Family of Emory Athletics Icon Gives Archive to University Libraries

The late W. Clyde "Doc" Partin was a beloved Emory University icon for more than 50 years-a teacher, coach, athletics director and historian known for his remarkable contributions to the athletics program. Now that his family has given his personal papers, books and sports memorabilia to Emory's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL), he will have a permanent place within the University.

Partin's son Clyde Partin Jr., an Emory alumnus, physician and professor who has been a member of the MARBL Literary Collections board for the past 10 years, was instrumental in arranging the gift. He and his mother, Betty Partin, and his two siblings, Keith Partin of Charlotte, N.C., and Betsy Partin Vinson of Gainesville, Fla., are making the gift as a family.

W. Clyde 'Doc' Partin

Partin said the family has been touched by Emory's welcoming response. "We are incredibly pleased that Emory has shown an interest in preserving the sports collections of my father. He was a keen competitor who was devoted to Emory University, the study of baseball and the history of athletics." The archive includes essays Doc Partin wrote about baseball Hall of Famers such as Babe Ruth, Earle Combs and Frank Robinson, as well as drafts and research notes for those essays. It also includes posters, documents, and baseballs signed by Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Buck O'Neil and many other legendary players, along with a substantial collection of books related to African American athletes.

These materials will form the nucleus of what the Partin family hopes will evolve into a major collection exploring the role of African Americans in sports and the role of athletics in the struggle for human and civil rights.


"Doc Partin had a hand in nearly every major athletic development in Atlanta for years, from the Atlanta Braves to the Olympics," said Randall K. Burkett, curator of MARBL's African American collections. "One of the lesser known but profoundly important aspects of Partin's career was his eagerness to break down barriers to the success of African American athletes in sports at every level."

Rick Luce, Emory's vice provost and director of libraries, said the family's gift will strengthen MARBL as a resource for the University and the larger community. "The acquisition of the Partin collection adds a new dimension to our holdings addressing the importance of athletics in our culture generally and in the freedom struggle for racial equality," he said. "We are grateful to Mrs. Betty Partin and her family."


The Partin archive also includes extensive records related to the Atlanta Chiefs, the soccer team from the late 1960s that was the brainchild of Partin's close friend Richard A. Cecil, a former executive with the Atlanta Braves. Cecil played a key role in conceiving the idea of a sports archive at Emory.

Partin earned a bachelor's degree from Emory in 1950 and a master's in education in 1951. During his tenure as athletics director from 1966 until 1983, Emory athletics saw unprecedented growth that culminated in the construction of the Woodruff P.E. Center, which opened in 1983. He expanded the number of intercollegiate sports, particularly for female students, with women's tennis being added in 1975 followed by women's cross-country and track and field in the early 1980s. Partin also founded the Emory Sports Fitness Camp, now in its 45th year.

From 1986 until his retirement in 2002, Partin was a professor of physical education. Over the course of his career, he mentored hundreds of young student athletes. Even after his retirement, he kept an office on campus and often manned the press box, announcing during Emory baseball games. Partin's book on the history of Emory athletics, "Athletics for All: The History of Sports at Emory," was released in 2006. He passed away in June 2009.


Betty Partin said the family discovered the treasure trove of materials in the attic of her Decatur home, and she is glad to entrust the archive to Emory. 

"Clyde loved Emory, he loved his collection, and I think he would like very much to have his work at the Emory library," she said.



The Partins' gift is part of Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fund-raising endeavor that combines private support and the university's people, places and programs to make a powerful contribution to the world. Investments through Campaign Emory fuel efforts to address fundamental challenges: improving health, gaining ground in science and technology, resolving conflict, harnessing the power of the arts, and educating the heart and mind. ###

Contact:

1. Beverly Clark: 404.712.8780

Jonathan Walton Is New Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies

Social ethicist and African American religious studies scholar Jonathan Walton has been named Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies at Harvard Divinity School, effective July 1, 2010.

Walton is currently an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of California, Riverside. His research addresses the intersections among religion, politics, and popular culture.

"Harvard Divinity School is among the premier centers of theological education and hubs of academic inquiry," Walton said. "I am honored and humbled to join such an amazing scholarly community, particularly since HDS has a proven track record of neither resting on its reputation nor being lulled asleep by its laurels.

Its continued commitment to recruiting and cultivating cutting-edge scholars of religion in general, and of American religion in particular, makes it the place I want to be."

Walton's scholarly work is grounded in the progressive strand of the African American religious tradition and informed by the creative potentiality and rhythmic sensibility of hip-hop culture. His first book, Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of African American Religious Broadcasting, is an important intervention into the study of African American and American religion.

Jonathan Walton

As he explains, those working on Christian religious broadcasting have given little attention to the phenomenon outside of white, conservative, evangelical communities, while black liberation theologians have yet to give careful attention to televisual representation as a site of theological production. "Jonathan Walton thinks historically, ethically, and theologically," said Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at HDS, who chaired the faculty search committee. "His intellectual range, his energy, and the interdisciplinary nature of his work on African American religions make him uniquely suited to HDS and to the University as a whole." Drawing on British cultural studies, Walton explores the interrelationship between the media used by African American megachurches and the theologies thereby conveyed. He argues for forms of theological innovation within the productions of black televangelism that are enabled—perhaps even generated—by the media that televangalists use, and he asks what the implications are for black theology and the study of African American religion when one attends to these particular forms of religious and theological expression.

"He is an exciting young scholar whose field work with contemporary religious communities will bring an added dimension to our course offerings and faculty coverage here at HDS and at Harvard more broadly," said Dean William A. Graham. "I feel strongly that with this appointment, together with that of Mayra Rivera Rivera, Assistant Professor of Theology and Latina/o Studies, who will also begin her work at HDS on July 1, we are now well staffed in two important areas that we have wanted covered for some time."

Trained as a social ethicist, Walton earned his PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Seminary as well as a BA in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta. His insights and reflections concerning the intersections of religion, culture, and society have been noted in numerous prominent news media outlets, such as CNN, The New York Times, Time magazine, and NPR.

"I look forward to this challenge," Walton said of his appointment to HDS, "Just as I look forward to contributing to the intellectual, spiritual, and familial climate on campus."

Contact: Jonathan Beasley, 617.496.6004

UM Team Receives $1.8M to Encourage Cancer Awareness through Church

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Doctors have long struggled to convince African American men to get informed about prostate cancer screenings, though this population has a disproportionately high mortality rate from the disease. Now a team of Maryland researchers will study the effectiveness of encouraging discussions about screening through a trusted authority in the black community: the church.

The American Cancer Society has awarded $1.8 million to Cheryl Holt, an associate professor in the university's School of Public Health, to develop and evaluate "spiritually themed health interventions" specific to prostate cancer for men attending 20 predominately African American churches in Prince George's County, Md.

Cheryl Holt, associate professor of public and community health at Maryland, leads a four-year study that will provide information on prostate cancer screening to African American men in Prince George's County, Md.

