael C. Dawson

Publication Date: November 1, 2011 $26.00 • £17.00 International publication date: December 5, 2011 978-0-226-13862-6 (cloth)

Michael C. Dawson

In the wake of Barack Obama’s election, many figures in the media cheered a new “post-racial” age for American life and politics. As Obama’s re-election campaign gets underway, Michael Dawson is here to tell some hard truths—backed up by hard facts—about the real state of American race relations, African American public opinion, and the current state of black politics. Dawson’s conclusions are surprising, but he argues convincingly that grappling with the reality, rather than accepting the post-racial fantasy, will be fundamental to the future of African American politics, and progressive goals, in the decades to come. Michael C. Dawson is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago and the author of Black Visions and Behind the Mule: Race, Class, and African American Politics.

Please contact Levi Stahl at (773) 702-0289 or lstahl@press.uchicago.edu for more information.

IMAGE CREDIT: Political Science @ Chicago

Richard Newman Legacy of African-American Activism

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., – Richard Newman, professor, author, and historian of African-American studies, will give a talk on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. in Griffin Hall, room 3 at Williams College. The event is free and open to the public.

Newman is a professor of history at Rochester Institute of Technology. His critically acclaimed book, Freedom’s Prophet: Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers won ForeWord’s Best Biography Prize in 2009. The book has reshaped both African-American history and early American history by showcasing the ways in which revolutionary-era African-Americans, including AME Church founder Richard Allen, served as founding fathers. Newman’s first book, The Transformation of American Abolitionism, examined the nation’s early abolitionists and was a finalist for the Organization of American Historians’ Avery Craven Prize for the most innovative manuscript in Civil War-era studies.

Newman’s scholarly interests include African-American history, Atlantic history, environmental history, and the history of technology. He is dedicated to researching and promoting the legacy of African-American activists and community leaders who played a critical role in our country’s founding. He has written multiple books and essays on the antislavery movement, African-American leadership, and environmental politics.

As an educator, Newman has won a Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award at SUNY-Buffalo, and he was finalist for the Eisenhart Teaching Award at RIT. Furthermore, he serves on the advisory board of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Abolition, and Resistance at Yale and the Black Anti-Slavery Writings Project at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

Richard Newman

The talk is sponsored by Leadership Studies, the Department of History, and Africana Studies. END Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: Noelle.Lemoine@williams.edu

David C. Driskell, will return to Talladega College the place of his first teaching position

Talladega, Alabama-In 1955, he began his teaching career on the grounds of the Talladega College campus. In the 1990s, he painted the awe-inspiring stained-glass windows of DeForest Chapel. In just a few days, he will return for another visit to Talladega. Renowned artist Dr. David C. Driskell, will return to the place of his first teaching position to have a conversation with one of his former students, artist and scientist, Dr. Art Bacon.

David C. Driskell, an art historian and prolific writer has authored and edited many books on African American Art and two books have been written about him by others. Among his friends were most of the great African American artists of the 20th Century—including Hale Woodruff who created Talladega College’s famed, Amistad Murals. A great colorist and print maker, Driskell’s vibrant paintings and serigraphs are much sought after around the world. In 2000, he received the National Humanities Medal from Bill Clinton; and in 2004, the High Museum of Atlanta created an annual $25,000 David C. Driskell award in his honor. Driskell has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, and he holds various honorary doctorates from institutions around the globe. His art has been seen and appreciated world-wide; and in the 1990s, his art was viewed by national audiences while on display in the home of the Huxtables on The Cosby Show. As the world’s leading authority on African American Art, Driskell has come to the aide of Camille and Bill Cosby, former President Bill Clinton, as far as Africa, and countless others.

David C. Driskell (Photography by John Woo, courtesy of the David C. Driskell Archives)

Art Bacon was a student of Dr. Driskell when he attended Talladega College. Bacon was educated and trained as a biologist but his passion has always been art. As a young scientist, Bacon discovered a new species of protozoa and was the first African American postdoctoral researcher at the University of Miami. After completing his postdoctorate, he returned to head the sciences department at his alma mater. It was here at Talladega College, he decided that without his art, he and his science would suffer. He has exhibited in New York, Atlanta, DC, and many other places. He is featured in the February 2008 edition of Southern Living Magazine and in several articles in Lakeside Magazine. The conversation between David Driskell and Art Bacon will be held in beautiful and historic Deforest Chapel which will be illuminated by light from the 65 stained glass windows designed by Driskell. The conversation will take place on Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call the Office of Institutional Advancement at 256-761-8832.

