Pigford Settlement Claims Filing Period Opens for African American Farmers and Ranchers

Pigford Settlement Claims Filing Period Opens for African American Farmers and Ranchers.

Pigford Settlement Claims Filing Period Opens for African American Farmers and Ranchers
Those Eligible Must File Claims No Later Than May 11, 2012

WASHINGTON, November 28, 2011- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today reminded African American farmers and ranchers that the period to file a claim in the Pigford II settlement has opened.

"With the opening of the claims process, African American farmers and ranchers who believe they are entitled to compensation under the Pigford II settlement must file a claim within 180 days in order to receive cash payment or loan forgiveness," said Secretary Vilsack. "The opening of this claims process marks another milestone in USDA's efforts to correct the wrongs of the past and ensure fair treatment to all current and future customers."

In February, USDA and Department of Justice announced an agreement with African American farmers to settle the Pigford II litigation for $1.25 billion. Congress passed the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 that funded the settlement in November 2010, and the bill was signed by President Obama in December 2010.

The settlement arises from a class action lawsuit against USDA that alleges the Department discriminated against African-Americans who applied for or attempted to apply for farm loans or other farm benefits between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1996. The settlement applies only to African-American farmers who meet specific eligibility requirements, including the requirement that they previously submitted a request to file a late claim in the 1999 Pigford I class action Consent Decree.

Members of the National Black Grower’s Council met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, Tuesday, November 29, 2011. From left: Haywood Harrell, North Carolina, Dexter Gilbert, Harper Armstrong, Louisiana, J.D. Jacobs, Texas, Secretary Tom Vilsack, P.J. Hayne, Virginia, DeWayne Goldman, Arkansas, Bill Bridgefork, Alabama, Warren James, Georgia and Kim Davis, Alabama. Secretary Vilsack and the council discussed national and international agriculture topics. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols.

The filing period opened November 14, 2011, and continues for 180 days, until May 11, 2012. Claimant services representatives can also be reached through calling 1-877-810-8110 or 1-866-950-5547. Claimants must register for a claims package (by calling the number or visiting the website) and the claims package will be mailed to claimants. All those interested in learning more or receiving information about the claims process and claims packages are encouraged to attend a meeting and contact the website or claims telephone number. The website is: www.blackfarmercase.com The call number is: 1-877-810-8110 or 1-866-950-5547 Claims period: November 14, 2011 to May 11, 2012 Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, USDA is addressing civil rights complaints that go back decades, to usher in "a new era of civil rights" for the Department and to pave the way for new and stronger relationships with the farming and ranching community.

In October 2010, Secretary Vilsack announced the Keepseagle settlement with Native American farmers, in February 2011, he announced his intention to establish an alternative dispute resolution process to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers. Secretary Vilsack has made it a priority to resolve all of the civil rights cases facing the Department which were inherited by this Administration.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD)

Release No. 0493.11 Contact: USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623. Media Contact, Phone: (202) 720-4623, Fax: (202) 720-5402

IMAGE CREDIT: usdagov

Dr. Uhuru Hotep receives a Men of Excellence award from the New Pittsburgh Courier

Dr. Uhuru Hotep, associate director of Duquesne University’s Michael P. Weber Learning Skills Center and the Robert and Patricia Gussin Spiritan Division of Academic Programs, has received a Men of Excellence award from the New Pittsburgh Courier.

Nominated by readers and screened by the newspaper’s editorial board, Hotep was selected as one of 50 outstanding men contributing to the community. He is a nationally recognized authority on student achievement and leadership-following development.

A co-founder of the Duquesne Project for Academic Coaching through Tutoring (PACT), Hotep is also a consultant to the Kwame Ture Leadership Institute. With the help of grants from the Alkebulan Foundation, he created The Johari Sita: The Six Jewels of African Centered Leadership, the nation’s first African centered leadership-fellowship training program. Hotep’s nationally acclaimed seminars include 75 Ways to Raise the Intelligence of Black Children and Teens, Preparing African Youth for the 21st Century Leadership and Service and Kilombo Reconstruction: Building Sovereign African Villages in Modern-Day America, Part I-III.