The four-year study announced today (April 7) will include training local churchgoers as "community health advisers" who can offer their peers information on the disease, seek inspiring testimony from cancer survivors and provide resources for screening and treatment options. The goal is to encourage the men to talk to their doctors and make informed decisions on whether to get screened. "We know [African American men] are more likely to get the disease and they are more likely to die from it. What we don't know are the exact reasons why they are less likely to seek early screening than some other groups," says Holt, who will lead the project.

Prostate cancer is often referred to as a "silent" disease, displaying few noticeable symptoms until it reaches a stage where treatment is much less effective and survival rates drop significantly. Early detection with a digital rectal exam or prostate-specific antigen testing may help to combat the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, particularly among groups at high risk for the disease.

Last year, there were 192,280 reported cases of prostate cancer in the United States, and 27,360 deaths, with African American men showing a mortality rate twice as high as other racial or ethnic groups.

Holt, a social psychologist and an expert in health communication, says that peer-based health education in a church setting is "culturally appropriate," and churches are already recognized as a social network for African American men. "The gentlemen are comfortable -- it is an all-male session, and one of their peers is providing the information," Holt explains.

The setting can also allow information to be framed in a spiritual way that emphasizes already-accepted church principles regarding body, mind and spirit, or the notion of being healthy in a holistic way. The key, Holt says, is to capture the men's interest and give them enough data to decide whether prostate cancer screening is right for them.

The American Cancer Society recently released new recommendations stating that all men over the age of 50 should discuss with their doctor the need for an annual screening.

"If you can access and educate people who carry weight and carry influence in the African American community, hopefully they can then go out and explain to people the importance of getting this done," says Michael Naslund, M.D., head of urology and director of the Maryland Prostate Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Naslund, who is also a professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, expects to provide medical expertise during the study. He says it is important to drive home that prostate cancer is curable if caught early.

The first year of the Maryland study will be spent developing the curriculum and materials that the community health advisers will use. Input will come from an advisory panel of local pastors and prostate cancer survivors.

Once the curriculum is established, the community health advisers may start out talking about basic issues, Holt says, perhaps talking about something as simple as leading a healthy lifestyle. The discussions will then progress, with the adviser leading a conversation that may include such questions as, "What is cancer?" or, "What is the prostate? Where is it? What does it do?"

"We also think we'll see the health advisers identify and bring in gentlemen who will give their testimony -- it is a common thing in the church for folks to give their testimony," says Holt, who conducted similar church-based studies in Alabama two years ago that the current project is based upon.

In the context of cancer, it may be a gentleman who is a survivor. "He can give his testimony on how his cancer was found, how it was found early, it was treated, and how he is here today because he was proactive," Holt says.

Later sessions may talk about what to do following a diagnosis of prostate cancer, including possible treatment options. The health advisers will not offer any medical opinions, but will be trained to provide links to resources, such as where men can get free screening or treatment if they do not have insurance.

Holt says that it is important to recognize that the project has a lot of sustainability built into it. For example, after the prostate-screening curriculum is taught to community health advisers, these same people can then be taught another targeted intervention -- diabetes, perhaps.

"We expect to teach them the core knowledge and the skills to communicate," Holt says. "All they have to do is pick up a new curriculum and integrate it into their health ministry or health group."

In addition to Holt and Naslund, the project includes several other investigators, a statistician and other support staff from the university's School of Public Health and Department of Anthropology. Two community-based organizations will provide partnership and staffing: Community Ministry of Prince George's County and Access to Holistic and Productive Living Institute Inc. The project will be operated in conjunction with the Seat Pleasant/University of Maryland Health Partnership

Media Contact Information: Associate Professor Cheryl Holt, 301-405-6659.

Dr. Michael Naslund can be contacted throughEllen Beth Levitt, director, Public Affairs & Media Relations, University of Maryland Medical Center, 410-328-8919.

For Immediate Release April 7, 2010 Contacts: David Ottalini, 301 405 4076 or dottalin@umd.edu

New Study Details High Rates of Rehospitalizations and Emergency Pain Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease

The largest study to date of the use of acute care medical services by people with sickle cell disease found four of every 10 had to return to the hospital within 30 days of a previous hospitalization or go to the emergency department for treatment of pain, according to a new study funded in part by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The study, "Acute Care Utilization and Rehospitalization for Sickle Cell Disease," conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Children's Research Institute at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, both in Milwaukee, and AHRQ, is published in the April 7 issue of JAMA.

"This study is important because it provides benchmark data to evaluate the quality of management of sickle cell disease symptoms," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "The next step is to determine why patients are being rehospitalized or seeking emergency department treatment at this rate and to make improvements in their care." Sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder, most commonly causes acute, severe, recurrent painful episodes due to occlusion of blood vessels by sickle-shaped red blood cells.

People with sickle cell disease are also at increased risk for stroke and chronic problems, such as kidney and lung disease. The disease affects millions of people worldwide, including an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 persons in the United States. African Americans are disproportionately affected.

When the researchers analyzed acute care use by age groups, they found that 18- to 30-year-old patients had the highest rate of rehospitalizations within 30 days (41 percent). They also were more likely to go to the emergency department for treatment of pain and then be released (20 percent within 30 days). In general, they had approximately three and a half hospital visits per year—either a rehospitalization or an emergency department visit—regardless of their insurance. This rate is markedly higher than the two visits per year for children 10 to 17 years old with sickle cell disease.

Regardless of age, the patients with Medicaid or other types of public insurance used acute care for sickle cell-related reasons more than privately insured and uninsured patients. Publicly insured 18- to 30-year-old patients had the highest rate—nearly five encounters per year compared with all other age groups with any other insurance, private or public.

The researchers also examined the data for the percentage of sickle cell disease patients who had to go back to the hospital or visit the emergency department within 14 days of being discharged. They found that two-thirds of the patients rehospitalized within 30 days were actually readmitted within 14 days of their previous hospital discharge.

The study was based on 21,112 sickle cell disease patients in eight states—Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, South Carolina and Tennessee—who were hospitalized or treated and released from hospital emergency departments in 2005 and 2006. The state databases are part of the AHRQ-administered Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

"It was important for us to draw attention to the high rate of acute care utilization for people with sickle cell disease. Armed with this knowledge, we can focus attention on the need for improved care for people with sickle cell disease," said lead study author David C. Brousseau, M.D., M.S., associate professor of pediatrics (section of Emergency Medicine) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He also practices at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin as a pediatric emergency specialist.

For more information, please contact AHRQ Public Affairs: (301) 427-1855 or (301) 427-1539; Medical College of Wisconsin: (414) 955-4700. Press Release Date: April 6, 2010

Goshen College choirs to perform fourth annual world music concert

Concert: "Earthtones: Songs from Many Cultures" by Goshen College choirs
Date and time: Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and free for GC students with ID. Tickets available at the door only.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Singing music from multiple regions of the world, the Goshen College choirs will again explore the large palette of sounds available to the human voice at the fourth annual Earthtones choral concert on Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall.