# # #

Talladega College 627 West Battle Street Talladega, AL 35160 256.362.0206 (Main Number) Nicola Lawler Office of Public Relations 256-761-6207

Garth Fagan will launch 25th anniversary celebrations of University of Rochester's Frederick Douglass Institute for African & African-American Studies

Garth Fagan, "one of the great reformers of modern dance," will launch the 25th anniversary celebrations of the University of Rochester's Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. with a lecture and demonstration in the Spurrier Dance Studio on the University's River Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Best known as the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, the celebrated choreographer is also Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of the State University of New York and has taught for more than three decades at the State University of New York at Brockport. Fagan is the recipient of several honorary doctorates, including one from the University of Rochester and one from the Juilliard School, and was awarded the University\'s George Eastman Medal in 2003 for \"outstanding achievement and dedicated service.\"

The Fagan lecture demonstration ushers in a year of celebration for the Frederick Douglass Institute as it turns a quarter-century old. Founded in 1986, the institute promotes African and African-American studies at the University through a research oriented undergraduate major, residential scholarships, film series, lecture series, and conferences. The institute also sponsors postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows, many of whom will be invited to return to campus this year to share their scholarly work.

"When it comes to intellectual diversity, the Frederick Douglass Institute, for the past 25 years, has been part of the solution," said Cilas Kemedjio, director of the institute and associate professor of French and Francophone studies. "FDI has contributed to the development of graduate students and young scholars who have gone on to make significant contributions to the scholarship and teaching of African and African-American Studies."

Garth Fagan

The Fagan lecture, which is cosponsored by the University's program of dance and movement and graduate program in visual and cultural studies, continues the institute's tradition of bring emerging and established leaders to campus. Fagan is admired for his original choreography, which weaves together disparate dance traditions: the sense of weight in modern dance; the torso-centered movement and energy of Afro-Caribbean; the speed and precision of ballet; and the rule-breaking experimentation of the post-moderns. Both popularly and critically acclaimed, Fagan has been showered with recognition for his dynamic choreography of Walt Disney's The Lion King, earning the Olivier, the Tony, the Helpmann, and the Ovation awards, among others, for that work. More recently, Fagan's Mudan 175/39 was named the third top dance performance of 2009 by The New York Times. Earlier speakers for the institute's Frederick Douglas Lecture have included Lani Guinier, civil rights activist and professor of law at Harvard University, Gerald Torres,

a leading figure in critical race theory and professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin, and Deborah Gray White, the Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University and a pioneering scholar in the field of African-American women's history.

About the University of Rochester

The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.

MEDIA CONTACT: Susan Hagen susan.hagen@rochester.edu 585.276.4061 (office); 585.576.5945 (cell)

IMAGE CREDIT: By: Garth_Fagan,_NYS_Assemblyman_Joseph_Morelle,_NYS_Senator_James_Alesi,_and_Nazareth_College_President_Daan_Braveman.jpg: NazarethCollege derivative work: Delaywaves [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

African American art and art history Papers Acquired by Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) recently acquired two major collections related to African American art and art history: the papers of the late internationally recognized artist John Biggers and the late renowned arts patron Paul R. Jones.

Both acquistions will be celebrated at a public event, “Art, Artists, and Archives: A Conversation with Hazel Biggers and Amalia K. Amaki,” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3 at Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library. Moderated by Emory Professor Emeritus Richard A. Long, the event will address the importance of preserving papers related to artists and art history.

Panelists will include Hazel Biggers, through whose generosity Emory received the papers of her late husband. John Biggers traveled widely in Africa and studied African artistic and cultural traditions. This knowledge had a significant impact on his own work as a muralist, printmaker and painter.

Dr. Amalia K. Amaki, professor of modern and contemporary art history at the University of Alabama, also will participate in the symposium. She was instrumental in enabling Emory to acquire the gift of papers of Paul Jones. Jones’ interests and life as a businessman, civil rights activist and collector are documented in more than 75 linear feet of manuscripts, photographs, audio and visual material and books.

The Biggers and Jones papers join the rapidly expanding collection of Emory’s holdings of artists, art historians and art collectors. Among these are the papers of Benny Andrews, Camille Billops, Cedric Dover, Edwin Harleston, Samella Lewis and James A. Porter. Emory is quickly becoming recognized as one of the premier institutions for research related to African American art and art history.

Illustration by J. Biggers for Lorenz Graham's 1966 book I, Momolu.