A Fulbright Fellowship recipient, Hotep serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pan African Studies and lectures on African American affairs in Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, Canada, the Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. His published writings include poetry, plays, essays and scholarly research appearing in the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, the Journal of Pan African Studies and the Journal of Urban Education, among others.

He lives in Turtle Creek.

The Duquesne University chapel adjoins the "Old Main" administration building.

Duquesne University: Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic research universities for its award-winning faculty and tradition of academic excellence. The University is nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review for its rich academic programs in 10 schools of study for 10,000-plus graduate and undergraduate students, and by the Washington Monthly for service and contributing to students’ social mobility. Duquesne is a member of the U.S. President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for its contributions to Pittsburgh and communities around the globe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges acknowledge Duquesne’s commitment to sustainability.

This release was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Appointments & Awards, Books & Publications, Community Involvement, Religion & Ethics.

Media Contacts: Karen Ferrick-Roman Media Relations Manager 412.396.1154 412.736.1877 (cell) ferrickromank@duq.edu Rose Ravasio Media Relations Manager 412.396.6051 412.818.0234 (cell) ravasio@duq.edu

IMAGE CREDIT: By Alekjds 22:25, 10 September 2007 (UTC) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0-us (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.

The centrality of health in the history of black Americans 2012 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series

The centrality of health in the history of black Americans will be the focus of the 2012 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series. New Jersey’s largest and most prestigious conference commemorating Black History Month celebrates its 32nd anniversary on Saturday, February 18, 2012 at the Paul Robeson Campus Center on the Rutgers University’s Newark Campus, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

This year’s program entitled Taking Good Care: A History of Health and Wellness in the Black Community, will examine the intersection of health and race in American life. Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General of the United States under President Clinton, will deliver the Marion Thompson Wright Lecture, Health Disparities in Black America. Dr. William Owen, president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, will comment on Dr. Elders' lecture.

The MTW afternoon session features three distinguished speakers who will further examine the theme of Health and Wellness. Dr. Sharla Fett, associate professor of History, Occidental College, Los Angeles, will explore the healing work of enslaved women on U.S. Antebellum plantations; Dr. Dorothy Roberts, Kirkland & Ellis Professor, Northwestern University School of Law, will look at the new Biopolitics of Race and Health; and Dr. Priscilla Wald, Professor of English, Duke University, will examine the intersections of literature, science and medicine.

At the time of the MTW conference, Generation Fit, a new exhibit on health and wellness, will be on display at The Newark Museum, located within the footprint of the Rutgers-Newark campus. Immediately following the MTW conference, the audience is invited to attend a free reception featuring live musical entertainment by The Bradford Hayes Trio at The Newark Museum as well as visit the Generation Fit exhibit.

Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders

During a special presentation, Rutgers University President, Dr. Richard L. McCormick, will receive the third Marion Thompson Wright Award in recognition of the university’s steadfast support of the Lecture Series. Previous MTW awards were presented in 2007 to Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, and in 2011 to Dr. Marc Mappen, former executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission. The lecture series was co-founded in 1981 by Dr. Clement Price, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University, and the late Giles R. Wright, New Jersey Historical Commission.

Over the past 30 years, the conference has drawn thousands of people to the Rutgers-Newark campus, and has attracted some of the nation’s foremost scholars and humanists who are experts in the field of African and African American history and culture. It has become one of the nation's leading scholarly programs specifically devoted to enhancing the historical literacy of an intercultural community.

The annual conference was named for East Orange native Dr. Marion Thompson Wright, a pioneer in African American historiography and race relations in New Jersey, who was the first professionally trained woman historian in the United States.