Performing will be the Goshen College Chorale, Chamber Choir, Men's Chorus and Women's World Music Choir. The program will feature choral works from a wide variety of composers, cultures and countries, including Venezuela, Scandinavia, Ireland, Iraq, Syria, India, South Africa, Japan, Republic of Georgia and African-American traditions. The choirs will perform individually and as a combined choir.

Drawing from powerful melodies of almost every continent, Earthtones promises to provide a concert full of vitality and tone color in a celebration of world music.

The Goshen College Choirs are directed by Debra Brubaker, professor of music, and Scott Hochstetler, assistant professor of music. They are accompanied by Christine Larson Seitz, assistant professor of music and pianist.

At Goshen College, Brubaker is involved in the choral and opera theater programs, teaches church music courses and serves as department co-chair. Since coming to Goshen in 1999, she has directed the Goshen College Chorale and Chamber Choir, and created the Women's World Music Choir, which made its debut in the spring of 2004. Brubaker and her choirs have collaborated and performed with such noted conductors as Alice Parker, Vance George, Donald Neuen and Gregg Smith.

Hochstetler directs the Chorale and Men's Chorus and teaches applied voice and conducting. He was music director at Western Mennonite School in Salem, Ore., from 2000 to 2005 and has taught at Corban College and the University of Michigan-Flint. Hochstetler holds a doctorate in choral conducting from Michigan State University, master's degrees in conducting and voice from the University of Michigan and a bachelor's in music and biology from Goshen College.

The cost of the concert is $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. Tickets are available at the door only. Goshen College students are free with ID.

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu. ###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.

G.R. Little Library presents 'Thomas Day, Cabinet Maker: Man in the Middle'

The G. R. Little Library and the N. C. Humanities Council present: "Thomas Day, Cabinet Maker: Man in the Middle" at 3:30 p.m. on April 15 in the lecture hall of the Jimmy R. Jenkins Science Center. This free event is one of several planned for National Library Week. Free parking is available in the parking lot of Roebuck Stadium and a shuttle bus will transport pedestrians at 3 p.m. to the Jimmy R. Jenkins Science Center.

Thomas Day (1801-ca. 1861) is mostly remembered today by North Carolinians as a furniture maker who had the largest furniture business in the state during the height of slavery.

A black artisan and business man, Day’s shop turned out striking beds, bureaus, tables, sofas and chairs that are still highly coveted just as they were over 150 years ago. But Day is increasingly being seen as more than just a talented Tar Heel craftsman. Described by the New York Times as a "major antebellum figure" he stood at the center of competing forces in nineteenth-century America: between black and white, slave and free, North and South, Africa and America, and art and craft. Dramatic new research is forcing a re-interpretation of the complex layers of identity Day created to maintain his personal integrity as a human being while living with the racism of the antebellum South.

This dynamic mediated presentation by film-maker, educator, and long-time Thomas Day researcher, encourages audience participation as they analyze the historical evidence, savor his legacy in wood, and explore the mystery of one of our state’s most extraordinary and fascinating historical figures.

Laurel Sneed, of the North Carolina Humanities Council Rhodes Scholar Speaker Bureau, is our presenter and an educator, researcher, and media producer/film-maker based in Durham, North Carolina. In 1995 she led the research effort that discovered Thomas Day's origins and parentage in southern Virginia. Since then she has produced a broad range of materials and media on Thomas Day, as well as on other African American historical topics. In addition, she has been director of the Crafting Freedom teacher workshops which have brought over 400 teachers to North Carolina to study black artisans, entrepreneurs and abolitionists who contributed to the making of North Carolina and our country. Sneed makes presentations throughout the United States on Thomas Day and a broad variety of subjects mostly related to American history and improving the teaching of it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kesha Williams April 5, 2010 Elizabeth City State University ,1704 Weeksville Road, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 P: 252.335.3400

History journal explores abolitionism, Freemasonry and feminism in 19th century

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The radical abolitionist George Thompson was a minor celebrity in the mid-19th century. He was imprisoned for five years for a botched attempt to free slaves in Missouri, the author of several books and the head of the African mission established by the Amistad slave rebellion survivors.

"And yet he has been almost completely ignored by historians," writes Joseph Yannielli, who attributes the oversight to a tendency to see militant abolitionists as mentally deranged, along with a failure to engage the global dimensions of the anti-slavery movement. His article "George Thompson among the Africans: Empathy, Authority and Insanity in the Age of Abolition" is included in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of American History, published at Indiana University Bloomington by the Organization of American Historians.

Yannielli argues that dismissing Thompson and other militants as insane is "at best speculative and at worst irresponsible." He shows that Thompson's Christian ideals were tested when he headed the Mendi Mission in Sierra Leone from 1848 to 1856. His 6-year-old son died, his wife and infant son returned to America, and Thompson clashed with local chiefs and used harsh discipline against the native population, once administering 50 lashes to a pregnant woman accused of adultery.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony are among the popular speakers depicted in "The Lyceum Committeeman's Dream" by C.S. Reinhart (1873), the cover illustration for the most recent Journal of American History. Photo: "Courtesy of Indiana University."

"But his willingness to transgress conventional social, political and geographic barriers and identify with the oppressed and exploited was a crucial feature of the global battle over slavery, and we lose a great deal by erasing him from our history," Yannielli writes. Also in the issue: * Stephen Kantrowitz, in "African American Freemasonry in the Emancipation Era," argues that segregated fraternal organizations, especially the Freemasons, provided an institutional framework in which African American men gained experience in politics, organization and leadership in the years before the Civil War. * Lisa Tetrault, in "The Incorporation of American Feminism: Suffragists and the Postbellum Lyceum," examines suffragists who earned money by giving lectures in the years after the Civil War. Women such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton became stars in a system that linked reformist ideals with financial opportunity. * Joanne Meyerowitz, in "Sexuality, Race, and Mid-Twentieth-Century Social Constructionist Thought," shows how the "culture-and-personality school" of public intellectuals replaced eugenics with a biopolitics of child-rearing and argued that the quality of a population could be enhanced by nurturing certain cultural traits.

* In the journal's annual "Textbooks and Teaching" section, 10 authors explore the challenges and opportunities of teaching American history in Australia, Lebanon, Russia, Brazil and elsewhere outside of the United States.

In the JAH Podcast for March 2010, editor Ed Linenthal speaks with contributing editor Scott E. Casper about the "Textbooks and Teaching" feature. The podcast and selected content from the journal are available online at www.journalofamericanhistory.org/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 5, 2010

Higginbotham to Discuss 'From Slavery to Freedom'

Author and scholar Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham will give a presentation on her work and longtime collaboration with famed African-American historian John Hope Franklin at 4 p.m. Friday, April 16 at Emory University's Woodruff Library.