The Nov. 3 program, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Jones Room on the third floor of Woodruff Library, 540 Asbury Circle on the Emory campus in Atlanta, 30322. Parking is available in the Fishburne Deck. ### Contact: Maureen McGavin: 404.727.6898 Elaine Justice: 404.727.0643

Indiana University Cinema film series held in conjunction with IU Black Film Center / Archive anniversary

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Five movies directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Charles Burnett will be featured Nov. 3-6 at the IU Cinema, an event that coincides with the 30th anniversary of IU's Black Film Center/Archive.

Michael Martin, a professor of American Studies and Communication and Culture who is director of the Black Film Center/Archive, will host a public interview with Burnett at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at the IU Cinema.

"Consummate cineaste and recipient of a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship and a MacArthur 'genius' award, Charles Burnett is a raconteur of extraordinary sensitivity and among the most discerning cinematic voices in America," Martin said. "Having Burnett on the IU campus and featuring a selection of his more notable and recent films at the IU Cinema offers the Bloomington public and campus community a rare and unique opportunity to engage with this world-class filmmaker."

As part of the "Arriving at the Truth" film series, the IU Cinema will screen Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding, To Sleep with Anger, The Glass Shield and Namibia: the Struggle for Liberation, as well as a series of short films by Burnett. A complete list of dates and times is available at www.cinema.indiana.edu/. As with all visiting filmmakers to the IU Cinema, Burnett will also be visiting film production classes and having informal conversations with faculty and students.

Charles Burnett. Courtesy of Indiana University.

Burnett's first full-length feature film, Killer of Sheep, was written for his master's thesis at UCLA's prestigious film school. "Subtle and distinctive for its economy, intimacy and understatement, Killer of Sheep dispassionately engaged with the marginality, estrangement and resilience of black life and heralded, in counterpoint to Hollywood's stereotypical depictions, a 'new realism' in black independent filmmaking, earning Killer of Sheep an enviable place in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress," Martin said. James Naremore, an emeritus professor with IU's Department of Communication and Culture, will speak before the screening of Killer of Sheep, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, at the IU Cinema.

"One of the standard things said about Burnett is he's the best movie director you've never heard of," he said. "I think what makes him so interesting is the great integrity of his work. He has not ever made a film that you feel is calculated to make big money at the box office. And he's really stayed true to being a filmmaker who makes films for black audiences, but he's also very socially relevant and educational. He's something of a poet."

Burnett has received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the J. P. Getty Foundation. He is also the winner of the American Film Institute's Maya Deren Award and Howard University's Paul Robeson Award for achievement in cinema.

Burnett will also take part in a special screening of Killer of Sheep at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m.

"This is a great opportunity for us to share Mr. Burnett with the Indianapolis community while we have him in Indiana," IU Cinema director Jon Vickers said. "It is also an effective way for us to strengthen our relationship with the museum, support the important work that they are doing and introduce the IU Cinema and Burnett's work to a broader audience."

No ticket is required to attend Burnett's Nov. 3 lecture, which is part of the Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Lecture Series made possible through the support of the Ove W. Jorgensen Foundation. All other events are free, but ticketed.

For free tickets to the film series, visit the IU Auditorium Box Office or call 812-855-1103.

The Indiana University Cinema is a world-class facility and program that is dedicated to the scholarly study and highest standards of exhibition of film in its traditional and modern forms. For more information on the facility or programs call 812-856-2503.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 31, 2011 Media Contacts: Jon Vickers IU Cinema jwvicker@indiana.edu 812-855-7632

Hateful Things Jim Crow and the Making of Pop Culture

Dr. Greg Wood, assistant professor of history, will present "Jim Crow and the Making of Pop Culture" on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 6:30 p.m., in Frostburg State University’s Fine Arts Building, Room 132. This event is free and open to the public.

This talk explores the connections between consumer culture and the everyday experience of racism during the early 20th century. It supplements the “Hateful Things” exhibit that is currently on view at the Stephanie Ann Roper Gallery. The gallery will be open from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and for approximately an hour after the talk.

“Hateful Things” is a sampling from Ferris State University museum’s 4,000 pieces and represents nearly 150 years of anti-Black, racist objects and images. It addresses the relationship between Jim Crow segregation and everyday objects that belittle African-Americans. Examples vary from Jim Crow memorabilia to caricatured images of African-Americans on postcards, games, ashtrays and drinking glasses.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Department of History and the African-American Studies Society.