The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series is sponsored by the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, the Federated Department of History, Rutgers-Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and the New Jersey Historical Commission/Department of State. The 2012 conference receives additional support from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, UMDNJ, and the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey.

For additional information about the program, visit the Institute’s website at: http://ethnicity.rutgers.edu, or contact the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, 973.353.3891.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Media Contact: Marisa Pierson 973/353-3896 Office of Media Relations, Alexander Johnston Hall, 101 Somerset St. New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1281, 732-932-7084

Jesse Jackson at UNL Black Leadership Symposium

Jesse Jackson speaking Nov. 30 at UNL Black Leadership Symposium. Released on 11/23/2011, at 2:00 AM, Office of University Communications, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 30, WHERE: Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th Street, Lincoln, Neb., November 23rd, 2011 —

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, will be the keynote speaker Nov. 30 for the Nebraska Black Leadership Symposium at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He will give a free public lecture at 11:30 a.m. at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St.

Free tickets for the lecture are available at the Lied Ticket Office, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Two tickets will be available per person as long as they last.

Jackson's speech, "There's Still More to Be Done," will be followed by a question-and-answer session with select audience members. No bags or backpacks will be allowed at the lecture at the Lied.

Jackson is one of America's foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past 40 years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. President and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Jackson has been called the "conscience of the nation" and "the great unifier," challenging America to establish just and humane priorities. He is known for bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, class, gender and belief.

The lecture is part of the university's annual Diversity Leadership Symposia. UNL's Gaughan Multicultural Center and Office of Admissions partnered on the symposia for the first time to develop the event into a student retention and public engagement opportunity. Two other keynote speakers, Andres Lara and Jai Steadman, addressed prospective students and a broader audience from the campus community at separate events on Nov. 7 and Nov. 10 at the Nebraska Latino Leadership Symposium and the Nebraska American Indian Leadership Symposium.

News Release Contacts: Writer: Kelly Bartling University Communications, 402-472-2059

• Andre Fortune, Director of Gaughan Multicultural Center, OASIS
  phone: 402 472 6151
• Amber Hunter, Director, Admissions
  phone: 402 472 0671

IMAGE CREDIT: By Eric Guo; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 03:54, 18 May 2010 (UTC) [CC-BY-2.0], || via Wikimedia Commons

Iowa and Invisible Man: Making Blackness Visible

A series of events beginning Tuesday, Nov. 29, and continuing through Saturday, Dec. 3, will examine the black experience at the University of Iowa. The project, "Iowa and Invisible Man: Making Blackness Visible," will include first-hand memories of a panel of "Black Hawkeyes" and culminate in the first-ever staged reading of a theatrical version of Ralph Ellison's seminal and best-selling novel.

All of the events are free and open to the public.

The project includes a week-long residency at the UI by Oren Jacoby, who is adapting the novel to the stage, and producer/director Christopher McElroen. Their theater production of Invisible Man will premier at the Court Theatre in Chicago in mid-January, marking the first time the novel has been presented on stage.

This is the schedule of events for the week:

--Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m., Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library: "Black Hawkeyes: Midcentury Memories of the University of Iowa."

What was it like to be a black individual on the UI campus in the 1950s? UI alumni will offer first-hand memories of that period. The panel will be moderated by Richard Breaux, assistant professor in Ethnic Studies at Colorado State University and author of Maintaining a Home for Girls: The Iowa Federation of Colored Women's Clubs at the University of Iowa, 1919-1950 and To the Uplift and Protection of Young Womanhood: African American Women at Iowa Private Colleges and the University of Iowa, 1878-1928.

Ansa Akyea reads for director Christopher McElroen during auditions for a staged reading of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man in Shambaugh Auditorium.. by UI News Services, on Flickr

—A Roundtable on the Literary Past and Theatrical Future of a Great American Novel.