Higginbotham worked with Franklin, considered the dean of African-American historians, on a thorough revision of "From Slavery to Freedom," his classic survey of African-American history first published in 1947. Franklin died in March 2009.

Higginbotham, chairperson of Harvard University's Department of African and African American Studies, is co-author of the ninth edition, published in January, which features President Barack Obama on the cover.

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham Photo: W.E.B. Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst

Higginbotham will speak about Franklin and his place in history, followed by remarks from Emory Provost Earl Lewis. David Eltis, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History, will moderate the discussion, which is co-sponsored by the Department of History and the James Weldon Johnson Institute and the Department of African American Studies. Updating a Classic Text The new edition was updated with greater coverage of African-American women, transnational artistic and political movements, differing expressions of protest, community activism, civil rights and black power, as well as current events such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the globalization of hip-hop and the election of the first African-American U.S. president.

Randall K. Burkett, curator of African American collections at Emory Libraries' Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL), says Higginbotham's contributions revitalize the classic text, which was last updated in 2002.

"There's so much work being done in the field in all aspects - in art history, music, African history, politics, literature, theater - and she really has the breadth to synthesize that material and bring it to bear," Burkett says. "I think it will give this book a new life."

About Higginbotham

Higginbotham is the author of several books, including "Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church 1880-1920"; editor-in-chief of the massive bibliography project "The Harvard Guide to African-American History"; and co-editor with Henry Louis Gates Jr. of several books including "Harlem Renaissance Lives" and the eight-volume "African-American National Biography."

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Jones Room on Level 3 of the Woodruff Library. Light refreshments and a book signing will follow the program; books will be available for purchase.

Woodruff Library is located at 540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322. Parking is available in the Fishburne and Peavine decks; see the map. for locations. For more information, call 404.727.6887, e-mail marbl@emory.edu or visit MARBL. ###

Contact:

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

U of M Will Present MLK Human Rights Award and Scholarship April 5

The University of Memphis will present the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Award to Leah C. Wells in a ceremony Monday, April 5, at 2 p.m. in the University Center Theatre. The award recognizes individuals whose activities exemplify non-violent leadership in the pursuit of social justice and human rights.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship also will be awarded at the ceremony. The 2010 recipient is Antedra Alexis Finger, a junior biology major. She is the daughter of Marquazette and Alex Finger of Little Rock.

Wells has long worked on issues of human rights. She taught courses on conflict resolution in Washington, D.C., and in California, where she was recognized by the National Peace Corps Association as the Peace Educator of the Year.

Leah C. Wells Antedra Alexis Finger

In Memphis she has worked on issues of child poverty with The Urban Child Institute and on leadership training through GOT Power, and she has served on the Public Buildings and Purchasing Policies Committee with Sustainable Shelby. Wells worked with the U of M’s Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change in 2005. She led the nonviolence training at the National Civil Rights Museum for participants in the 2007 march in Jena, La., in support of the Jena Six. She has published extensively about poverty, human rights, ecology, and economics, and is a regular contributor to The Commercial Appeal’s online publication, “Going Green.” Wells is now working with BioDimensions and the Memphis Bioworks Foundation on several projects, including publishing a local green-jobs assessment and contributing to a report on strategies for biobased products in the Mississippi Delta. She earned her bachelor of science degree in linguistics from Georgetown University in 1998 and her master’s degree in political science from the U of M in 2005. She is pursuing her doctorate in political science at the University of Mississippi.

Finger is vice president of the Minority Association for Pre-medical Students (the U of M chapter of the Student National Medical Association), which connects undergraduate students with medical students and physicians in the Memphis area. The organization provides networking experiences, HIV screenings, and blood drives, and collaborates with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to host health fairs in African-American communities. Her goal is to become a neonatologist in a rural area.

The event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by African and African-American Studies and the Office of Diversity at the U of M. For more information, call 901-678-3516.

For release: April 2, 2010 For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

David Hinson Remarks at Greater Los Angeles: African American Chamber of Commerce

Greater Los Angeles: African American Chamber of Commerce Dinner Remarks – International Trade Focus.

On behalf of President Barack Obama and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, I want to thank you for allowing me to join you this evening.

Secretary Locke was unable to attend this event, but he asked that I extend his heart-felt thanks to the Board of Directors and staff of GLACK and Chairman and Co-Founder Gene Hale who graciously extended the invitation to address you this evening. I’d also like to thank Kerman Maddox a good friend of the Administration, for being here.

David Hinson

I am always happy to be in Los Angeles away from the sometimes frigid weather back in D.C. From the looks of this very attractive crowd, I am going to have to make my way back to Los Angeles more often. My younger sister, Peyton, lives out here so I have a legitimate excuse! I am glad she is able to join me this evening. I feel privileged to be here to talk to you about the priorities of our Administration, an Administration that would not be in office if not for all of you. So first I want to thank you for your support as we strive to continue to earn your trust ---- and confidence.

The Minority Business Development Agency is also fortunate to have members of GLAAC who serve on the Advisory Committee of our Los Angeles Business Development Center.

These members include:

Delenn Ayo from the Walt Disney Company, who also acts as the Advisory Committee Chair; Linda Wright from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Aura Mc-Cracken from AEG; Bob Blake from Bob Blake & Associates; and Michelle Smith Ballard from Turner Construction Company.

Thank you all for your service and dedication to minority business development.

I also want to recognize and thank the state and federal officials who are here and finally, I would like to take a moment and thank the founders of GLAAC for having the vision to create a powerful organization that promotes the growth and expansion of African American-owned businesses in the global arena.

President Obama’s National Export Initiative, an effort to encourage all businesses, including African-American owned businesses, to grow through global trade demonstrates that the Administration shares this vision.

A short 24 months ago, many of you took part in a national conversation. This conversation centered on how to expand opportunity for all of the citizens of this great nation - on how to re-establish our nation as a respected leader in the global arena - and on how to strengthen our economy not just for today, but also for the long run.

But by the time President Obama took office, we were facing the greatest economic crisis of our lifetime. The nation was shedding 700,000 jobs per month, housing values had imploded, and credit was all but frozen. Some of our largest and most powerful corporations where on the brink of failure, the stock market was on its way to losing over $10 trillion in value, all while we were facing two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This scenario required bold leadership and within 30-days of his inauguration, the President acted by signing into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. What has been forgotten by those that continue to criticize the stimulus bill is that without it, we would not only have lost the two million plus jobs that were created, but not passing the stimulus legislation would have resulted in a cascading effect that would have had many cities laying off firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel who protect us everyday. Not passing the stimulus bill would have forced the closure of public schools because teachers would have been forced out of their jobs and not passing the stimulus bill would have resulted in many cities simply defaulting on their municipal bonds.

Most important, if the President had accepted the failed notion that the “market” would “fix” the economy, it would have resulted in a loss of confidence in our economic system that may have taken decades to repair.