The exhibit runs through Nov. 9, and the gallery hours are Sunday through Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call the Visual Arts Department at 301-687-4797.

FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258. -end-

For further information on this release, contact: Office of News and Media Services. Frostburg State University. 101 Braddock Road. Frostburg, MD 21532-2303. Telephone: 301/687-3171. Fax: 301/687-7589. E-mail: news@frostburg.edu

Why We Sing: Indianapolis Gospel Music in Church, Community and Industry

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A major academic conference on gospel music at Indiana University Bloomington on Saturday, Nov. 12, will feature eight musical icons as well as a performance by a large, volunteer-based community choir at a historic Bloomington church.

The public is invited to attend the conference, "Why We Sing: Indianapolis Gospel Music in Church, Community and Industry," from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, 275 N. Jordan Ave. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for a concert at Fairview United Methodist Church, 600 W. Sixth St. The events are free of charge.

The conference will focus on how this uniquely African American music performed and recorded in Indianapolis has served to inform and enrich musical expression both locally and globally. Gospel music has been a distinctive component of religious expression in African American churches since its rise to prominence in the mid-20th century.

"This is really a contribution to expanding the body of knowledge that exists about gospel music nationwide," said Mellonee Burnim, director of IU's Ethnomusicology Institute and a professor of folklore and ethnomusicology in the IU College of Arts and Sciences.

"There's a challenge of doing research within the context of a religious environment, because one of the things that happens when we're looking at religious music is there can be things that are inexplicable that occur and move beyond the dimension of the ordinary," said Burnim, one of three conference organizers.

The Eastern Star Baptist Church Mass Choir Courtesy of Indiana University

In time, ethnomusicologists like Burnim have become more able to look at gospel music's multidimensionality and see it as having both cultural and religious functions. "We have moved well beyond the kind of myopic view of religious music," she added. "We know there is much to be learned about people and who they are from studying all forms of music." Indianapolis is home to two major independent gospel music labels, Aleho and Tyscot records, which have attracted award-winning, chart-topping recording artists from across the country. It also has been well represented in the leadership of organizations such as the Gospel Music Workshop of America, the Gospel Announcers Guild and the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. Conference participants will include Dr. Leonard Scott, co-founder of Tyscot Records and pastor of Rock Community Church; Al "The Bishop" Hobbs, founder of Aleho Records, former general manager of WTLC-Radio and past executive vice chair of the Gospel Music Workshop of America;

Sherri Garrison, minister of music and director of worship at Eastern Star Baptist Church and a former director of the Gospel Music Workshop of America; Rev. A. Thomas Hill, a recording artist and pastor of Healing Streams Word & Worship Center; and Rodnie Bryant, founding director of Christian Community Mass Choir and a Tyscot Recording Artist.

"Why We Sing" will conclude with a concert at Fairview United Methodist Church, which showcases a local volunteer-based community choir, under Garrison's direction; and performances by Bryant and Lamar Campbell, who also has performed with Aaron Neville on the "Today" and "Late Night with David Letterman" shows. They will be accompanied by a four-piece live band, under the musical direction of gospel recording artist Tyron Cooper, former director of the IU Soul Revue.

Cooper, a doctoral student in folklore and ethnomusicology from Bloomington and one of the conference organizers, said the community choir, which will perform at the evening concert, has generated a lot of interest in the conference. "Every day, we hear from new folks, so this choir could be enormous," he said.

"We started this process a year ago now," added Raynetta Wiggins, a master's student in folklore and ethnomusicology from Birmingham, Ala., and another conference organizer. "Initially, I think we envisioned something rather small ... It kind of grew because we wanted to add a sonic dimension to it.

"As far as we know, nothing like this has been done -- being able to break this ground and bring this particular music into an academic setting and to document these artists and their contributions," Wiggins added.

Anyone is welcome to become a part of the community choir and can sign up by sending an e-mail to IndyGospelConference@gmail.com.

"Our plan is to take people higher and higher and higher, starting out in the morning with artists talking about their work in the community and in the church," Burnim said. "We move from that context to looking at the founders of the two largest African American record labels in Indianapolis, and then ending the conference with a third session that is forward looking, talking about directions that gospel music is moving in the 21st century."

Burnim said it is evident that the conference also will strengthen ties between IU and the larger African American community. "It was a conscious choice for us to plan the conference to be on site here at the university, because it is a way of reaching out and showing how scholarship can complement the work of members of the community across the state," she said.