In this roundtable, panelists will reflect on Ellison, the literary landscape at mid-century, the power of the novel, and the challenge of bringing it to the stage. McElroen and Jacoby will be joined by Horace Porter, UI Wendell Miller Professor of English and American Studies; Lena Hill, UI assistant professor of English and African American Studies; and Michael Hill, UI assistant professor of English and African American Studies.

--Wednesday, Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m., African American Museum of Iowa, 55 12th Ave. Southeast, Cedar Rapids: "Visions in Process: Orations from the University of Iowa's Invisible Man Residency."

This public dialogue will examine about the 21st century implications of Ellison's ideas about race and democracy and will present scenes from the theatrical script. Panelists include McElroen, James Randall, retired professor of English at Coe College in Cedar Rapids; Shanna Benjamin, professor of English at Grinnell College in Grinnell; and Chad Simmons, interim director of Diversity Focus of Cedar Rapids, a nonprofit organization devoted to enhancing diversity in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area.

--Thursday, Dec. 1, 3 p.m., Iowa Memorial Union, Illinois Room (Room 348): "For My People: Elizabeth Catlett at Iowa and Beyond."

UI Museum of Art chief curator Kathleen Edwards will discuss the work of UI alumna Elizabeth Catlett (MFA '40), including her sculpture Invisible Man: A Memorial to Ralph Ellison, 2003. Edwards visited with Catlett in Mexico in 2006. Subsequently, the UIMA purchased 26 of Catlett's prints. After the lecture, the audience may view prints by Catlett in the UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom.

--Thursday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m., Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library: "Now You See It, Now You Don't: A Civic Reflection Discussion."

Georgina Dodge, UI chief diversity officer and associate vice president, will facilitate a discussion focusing on issues of perception and difference. How do we see people who are different from us? How do they see us? What defines difference? Who determines that definition? Using a shared text as discussion catalyst, participants will be encouraged to consider the central issues from both societal and personal perspectives.

--Friday, Dec. 2, 5-7 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum: WorldCanvass.

"Iowa and Invisible Man: Making Blackness Visible" will be the focus of the live WorldCanvass radio and television program, hosted by Joan Kjaer and produced by UI International Programs. Kjaer's guests will reflect on Ellison's life and work, including his place among other African-American writers of his era; the benefits of integrating performance into the classroom as a teaching tool; and the history of African-Americans at the UI and in Iowa.

--Saturday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m., Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library: "Staged Reading, Invisible Man."

A unique opportunity to get a glimpse of the new and first stage production of Invisible Man, set to open in Chicago in early 2012. The largely local cast will engage with Oren Jacoby's script, adapted from the Ellison's novel.

More than a dozen UI offices and organizations have come together to sponsor "Iowa and Invisible Man." They are Hancher, the Office of the Provost, UI Libraries, the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the Chief Diversity Office, Iowa House Hotel, the Departments of African American Studies, American Studies, English, and History; the Center for Teaching, African American Council, and Humanities Iowa, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities headquartered in Iowa City. UI International Programs, the UI Museum of Art, and the African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, have also provided support.

For more on how "Iowa and Invisible Man" came to fruition, see the story on the Hancher website. PHOTOS: Audition for staged reading of Invisible Man: www.flickr.com/photos/uinews/. STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242-2500. MEDIA CONTACTS: Rob Cline, Hancher, 319-335-3827, rob-cline@uiowa.edu; Steve Parrott, University News Services, 319-384-0037, steven-parrott@uiowa.edu

What is it like to be African American at St. Mary’s College, and in St. Mary’s County?

The Human Story behind Race. Play at St. Mary’s Weaves Voices, Images, and Dance to Tell the Story

(St. Mary’s City, MD) Nov. 17, 2011, 2011—What is it like to be African American at St. Mary’s College, and in St. Mary’s County? If you are white, what would you like to ask a black student? Why can it be so difficult to talk about race? Award-winning playwright Caleen Sinnette Jennings interviewed about 50 faculty, alumni, staff, and students on the black experience and then folded their answers into a collage of voices, images, and dance. “St. Mary’s Hear and Now” will be performed at Bruce Davis Theater in Montgomery Hall at 8 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Dec. 7-10 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11. For reservations, contact the theater box office at 240-895-4243 or email boxoffice@smcm.edu.