After the Great Depression in 1929, it took 11 years for the US economy to return to its former level. Unemployment reached nearly 25% and the collapse of production and wealth led to massive bankruptcies and the disappearance of nearly half America’s financial institutions. Virtually every industrialized country experienced a severe economic contraction and a terrible raise in unemployment. Now, after just 18 months into our “Near Depression”, we are beginning to see the light.

Today, job losses have been dramatically reduced to less than 200,000, and unemployment is holding steady at 9.7%. Indeed 9.7% is far too high, but certainly much better than it would have been the case without the stimulus package. Credit is slowly starting to flow to smaller businesses. The US manufacturing sector is showing signs of recovery and the recently announced sale of two key AIG assets, AIA and ALICO, narrows the expected TARP losses by nearly 50%. The President is committed to building our economic recovery by investing in a 21st century infrastructure, focusing on creating green and blue jobs, stabilizing healthcare cost for millions of Americans, providing the educational foundation to prepare our young people and workers in transition to compete in the global economy, and providing the opportunity for businesses of all sizes to export their products and services around the world.

African American businesses must take a leading role in capitalizing on the economic opportunity that exists around the world. But how do we do this when so many African-American owned businesses both large and small are just trying to survive?

How do we prepare our firms to participate in the global economy when they continue to experience limited access to capital and to government and private sector contracts?

What can we do in an environment where America has a severe cold and the African-American community has pneumonia?

The first thing you can do is engage my agency, the Minority Business Development Agency. MBDA is the only agency in the federal government tasked to promote the growth and global competitiveness of minority-owned firms. We manage 46 business development centers nationwide that help companies achieve two things – access to capital and access to contracts.
Our goal is to create an entire generation of $100 million minority-owned companies across industries.

Last year, we executed on nearly $3 billion in contracts and financings for MBE’s nationwide. And many of those that have engaged us as clients have achieved outstanding results:

For example, NECCI an African American-owned interior finish construction company in New York came to us seeking to expand their business. The firm had $37 million in revenues prior to seeking MBDA’s assistance. We provided procurement matching and construction related consulting. As a result, NECCI was able to secure $6.5 million in financial packages and $13.3 million in new contracts.

Another company, CII, a Hispanic-owned environmental engineering and technology services firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico came to MBDA for assistance in executing their business model. We provided procurement matching and bid assistance. As a result, we were able to help this $15 million in annual revenues company obtain a $395 million dollar contract.

Finally, a native American-owned company, Fort Mojave Construction came to us with a desire to grow. We provided federal contract identification and marketing and surety bonding assistance. Through these efforts, Fort Mojave Construction was able to obtain $12.9 million in contracts from the US Air Force and US Navy, in addition to $12.9 million in surety bonding.

These are just a few of the thousands of companies that we have helped to grow. We encourage you to engage us; so that we can also help your firms grow.

The second thing that African American-owned firms could do to strengthen themselves is to reconsider their growth models. Today, the average African-American owned business in California generates a mere, $86,000 in gross revenue. This is less than 10% of the average gross revenue for California a firm which is approximately $961,000. The average African American owned firm is simply too small to be competitive. So to be successful, we must de-emphasize organic growth– one contract at a time – one client at a time, and aggressively pursue growth strategies such as: growth though merger; growth though acquisition; growth through joint venture; and growth through strategic partnership.

As you may know, 6 of the 10 largest Black and Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States were created through Mergers & Acquisitions or joint venture transactions, and many of them came directly through large corporate sponsors.

Johnson Controls partnered with a minority management team to create Bridgewater Interiors - now a billion dollar company. McDonalds collaborated with a Hispanic entrepreneur to create Lopez Foods that now has revenues exceeding $500 million. And more than 20 years ago, Coca-Cola partnered with a minority investment group to create the Philadelphia Cola-Cola Bottling Company.

But to do this African American business owners must be willing to accept a smaller percentage of something big and give up a large percentage of something small.

Are you ready to make this change?

Finally, to survive this economic downturn, African American-owned companies MUST be committed to operating globally -- and opportunity abounds!

For example, by 2020, China is going to complete 97 new airports…..97! Someone in this room has a company that can help China build or manage its airports! In India and Pakistan, approximately 40% of the total food supply is lost to spoilage. Someone in this room has a solution to food spoilage!
And in Africa, there is a need for assistance in managing scarce water supplies. Someone in this room knows a little something about water preservation! America needs African-American companies that will think globally and maximize their export opportunities.

To help you globalize your business models, MBDA has developed a strategic partnership with our sister agency, the International Trade Administration, to provide export related training to your companies.
In addition, we will provide business-to-business networking sessions to link your companies to global opportunities. We are building relationships with OPIC, EX-IM Bank and various other government agencies who can help you finance your global strategy.

Finally, we are working to open up opportunities for your companies to participate in national and international trade missions. Last week, Secretary Locke announced that he will lead a slate of 19 new trade missions for 2010 in addition to the more than 40 trade missions and reverse trade missions already in the works for this year.

These trade missions include:

* A Green Industries trade mission to Paris, France
* A Civil Nuclear policy trade mission to Poland, and the Czech and Slovak Republics
* An Agribusiness Trade mission to Nigeria
* A public health trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Qatar
* And a medical trade mission to China.


MBDA can help you access these trade missions so that you can build relationships with the global participants in your area of expertise.
Engage us on this.

During the campaign, the President often spoke about the fierce urgency of now. Now is the time for African American business owners to take the leadership in reducing unemployment within our community

Now is the time to build bigger, stronger African-American owned companies that can compete as prime contractors for the largest public and private sector contracts.

Now is the time to embrace those innovators within the African-American community and encourage them to participate in renewable energy, food security, green construction, and healthcare IT.

Now is the time for members of the African-American community to ramp up our investments in African-American companies, to embrace failure as a key component to the path to success, and to have faith in the history of our people – a history of making something out of nothing. A history of participating at the highest intellectual level across industries. And a history of creating profound change in this nation!

So I am asking you to join President Obama, Secretary Locke, Deputy Secretary Hightower, MBDA and me in creating a new paradigm for African –American businesses that the founders of GLAAC and the great business leaders of our nation would be proud of.

Thank you!

Posted On: Thursday April 1st, 2010 at 2:00pm EDT. AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY. MBDA Public Affairs 202.482.4690

Special guests highlight African American Dance Company's spring concert April 10

Students selected the theme "Environmental Justice (Injustice?)"

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's African American Arts Institute Dance Company will feature guest dance and musical performers as part of its 36th annual spring concert on April 10.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., in downtown Bloomington.

"The concert will demonstrate and illustrate the passion that dance company students have for the dance discipline," said Iris Rosa, director of the African American Dance Company and a professor in IU's Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies.

Bernard Woma will be one of the special guest performers. African American Dance Company. Photo by Mark McCullough.