Cooper, who has recorded with gospel artists as a guitarist over the last two decades, noted the multidimensional nature of people involved with the music. For example, Scott founded his music label, is a performer, a pastor, a radio personality and a full-time dentist.

"These are renaissance people," he noted. "This conference will detail the background creators. We've got executives and producers coming in and people in promotions and marketing, people who make things happen in the industry. These are people who have really been overlooked, particularly in the literature and by the lay people who listen to the music ... You don't realize the community of creators and artistic people who come together for multiple agendas, including economic, social and religious intents colliding at the same time."

"We will see, across the board, this entrepreneurial spirit that comes through," Burnim added. "These are people who have a vision of who they are as musicians and what they can do with that music."

Sponsors of the conference are the College Arts and Humanities Institute, Institute for Advanced Study, the Office of the Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Jacobs School of Music, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Traditional Arts Indiana, the Archive of African American Music and Culture, the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, the African American Arts Institute and Fairview United Methodist Church.

To speak with Burnim, Cooper or Wiggins about their project, please contact George Vlahakis at University Communications, 812-855-0846 or vlahakis@iu.edu, who has additional contact information.

H.R.2447 To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines VIDEO

H.R.2447 -- To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines. (Engrossed in House [Passed House] - EH)

HR 2447 EH 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2447 AN ACT

To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 8802 establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission and opening the doors for the very first African-Americans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.

(2) The first Black Marine recruits were trained at Camp Montford Point, near the New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

(3) On August 26, 1942, Howard P. Perry of Charlotte, North Carolina, was the first Black private to set foot on Montford Point.

(4) During April 1943 the first African-American Marine Drill Instructors took over as the senior Drill Instructors of the eight platoons then in training; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. Huff), 17th (Thomas Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th (Gilbert H. Johnson), 20th (Arnold R. Bostic), 21st (Mortimer A. Cox), 22nd (Edgar R. Davis, Jr.), and 23rd (George A. Jackson).

(5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Company and the 36th Depot Company landed on the island of Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19, 1945.

(6) The largest number of Black Marines to serve in combat during World War II took part in the seizure of Okinawa in the Ryuku Islands with some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action during the campaign.

(7) On November 10, 1945, the first African-American Marine, Frederick C. Branch, was commissioned as a second lieutenant at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.

(8) Overall 19,168 Blacks served in the Marine Corps in World War II.

(9) An enterprising group of men, including original Montford Pointer Master Sergeant Brooks E. Gray, planned a reunion of the Men of Montford Point, and on September 15, 1965, approximately 400 Montford Point Marines gathered at the Adelphi Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to lay the foundation for the Montford Point Marine Association Inc., 16 years after the closure of Montford Point as a training facility for Black recruits.

(10) Organized as a non-military, nonprofit entity, the Montford Point Marine Association's main mission is to preserve the legacy of the first Black Marines.

(11) Today the Montford Point Marine Association has 36 chapters throughout the United States.

(12) Many of these first Black Marines stayed in the Marine Corps like Sergeant Major Edgar R. Huff.

(13) Sergeant Major Huff was one of the very first recruits aboard Montford Point.

(14) Sergeant Major Huff was also the first African-American Sergeant Major and the first African-American Marine to retire with 30 years of service which included combat in three major wars, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

(15) During the Tet Offensive, Sergeant Major Huff was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with combat `V' for valor for saving the life of his radio operator.

(16) Another original Montford Pointer who saw extensive combat action in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War was Sergeant Major Louis Roundtree.

(17) Sergeant Major Roundtree was awarded the Silver Star Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Hearts, and numerous other personal and unit awards for his service during these conflicts.

(18) On April 19, 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp Johnson after legendary Montford Pointer Sergeant Major Gilbert `Hashmark' Johnson.

(19) The Montford Point Marine Association has several memorials in place to perpetuate the memory of the first African-American Marines and their accomplishments, including--

(A) the Montford Point Marine Association Edgar R. Huff Memorial Scholarship which is offered annually through the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation;

(B) the Montford Point Museum located aboard Camp Johnson (Montford Point) in Jacksonville, North Carolina;

(C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consolidated Academic Instruction Facility named in honor of original Montford Pointer and the Montford Point Marine Corps Association founder Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray. This facility was dedicated on 15 April 2005 aboard Camp Johnson, North Carolina; and

(D) during July of 1997 Branch Hall, a building within the Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, was named in honor of Captain Frederick Branch.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

(a) Award Authorized- The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Marines, collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their country.

(b) Design and Striking- For the purposes of the award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the `Secretary') shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized under section 2.