“The stories were joyful, but also some were painful,” said Jennings. “After the formal interview part, they hung out in the hallway to talk, a springboard to new friendships, and relationships. Overall, it was spirit-affirming.

“I want people to walk out of the theater feeling empowered and engaged.”

Jennings, an American University theater professor, has been creating plays for discussions since the 1990s. Recently, she wrote such plays at Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C., at Norfolk Academy, and at American.

Photo Caption: (From top) Members of the performing ensemble of "St. Mary's Hear and Now" are Ruth-Ann Tyson, Fatima Dainkeh, and Briana Manente. Photo by Bill Wood

“The play is partly in verse, and because of that there is a poetic, lyrical quality to the text that is incredibly captivating,” said Mark Rhoda, of the Department of Theater, Film, and Media Studies. “Caleen has a knack for echoing the lyrical in our daily lived experiences as interconnected human beings.” “It’s a very human story,” said Jennings. ### St. Mary's College of Maryland FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Release #11-197 Office of Publications & Media Relations 18952 E. Fisher Road St. Mary's City, Maryland 20686-3001 Contact Us: Lee Capristo (240) 895-4795 lwcapristo@smcm.edu Barbara Geehan (240) 895-3073 bjgeehan@smcm.edu Keisha Reynolds (240) 895-2245 kmreynolds@smcm.edu

WHUR 96.3 FM Howard University celebrating 40th anniversary will launch H.U.R. Voices on SiriusXM channel 141

WASHINGTON (November 17, 2011) – WHUR 96.3 FM, the Howard University-owned radio station celebrating its 40th anniversary, announced today that it will launch H.U.R. Voices on Thursday, Dec. 1 on SiriusXM channel 141.

H.U.R. Voices will offer exciting, educational and entertaining original programming that examines and explores issues that affect people of color, including a unique mixture of talk radio, local and national news, and great music. The channel will feature WHUR and WHUR-WORLD signature programs like the “Daily Drum,” a weekday public affairs program that will expand to one-hour; the “Dr. Audrey Chapman Show,” with the relationship guru; and the “Sighlent Storm,” the only radio show devoted to the issue of domestic violence. New programs include “People Money Life,” “The Traveling Eye” and “He Said She Said.” H.U.R. Voices will embody the mission of Howard University—to serve “America and the Global Community.”

WHUR celebrates four decades of excellence in broadcasting and community service on December 10 of this year.

“This is a milestone year for us,” said Jim Watkins, general manager of WHUR, WHUR-WORLD, and H.U.R. Voices. “Not only are we celebrating 40 years of our flagship radio station, we have been given the awesome opportunity of rolling out H.U.R. Voices on SiriusXM, which gives us the opportunity to further expand our brand and nationalize our programming.”

SiriusXM granted Howard University a lease to create two channels on the satellite radio system. The other channel, HBCU, is set to launch May 2012 and will provide music and talk programming from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The historic lease represents a significant step towards diversifying the airwaves.

Known as a media trailblazer, WHUR has a legacy of leading the way in radio. The station was first in the Washington region to broadcast in crystal-clear HD and the only urban station in the country to sponsor a NASCAR race with its own driver.

ABOUT HOWARD

Howard University is a private research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Founded in 1867, students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Since 1998, the University has produced two Rhodes Scholars, two Truman Scholars, a Marshall Scholar, 24 Fulbright Scholars and 11 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, call 202-238-2330, or visit the University’s Web site at www.howard.edu

About SiriusXM Radio

Sirius XM Radio is America's satellite radio company. SiriusXM broadcasts more than 135 satellite radio channels of commercial-free music, and premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather, and data services to over 21 million subscribers. SiriusXM offers an array of content from many of the biggest names in entertainment, as well as from professional sports leagues, major colleges, and national news and talk providers.