"The students have had the opportunity to explore dance techniques, forms and styles of performance in the Black dance aesthetic from Africa to Argentina." The students selected the theme "Environmental Justice (Injustice?)" for their Collaboration 2010 pieces. They will discuss and interpret through dance, the many ways to address the industrial waste and environmental pollution driven by political and economic decisions which adversely affect our communities. The concert will feature performances by guest artists Evelyn Yaa Bekyore and Bernard Woma. Bekyore is an internationally known dancer and teacher who has toured with the Saakumu Dance Troupe for more than 10 years as a senior performer and artist. She is principle teacher at the Dagara Music Center and has collaborated with many choreographers in Ghana, Burkina Faso and the United States. She frequently tours to perform and teach traditional dance and songs of Ghana at universities and colleges across the country. She has been in residency with the African American Dance Company since September. Woma has toured the world as xylophonist and lead drummer of the National Dance Company of Ghana.

He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic at the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and has been in residency with national and international performing groups. He is the director of Saakumu Dance Troup and the Dagara Music Center in Ghana, West Africa, where he is celebrating his 10th anniversary year. He currently is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in the African Studies Program at IU.

Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $10 for children and students with ID (limit 2 per student).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 31, 2010

Media Contacts: Olivia Hairston African American Arts Institute 812-855-5427 George Vlahakis University Communications gvlahaki@indiana.edu 812-855-0846

Ambassador Andrew Young to deliver Mary Frances Early Lecture

Athens, Ga. – Andrew Young, a former ambassador to the United Nations and Civil Rights leader, will deliver the 2010 Mary Frances Early Lecture on April 6 at 4 p.m. in the UGA Chapel. The tenth annual lecture honors Mary Frances Early, the first African-American to earn a degree from UGA, and her legacy at UGA.

Young first came to national prominence by serving as a top aide and ordained minister to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement. He played a key role as a negotiator in Civil Rights protests across the South.

In 1972, Young was elected to the House of Representatives from Georgia’s 5th District. After serving four years in Congress, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young as the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations.

Andrew Young Photo Credit: University of Rochester.

He later served two terms as Atlanta’s mayor and co-chaired the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. In recent years, Young has extensively worked on humanitarian efforts across the world. He is the co-founder and chair of GoodWorks International, an organization that promotes international business in Africa and the Caribbean. Young has traveled to more than 150 countries to build the economies of developing nations with a business model that combines education, religion, democracy and free enterprise. The Mary Frances Early Lecture was established in 2001 by Graduate and Professional Scholars, a minority graduate and professional student organization at UGA.

The Graduate School assumed responsibility for the lecture series in 2010, working in partnership with GAPS to institutionalize it as part of UGA campus life.

The annual lecture recognizes Mary Frances Early’s dedication towardmaking UGA an institution of higher learning for all people. The lecture strives to demonstrate the progress that has been made in achieving her vision and identifies the work that remains to be done.

Mary Frances Early began her graduate study in 1961 in support of the first African-American undergraduates who enrolled at UGA and graduated a year later with a master’s degree in music education.

For more information on the Mary Frances Early lecture or the Graduate School, see www.grad.uga.edu or contact Judy Milton at 706/425-2953 or jmilton@uga.edu.

Writer: Ben Benson, bbenson@uga.edu Contact: Judy Milton, 706/425-2953, jmilton@uga.edu Mar 23, 2010, 10:56

2010 Herman C. Hudson Symposium at IU April 9-10 to feature keynote address by a former ambassador

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The seventh annual Herman C. Hudson Symposium at Indiana University April 9-10 will feature a keynote address by former ambassador and Indiana native Cynthia Shepard Perry. The theme this year is "Bodies, Borders and Resistance."

Perry, who has served three past presidents as an ambassador and diplomat, will share her story of personal and educational triumph at a luncheon on April 10 at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, 275 N. Jordan Ave., where all of the Hudson Symposium activities will take place.

The symposium also will offer panels and individual paper presentations by undergraduate and graduate students from IU. The Hudson Symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Cynthia Shepard Perry. Courtesy of Indiana University.

For the seventh year, the chair and the faculty in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) have supported graduate student efforts to organize an annual symposium in honor of founding faculty member, Dr. Herman C. Hudson. This year, the symposium will be part of the department's ongoing 40th anniversary celebration of African American and African Diaspora studies at IU. Many co-sponsors have come together to help make the 2010 symposium possible, including AAADS, the Student Activities Office, the Office of the Provost, the Kelley School of Business, the departments of English, history and comparative literature, IU Bloomington Libraries, the Office for Women's Affairs, and Residential Programs and Services.

A native of Lost Creek Township (located just outside Terre Haute, Ind.), Perry earned a bachelor's degree in political science and education from Indiana State University and a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. After a career in higher education that included several assignments in Africa, she was appointed in 1982 by then President Ronald Reagan to become chief of the education and human resources division of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In 1986, Reagan named her ambassador to Sierra Leone. Three years later, Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush, appointed her ambassador to Burundi. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed her U.S. executive director of the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where she served for six years before retiring in 2008.

In 2000, she published a memoir, All Things Being Equal: One Woman's Journey (Stonecrest International). She now resides in Houston, Texas, and lectures widely on the complexities of women's educational issues and on the scourge of human trafficking in Africa and its ramifications for women and children in the world.

Other events happening in conjunction with the Herman C. Hudson Symposium include an AAADS Exhibition that opens on March 31 and a social event entitled "Dances of the Diaspora" on April 9. The annual African American Dance Company Spring Concert will conclude the weekend on April 10 at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. in downtown Bloomington.

"We are very excited about this year's Symposium. We have a large number of diverse and talented scholars presenting on issues ranging from the art of spoken word to identity construction," said Caralee Jones, the 2010 symposium president and vice president of the African American and African Diaspora Graduate Student Society. "This year's Symposium is also special because it will give us a chance to commemorate one of our founding faculty members, Herman C. Hudson, and the 40-year anniversary of our department."

For a complete calendar of events for the 7th annual Herman C. Hudson Symposium, please visit the Web site at www.indiana.edu/~afroamer/events/conferences. or send an e-mail to hchs@indiana.edu.

Engineering success for underrepresented faculty

MIT hosts minority faculty development workshop co-sponsored by Georgia Tech and the National Science Foundation.

More than 75 minority faculty members from across the nation gathered at MIT this week for a three-day workshop designed to provide them with tools and strategies to better navigate their careers.

Co-organized by MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology, the National Science Foundation Minority Faculty Development Workshop took place from March 21-24 and featured presentations and networking activities to help support the career development and retention of faculty from underrepresented groups, as defined by the NSF (African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans).

Dr. Gilda A. Barabino

Workshop participants were tenure-track faculty members from four-year institutions who represented the spectrum of engineering and science disciplines. “The persistent underrepresentation of minority engineering faculty threatens the development of a diverse science and engineering workforce and requires sustained multi-faceted and multi-level approaches for mitigation,”

said Georgia Tech Professor and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies Gilda A. Barabino, who collaborated with Wesley Harris, MIT’s associate provost for faculty equity, to organize the workshop.