(b) Proceeds of Sale- Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

Passed the House of Representatives October 25, 2011. Attest: Clerk. 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2447

AN ACT

To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.

Eighth annual NOMMO African American Authors Series

What: Eighth annual NOMMO African American Authors Series

Who: Novelist Percival Everett and poet Elizabeth Alexander

When: Wednesday, Nov. 2, (Percival Everett); Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 (Elizabeth Alexander). Both events begin at 7 p.m.

Where: Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center, University of Minnesota West Bank campus, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/24/2011) —Two widely acclaimed contemporary African American writers have been selected for this year's NOMMO African American Authors series, co-sponsored by the Givens Foundation for African American Literature and the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Percival Everett and Elizabeth Alexander will read from and discuss their work with host Alexs Pate, U of M professor and author of the novel "Amistad" on Wednesday, Nov. 2, (Percival Everett) and Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 (Elizabeth Alexander) at 7 p.m. in Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, on the university’s West Bank.

About Percival Everett
Everett is the author of nearly twenty novels, three collections of short fiction and two volumes of poetry, including the recent collection "Swimming Swimmers Swimming". Among his novels are "Assumption" and "I Am Not Sidney Poitier," which won the Believer Book Award. Everett is also the recipient of the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction, the Academy Award from an American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Vallombrosa Von Rezzori Prize, the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature and a New American Writing Award. His stories have been included in the "Pushcart Prize Anthology" and "Best American Short Stories." He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991. He teaches fiction writing and critical theory and is currently Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.

Best known for composing and delivering President Barack Obama's inaugural poem "Praise Song for the Day," Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, essayist, playwright and teacher.

About Elizabeth Alexander Best known for composing and delivering President Barack Obama's inaugural poem "Praise Song for the Day," Alexander is a poet, essayist, playwright and teacher. Alexander has published five books of poems, including American Sublime, which was listed on the American Library Association's 2006 "Notable Books of the Year" and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize that same year. Her first young adult collection (co-authored with Marilyn Nelson), "Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color," received the 2008 Connecticut Book Award. Her two collections of essays are "The Black Interior" and "Power and Possibility," and her play "Diva Studies" was produced at the Yale School of Drama. She has also composed words for musical projects with composers Elana Ruehr and Lewis Spratlan.

Tickets are available for $15 per event or $25 for the two-event series. 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.

About the NOMMO African American Authors series
Presented annually since 2004 by the Givens Foundation for African American Literature (givens.org), the series provides rare opportunities to publicly define the state of the art of African American literature and to locate the work and contributions of national as well as Twin Cities African American writers within the present authoring of our literary tradition.

A Dogon word meaning "the magic power of the word," NOMMO has been co-sponsored since 2007 by the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries (lib.umn.edu/friends). This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the state's general fund and its arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008. Additional sponsors this year are the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center

(uroc.umn.edu), University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program (creativewriting.umn.edu) and the Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writers Series (www.english.umn.edu/engagement/edelstein).

Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University of Minnesota Libraries, welsh0066@umn.edu, (612) 625-9148 Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552.

EPA CARE grant to identify and reduce risks from toxic pollution in a historically African American and highly industrialized area

Erica Holloman, a doctoral student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the Greater Southeast Development Corporation, a local non-profit, have received a $100,000 CARE grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work with community groups and residents in the city of Newport News. Their goal is to identify and reduce risks from toxic pollution in the Southeast Community, a historically African-American and highly industrialized area of the city.

The EPA held a ceremony to honor the winners of these highly competitive grants at its Ronald Reagan Building on October 18th. Only 100 CARE grants have been awarded nationwide since the program launched in 2005.

Dr. Linda Schaffner, Associate Dean of Academic Studies at VIMS, says “Less than 10 percent of all applicants to the CARE program are successful. It speaks very highly of Erica’s talent and moxie that she received one of these awards while still a graduate student.”

The CARE program—Community Action for a Renewed Environment—helps communities across the country better understand and address their environmental problems through local partnerships. Since its launch in 2005, CARE has leveraged EPA grant funding dollar-for-dollar with in-kind donations to 87 communities in 40 states and territories with more than 1,700 partners.

In Newport News, Holloman will collaborate with the Greater Southeast Development Corporation and its Moton Community House to better inform Southeast residents about how toxic pollutants may be affecting the local environment and their own health.