SiriusXM programming is available on more than 800 devices, including pre-installed and after-market radios in cars, trucks, boats and aircraft, smartphones and mobile devices, and consumer electronics products for homes and offices. SiriusXM programming is also available at siriusxm.com, and on Apple, BlackBerry and Android-powered mobile devices.

SiriusXM has arrangements with every major automaker and its radio products are available for sale at shop.siriusxm.com as well as retail locations nationwide.

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future financial and operating results, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimated,” “intend,” “plan,” “projection,” “outlook” or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: our competitive position versus other forms of audio and video entertainment; our ability to retain subscribers and maintain our average monthly revenue per subscriber; our dependence upon automakers and other third parties; our substantial indebtedness; and the useful life of our satellites, which, in most cases, are not insured. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Renee Nash, Director of Public Affairs rnash@whur.com 202-253-4331 www.whur.com

Dr. Kerry-Ann Hamilton Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Office of University Communications k_hamilton@howard.edu 202.238.2332 www.howard.edu/newsroom/

Howard University will host the sixth annual Ford Black College Quiz Game Show

WASHINGTON – Howard University will host the sixth annual Ford Black College Quiz Game Show at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec 1, in Cramton Auditorium. This televised event will feature students from 12 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), including Howard, competing for thousands of dollars in scholarship funds and cash prizes for their schools.

The Black College Quiz Game Show is a “Jeopardy” style formatted game show, where students display their knowledge and skills of African-American history. The show highlights the importance of continuing the pursuit of higher learning for both American-African students and the HBCU schools they attend. This year’s host will be actor Greg Alan Williams, known for roles in Necessary Roughness and BET’s The Game.

The prizes are: $5,000 for first place, $2,500 for second place and $1,500 for third place. One student contestant will also receive an iPad. The participants include:
Alcorn State

University Benedict College
Cheyney University Fisk University
Florida Memorial University Fort Valley State University
Howard University Kentucky State University
Southern University-Baton Rouge Tuskegee University
Virginia State University Wilberforce University

Audience members will also have a chance to win three Apple iPads, which will be given away during the audience participation portion of the contest.

Admission to the game show is free. For additional information, please contact Angela McGee, communications director for the Black College Quiz at amcgee@ccptv.com. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Jo-Ann English Communications Associate Office of University Communications. jo-ann.english@howard.edu 202.238.2330 www.howard.edu/newsroom/

California Lutheran University's free annual Kwanzaa celebration public is invited to attend

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - California Lutheran University's free annual Kwanzaa celebration will feature food, performances and a ceremony from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in Soiland Recreation Center.

CLU students will perform a Kwanzaa ceremony and NAACP Saturday School students will make presentations. The celebration will also include authentic African and African-American food, entertainment and vendors selling arts and crafts.

The public is invited to attend to learn about this holiday. Millions of African Americans observe Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 each year. It is a special time when families and friends unite to strengthen and encourage one another.

Soiland Recreation Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is north of Olsen Road between Mountclef Boulevard and Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus.

The NAACP Saturday School, the Afro-Centric Committee of Ventura County, and CLU's Black Student Union and Office of Multicultural Programs and International Student Services are sponsoring the event. For more information, call Multicultural Programs at 805-493-3489.

Media Relations: California Lutheran University Karin Grennan Media Relations Coordinator Office: (805) 493-3512 E-Mail: kgrennan@callutheran.edu

Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Mail: California Lutheran University, Media Relations #1800. 60 West Olsen Road. Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2787 On-Campus Location: Pederson Administration Building Second Floor Marketing and Communications Office.

Texas Tech students Unveil Plans for African-American Museum

An ambitious class of Texas Tech landscape architecture students hopes to take its design concepts for the first African-American museum in West Texas from the drawing table to an actual East Lubbock landmark.