“[This workshop] represents one approach that simultaneously provides opportunities for professional development, networking and mentoring that have been shown to enhance career success,” Barabino said.

Showcasing innovation

The workshop was the fifth in a series that has been offered for graduate students and faculty since 2001 by the Minority Faculty Development Forum, an online community of underrepresented faculty who engage in networking and research collaborations, mentoring, and dissemination of resources, ideas and best practices.

This year marked the first time that the conference was open only to faculty members. The workshop’s theme was “Engineering Faculty Success” and featured a poster competition that showcased the innovative research of about 50 of the workshop participants.

The winner of the competition was Cullen Buie, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Laboratory for Energy and Microsystems Innovation (LEMI), who joined the MIT faculty in November. His poster highlighted his research involving a technique to create nanoporous surfaces than can be used for energy and industrial applications, such as reducing the drag of water flowing through a pipe.

“There were several outstanding projects from all over the nation and I’m humbled and honored to have won the competition,” said Buie, who also praised the “very supportive environment” of the conference.

The workshop also featured a number of presentations by leading scholars, including how-to sessions about becoming a tenured professor, sowing the seeds of a solid research program, tapping into funding opportunities and finding and utilizing effective mentors.

Several sessions focused on strategies and concepts that have long been identified and utilized in the business world, but are not often associated with academia, such as the art of strategic persuasion or how to craft a professional brand.

These types of skills are just starting to be taught in the faculty development arena, said Robbin Chapman, assistant associate provost for faculty equity at MIT, who helped organize the conference and hosted the session on crafting a professional brand. “With the advent of social media, we want our graduate students and faculty scholars to leverage their brand to promote their reputation — otherwise, they’ll fall behind,” she said.

Institute as model

The NSF workshop follows the January release of a report by MIT’s Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity, which concluded that more effective policies and practices are needed to hire and retain underrepresented minority faculty at the Institute. Although the NSF conference was not a direct outgrowth of the report, Chapman thinks more members of the MIT community may have noticed and attended the poster competition in light of the report.

She added that the workshop sheds light on the continuing work and efforts by the Office of the Associate Provosts for Faculty Equity, which was founded by President Susan Hockfield and Provost L. Rafael Reif in 2006 to focus on the recruitment, retention, promotion and professional development of underrepresented minority and women faculty.

“Leadership for faculty equity and diversification is critical and that shown by Wes Harris and MIT in support of the workshop and in other Institute efforts serves as a model for others,” Barabino said.

Morgan Bettex, MIT News Office March 26, 2010 MIT news | 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 11-400 | Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 | Tel 617.253.2700 | TTY 617.258.9344

Writers Like Us Contemporary African American Writers featured at the U

March 25, 2010 -- Three nationally acclaimed Black authors - G. Winston James, Martha Southgate and Mat Johnson--will be presented by the University of Utah in a series of lectures and readings titled, "Writers Like Us: Contemporary African American Writers." The series will run March 29 through April 12. All events are free and open to the public.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity for the Utah community to hear and meet some of the leading young African American writers at work today," notes Paisley Rekdal, associate professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Utah. Paulette Cross, a Ph.D. candidate in Education, Culture, and Society at the University of Utah adds, "James, Southgate and Johnson, as contemporary African American writers, provide a model for black youth."

Paisley Rekdal

G. Winston James is a Jamaican-born poet, short-fiction writer, essayist and editor. He is the founder and editor of Top Pen Press, which he states, "publishes work that illuminates, confronts and perplexes perceptions of queer people of color." A former fellow of the Millay Colony for the Arts, he holds an M.F.A in fiction from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and is the author of the short-fiction collection Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories, the poetry collection The Damaged Good: Poems Around Love and the Lambda Literary Award finalist collection Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road. Mat Johnson specializes in fiction, nonfiction and African American literature. He has published the novels Hunting in Harlem and Drop.

His third novel, Pym, will be released in January 2011. Incognegro, his graphic novel, was positively reviewed by the New York Times. His creative nonfiction work includes The Great Negro Plot. He has published a number of short-fiction and nonfiction articles in various venues including Callaloo Literary Journal, Shout Magazine and TheRoot.com. His work has been honored as the 2008 Best African American Fiction and he was awarded the 2007 USA James Baldwin Fellowship. He received an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University and currently teaches at the University of Houston.

Martha Southgate is the author of three novels, most recently Third Girl from the Left published in 2006. It won the Best Novel of the Year award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her previous novel, The Fall of Rome, is widely taught and won the American Library Association's Alex award. She received a 2002 New York Foundation for the Arts grant and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her July 2007 essay from the New York Times Book Review, "Writers Like Me," appears in the recent anthology Best African-American Essays 2009. Previous non-fiction articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, O, Premiere, and Essence. She also has essays in the recent anthologies Behind the Bedroom Door and Heavy Rotation: Writers on the Albums That Changed Their Lives. She is working on her next novel, to be published by Algonquin Books in 2011.

The "Writers Like Us" series events are scheduled as follows:

G. Winston James

"Shaming the Devil: The Black LGBT Writer as Both Camera and Lens"
Monday, March 29, 7:00 pm.
University of Utah, 1110 LNCO, 255 Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT

"Marvelous Words" (reading)
Tuesday, March 30, 7:00 pm.
Utah Pride Center, 361 North 300 West, Salt Lake City, UT

Mat Johnson

"Incognegro: The Journey of the African American Comic Book"
Friday, April 9, 7:00 pm
Ken Sanders Rare Books, 268 South 200 East, Salt Lake City, UT

Martha Southgate

"Writers Like Me, New Directions in African American Literature"
Monday April 11, 7 pm
King's English Bookstore, 1511 South 1500 East, Salt Lake City, UT

The series "Writers Like Us: Contemporary African American Writers" is co-sponsored by the Utah Humanities Council, the University of Utah Tanner Humanities Center, the University of Utah College of Social Work Voices of Diversity, Rowland Hall, Ken Sanders Rare Books, Utah Arts Council, the University of Utah LGBT Resource Center, the University of Utah office of the Dean of Humanities, The Wild Venturer, the University of Utah Office for Equity and Diversity, the University of Utah Department of English, the University of Utah Ethnic Studies Program, the Utah Pride Center, and Empire Publishing.

For more information about the series, visit www.diversity.utah.edu/events/writers-like-us/

Interviews with James, Johnson and Southgate are available upon request by calling 801-581-4250.

Media Contacts Wilfred Samuels Department of English, University of Utah Office phone: 801-581-3288 Email address: wilfred.samuels@utah.edu Colleen Casto director, communication & community outreach, Office for Equity and Diversity Office phone: (801) 581-4250 Email address: c.casto@utah.edu

Diversity Roundtable to Be Held April 14

In the past year, Georgia Tech has sponsored faculty- and student-led diversity forums, aimed at showcasing, attracting, and developing the tremendous diverse talent from across the Institute.

On April 14, the Offices of the President, Academic Diversity and Human Resources will host an inaugural diversity roundtable luncheon focusing on the topic of mentoring for Tech staff members.