Erica Holloman

Holloman then plans to partner with the informed citizenry on projects to improve local environmental quality and reduce associated health risks. “Our project will provide a framework and a scientific process that addresses environmental quality and associated impacts from a community perspective,” says Holloman. “It will empower the community to take action to reduce exposure and risk as soon as possible.” Holloman’s CARE project builds on her dissertation research at VIMS, in which she used “community-based participatory research” to study fish and shellfish consumption and its possible relation to mercury exposure among African-American women in the same Newport News neighborhood. Mercury is a toxic metal that tends to accumulate up the marine food chain—reaching dangerous levels in some predatory fish.

Holloman says her dissertation shows that “even though women in Southeast Newport News aren’t subsistence anglers, they consume fish and shellfish at a subsistence-angler rate, and that the amount consumed plays a significant role in their dietary mercury exposure.”

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Virginia Institute of Marine Science. School of Marine Science. College of William and Mary. Gloucester Point, VA 23062. (804) 684-7000.

Multicultural issues in children's and adolescent literature, particularly as it relates to African and African American cultures

Two Penn State faculty members are co-editors of a newly released book that addresses multicultural issues in children's and adolescent literature, particularly as it relates to African and African American cultures.

Vivian Yenika-Agbaw, associate professor of language and literacy education at University Park, and Mary Napoli, associate professor of education and reading at Penn State Harrisburg, have assembled African and African American Children's and Adolescent Literature in the Classroom: A Critical Guide (Peter Lang Publishers, 2011).

The book is a comprehensive collection of essays that challenge current understanding of what multicultural texts really are in an age of globalization. These essays illustrate multicultural literature's power to educate young readers about the numerous and varied perspectives on their own cultures and roles in society, as well as those of other cultures. The scholarship presented in the book suggests that not only should multicultural literature be integrated within the school curriculum, but that it can be examined to reveal subtle cultural nuances that show how cultures, customs, and people may be at once similar and different.

Yenika-Agbaw and Napoli both contributed chapters to the book. Yenika-Agbaw’s chapter, “Disability in Africana Adolescent Literature,” discusses representations of children with disabilities in African and African American adolescent novels. Napoli, in her chapter titled “Powerful Words: Celebrating Poetry with Young Children,” looks at how African and African American poetry can enrich the lives of young children.

Dr. Vivian Yenika-Agbaw

The book is part of Peter Lang’s Black Studies and Critical Thinking interdisciplinary series, which examines the intellectual traditions of and cultural contributions made by people of African descent throughout the world. ### The Penn State College of Education serves approximately 2,800 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students each year. The College prepares administrators, counselors, psychologists and researchers, as well as K-12 teachers in 21 different specialty areas. All of the College of Education graduate programs that are ranked by the U.S. News & World Report appear at least in the top 15, with six programs in the top 10.

The College is known nationally for its education research and outreach, housing such centers as the Center for the Study of Higher Education, the Center for Science and the Schools, the Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, and the Regional Education Laboratory Mid-Atlantic.

For more information on Penn State's College of Education, contact EdRelations@psu.edu, call 814-863-2216, or visit www.ed.psu.edu.

Iraq War vet: 'I am not anti-NYPD, I am anti-police brutality' VIDEO

WATCH ONE PROTESTOR TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE POLICE BRUTALITY ON WALL STREET

TEXT and VIDEO CREDIT: thegrio

Arts in the African American Tradition: Celebrating the diversity of black music and dance

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's African American Arts Institute will present its annual "A Potpourri of Arts in the African American Tradition" concert on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. in downtown Bloomington.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children and students (limit two per IU I.D.). Tickets are available at the Buskirk-Chumley Box Office, phone 812-323-3020.

"A Potpourri of the Arts" was created to bring together, in a single program, the diverse range of styles of the institute's ensembles: the African American Dance Company, African American Choral Ensemble and IU Soul Revue. This year's Potpourri encompasses music and dance from slavery to the present. The grand finale is a special arrangement of Earth Wind and Fire's "Celebrate," performed by the three ensembles.

The African American Dance Company will depict a story of black diaspora, illustrating an evolution of styles from African dance to hip-hop. The company will highlight circular configurations and circular movements, an African dance characteristic that has been carried over to the new world, including the "ring shout," one of the early African American religious musical traditions. The company will dance to African Bamayaa music from Ghana, Hubert Laws' "Amazing Grace," and Sweet Honey in the Rock's "When I Rise and Lean on Me."

African American Dance Company by Mark McCullough. "Courtesy of Indiana University."