More than a dozen students from the university presented their plans Wednesday (Nov. 2) to the Lubbock Roots Historical Arts Council. Among the design highlights were open-air theaters, winding tree-shaded paths, as well as art and history exhibits highlighting South Plains’ black history.

The projects are part of an effort to transform the Caviel Building, a historic East Lubbock pharmacy. Alfred and Billie Caviel are believed to be the first African-American husband-and-wife pharmacy team in the United States. The Caviels donated the pharmacy to provide Lubbock with its first African-American history center.

“It’s great for students to work with people in the community who share a common vision,” said Melissa Currie, an assistant professor in Texas Tech’s Department of Landscape Architecture.

Ten of Currie’s fourth-year undergraduates and five graduate students presented their projects to the Roots Historical Art Council. Each group of students had more than five large project sketches, including 3-D plans and renderings.

In preparation for the student project, Currie conducted research on ways of incorporating civil rights awareness into urban design. Then her students were required to research the civil rights movement and East Lubbock history and find ways to incorporate the concept into their work.

More than $70,000 in grants has already been targeted for the museum project, which aims to transform the Caviel Building.

More than $70,000 in the form of a grant has already been targeted for the museum project, said Eric Strong, director of the Lubbock Roots Historical Arts Council. Looking ahead, Currie said the council will decide what parts of each project will be incorporated in the center’s final design. A construction start date has not been finalized. Find Texas Tech news, experts and story ideas at www.media.ttu.edu and on Twitter @TexasTechMedia. CONTACT: Melissa Currie, assistant professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2672 or melissa.currie@ttu.edu.

Howard University announces Jefferi K. Lee as the new General Manager of WHUT-TV

WASHINGTON – Today, Howard University announced Jefferi K. Lee as the new General Manager of WHUT-TV. Lee brings nearly 30 years of broadcast media experience as a network executive.

“We are thrilled to have Mr. Lee join us as the new leader for WHUT-TV,” said Howard University President Sidney A. Ribeau. “Howard Television has been a beacon for more than three decades. We envision a bright future for the station as a leader in public broadcasting with particular emphasis on issues affecting African Americans and people of color.”

At the helm, Lee plans to realign the station and its strategic priorities around President Ribeau’s vision of the University. This includes forming key partnerships with businesses, organizations and campus-wide collaboration.

"I am honored to be a part of the Howard University family as the new General Manager of WHUT-TV,” Lee said. “Howard has a rich cultural legacy and has an extensive resource of talent throughout the campus. I look forward to working with the administration, faculty, staff and students as we continue to make a significant contribution in serving the Washington Metropolitan area.”

For 17 years, Lee helped lead Black Entertainment Television as the executive vice president of network operations and programming. In the high-profile position, Lee directed day-to-day operations of the cable network and more than 300 employees. Over the last decade, he has managed his own communications consulting firm, Lee Productions. He also served as senior executive for Bio-Defensive Research Group in Columbia, Md.

Jefferi K. Lee

Lee was educated at the University of Maryland, College Park’s department of radio, film and television program. He has lectured at Howard University and taught as a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin. WHUT-TV, Washington, DC, was the first public broadcasting station licensed to a predominantly African-American organization, Howard University. Founded in 1980, WHUT-TV reaches more than 2 million households in the greater Washington metro area annually. The Emmy award-winning station airs more than 3,500 hours of public affairs, educational and original programming each year including the flagship public affairs program Evening Exchange.

Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Founded in 1867, students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Since 1998, the University has produced two Rhodes Scholars, two Truman Scholars, a Marshall Scholar, 24 Fulbright Scholars and 11 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.

For more information on Howard University, call 202-238-2330, or visit the University’s Web site at Howard University Office of University Communications, 2225 Georgia Ave. NW, Suite 603, Washington, D.C. 20059

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Kerry-Ann Hamilton, Ph.D. Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Howard University (202) 238-2332 K_Hamilton@howard.edu

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.

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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