The African American Choral Ensemble's program will draw from a rich and varied array from black sacred genres, ranging from the spiritual to contemporary gospel. An opening medley of spirituals, arranged by Gary Hines for Sounds of Blackness, takes the audience to director Keith McCutchen's special arrangement of "Ole Time Religion" coupled with ragtime version of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Contemporary gospel selections like "Free," recorded by Natalie Wilson and the S.O.P. Chorale, and Ricky Dillard's "Strange" merge sacred themes and gospel style with jazz, hop-hop and other styles of music representing the African American traditions. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the IU Soul Revue will perform an encapsulation of music from the early soul sound of Ray Charles ("I've Got A Woman") to the more recent sounds of Janelle Monáe ("Tightrope") and Beyoncé ("1 1").

Selections recorded by Diana Ross, Luther Vandross, Bell Biv Devoe, and Sly and the Family Stone will fill in the Revue's diverse range of black popular music styles set for this program.

The African American Arts Institute is committed to promoting and preserving African American culture through performance, education, creative activity, research and outreach. For more information and a calendar of AAAI events, visit the African American Arts Institute website at www.indiana.edu/~aaai or call 812-855-5427.

The institute's current executive director is Charles E. Sykes. The African American Arts Institute is a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs. The ensembles are credit-bearing courses offered through the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts Krista Wilhelmsen African American Arts Institute kriwilhe@umail.iu.edu 812-855-5427

The story of The African American Twenty-fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps stationed in Montana who tested the bicycle for military use in the 1890s

Alexandra V. Koelle, a postdoctoral scholar at the Bill Lane Center for the American West, has won the 2011 Oscar O. Winther Award from the Western History Association for the best article published in the Western Historical Quarterly in the past year. Her article, "Pedaling on the Periphery: The African American Twenty-fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps and the Roads of American Expansion," tells the story of a corps of African American soldiers stationed in Montana who tested the bicycle for military use in the 1890s.

The soldiers' lieutenant, a white southerner, believed that the bicycle might be a viable replacement for the horse--after all, he reasoned, bicycles did not need food or rest. After several training rides, 20 volunteers from the Twenty-fifth Infantry Division biked a grueling 1,900 miles from Montana to St. Louis.

Koelle studied the black bicycle corps in her dissertation, which she is working on revising as a book during her postdoctoral fellowship at the Center. Her research provides a unique insight into the history of race relations in the American West, illustrating both similarities to and differences from the East.

Koelle's award-winning article examines the ways that immgrant and settler whites, Indians, and African Americans along the route responded to the bicycle corps. As Koelle explains, the black cyclists experienced a range of reactions throughout their journey. At some towns, white residents greeted them as American patriots, feting the group with bands and parades. In other places, they were met with suspicion—a western Missouri farmer warned the group that “you can pile right off a this land.”

In general, though, Koelle’s research reveals that the black soldiers became gradually less popular as they traveled farther East. In the West, racism against Native Americans may have mitigated racism against the African American soldiers. Several regiments of the Twenty-fifth had fought alongside whites at Wounded Knee, and they continued to be used against Native Americans throughout the 1890s. But “the farther east they went,” says Koelle, “the stricter the segregation, the longer the history of slavery, and the further the memory of Indian Wars.” TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: The Bill Lane Center for the American West Jerry Yang & Akiko Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building 473 Via Ortega, Third Floor Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-4225

African American Caucus at Northwestern State University is hosting a community forum

The African-American Caucus at Northwestern State University is hosting a community forum, Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Friedman Student Union Ballroom. Admission is free and open to the public, according to Kenneth Brown, president of the African-American Caucus.

A panel will discuss topics including: sex in media, the high costs of education, animal cruelty, the war on drugs and unemployment in the community. 
Panelists are Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Victor Jones, Northwestern State faculty Jody Biscoe and Richard Hughbank, Chief Deputy Assessor Dollie Mahoney, Rev. Al Harris and NSU students Christalyn Whitaker and Tiffany Thomas. Marcus Jones, vice president of university affairs and the Ben D. Johnson Sr. Endowed Professor at Northwestern State, will moderate the panel.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu) News Bureau Northwestern State University Natchitoches, LA 71497 (318) 357-6466

The News Bureau works with print, broadcast and Internet media outlets to publicize all aspects of the university, including faculty programs, research, initiatives and accomplishments. Working with you, we can develop a strategy to give your story the best possible chance of receiving coverage. The News Bureau also assists media who are covering stories involving higher education, current topics or human interest stories involving NSU students, faculty, staff and alumni.