Two specific audiences are targeted for the event: senior staff members—pay grade 118 and above—and mid-level staffers specifically invited by a senior staff sponsor. “Managers who attend will be asked to invite someone from the middle range of classified staff to participate,” said Senior Director for Human Resources and Diversity Management Pearl Alexander.

Xerox CEO Ursula Burns

“The notion is that at the mid-level of our staff, we are very diverse. If we can identify and train this high potential talent, we can show what we sometimes forget: We have strong talent within our ranks—it is up to us to cultivate it.” Alexander refers to Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, the first African-American woman to head an S&P 100 company, as an example. “She started there as an intern, and has a 30-year history with the company,” Alexander said.

“Burns credits her success to people willing to mentor and sponsor her professionally within the organization.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with others and participate in discussions, as well as share their experiences either as a mentor or as one who benefited from mentoring. While Tech already has MentorTech, an established, formal mentoring program, this networking event will complement that program, according to Alexander.

“Bringing staff together in an informal setting is a mechanism for building community and fostering inclusiveness,” she said. “Through this roundtable activity, relationships may develop more naturally. Individuals who participate will benefit from peer mentoring and expanding their professional connections.”

President Bud Peterson will deliver the keynote address. Higher education and industry leaders will participate as facilitators in leading small group discussions. The activities will be moderated by James Godard, assistant director for Administration with the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences. Other participants include Provost Gary Schuster, newly appointed Executive Vice President for research Stephen Cross, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair Gary May, Christopher Griffith with Stamps Health Services, Vice President for Campus Services Rosalind Meyers, Wayne Guthrie, vice chancellor for Human Resources with the Georgia Board of Regents, Tina Woodard, associate vice chancellor for Professional Development with the BOR, and many other leaders.

The event will direct discussion to the role of mentoring and career development and how best to mentor diverse individuals. “The purpose is to leave with ideas so attendees can approach people and engage with them in the process,” Alexander said. “It may not happen in a day, but this could be the spark for future connections.”

After the Roundtable, Academic Diversity and HR will partner to establish a Georgia Tech mentoring group on the LinkedIn Web site as an interactive way to virtually mentor throughout the coming year and keep up with the professional relationships established at the event. “The LinkedIn site will enable HR to track mentoring progress in conjunction with career development,” Alexander said. “We’ll also send a follow-up survey for participants.”

Registration will continue through April 9, or until capacity is reached. The roundtable will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Global Learning Center.

The genesis for this roundtable springs from HR’s operational plans for this year, and the “Sustain and Enhance our Culture” strategic vision planning subcommittee, which is working on the Institute’s strategic vision for 2035. The subcommittee has discussed the need for Tech to be a thought leader in diversity and inclusion. Although directed toward senior staff, the Roundtable will include faculty involvement. The goal, Alexander says, is to have ongoing events that not only concentrate on certain populations, but also allow others to be involved.

While staff development and mentoring is a key aspect of the roundtable discussions, developing and showcasing the Institute’s rich diversity is the primary goal of the event. “If you want to attract the best talent, [the environment] has to be appealing,” Alexander said. “We can strengthen our diversity here, which is, in turn, a significant competitive advantage for us.”

For More Information Contact Sandra Duplessis, 404-385-3686 Najah Hofman, 404-894-3070 By Robert Nesmith Posted March 26, 2010 Atlanta, GA.

Washington’s African American Community Gathers at the National Zoo to Celebrate a Century-Old Tradition on Easter Monday

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Friends of the National Zoo will continue a Washington tradition that spans more than 100 years by hosting “Easter Monday: An African American Family Tradition” April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free and will take place rain or shine.

This year’s celebration will include a variety of activities, live entertainment and food for sale. The event will also feature traditional Easter activities for families, such as an Easter egg hunt, Easter-themed games and a visit from the Easter bunny. Live entertainment will include performances by an a cappella gospel quintet, an R&B group and a children’s musician and puppeteer.

Animal keepers will host more than 50 talks, feedings and demonstrations highlighting a variety of animals, including cheetahs, western lowland gorillas, spectacled bears, kiwis and Asian elephants. New this year, visitors will have the opportunity to “Meet-a-Curator” in various Zoo exhibit areas.

Sloth bear cub, Balawat, and his mother, Hana, moved into their new home along the Asia Trail at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

Representatives from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the first national museum to be devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, will be on hand to showcase and discuss their sustainable and green building design. The 2010 “Easter Monday: An African American Family Tradition” event is sponsored by the 2010 U.S. Census Road Tour, United Airlines and WHUR Radio 96.3 FM.

For more information, visit nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Celebrations/Easter/ or call (202) 633-3040. # # # SI-127-2010

WSSU Event Honors Cooper, NC Native and Pioneer for Women History Month

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) will join with the U.S. Postal Service for a Women’s History Month event, to pay tribute to North Carolinian Anna Julia Cooper with a special stamp dedication event on March 29 at 3 p.m. In WSSU’s Diggs Gallery.

Cooper was a Raleigh Native and noted educator, scholar and activist on the 19th and 20th centuries. Her image marks the 32nd entry in the U.S. Black Heritage Stamps series.

WSSU Chancellor Donald Julian Reaves and Postmaster David Barcio will lead a host of university, local and student dignitaries on hand to celebrate the life of Cooper, who left Saint Augustine’s College in 1884 for Washington, DC, and helped make its school system one of the best in the nation for African-American students.

Anna Julia Cooper

She later became the fourth African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. and the first to do so at the University of Paris Sorbonne. She wrote several books and articles and spoke publicly about inequalities in education, job opportunities and the justice system. The stamps are now available at Post Offices nationwide and online at www.usps.com/shop. These stamps, as well as related collectible items, will be available for purchase at this event, which is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call (336) 668-1257. About the U.S. Postal Service: An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week.

It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.

About Winston-Salem State University: Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a public university founded in 1892 in Winston-Salem, NC. WSSU is a historically black university that today is a recognized regional institution offering baccalaureate and graduate programs to a diverse student population. U.S. News and World Report has ranked the university among Top Public Comprehensive Colleges in the South -- Bachelor’s Category for the last ten years (2001-2010). WSSU currently offers more than 40 baccalaureate and 10 master’s degree programs to a student population of more than 6,400. For more information, visit www.wssu.edu. * * *

Contacts: Nancy Young Interim Director Public and Media Relations 336-750-8764 (office) 336-413-1472 (mobile) youngnn@wssu.edu

Aaron Singleton Director News and Media Relations 336-750-3152 (office) 336-414-9366 (mobile) singletona@wssu.edu

Tracing Africans in Slave Trade Goal of New Project

Volunteer Help Sought from Africans, African Diaspora, Scholars Worldwide.

Researchers who assembled “Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database” online (http://www.slavevoyages.org) at Emory University are now expanding that work with a new project called “African Origins,” an effort to present rare, detailed information on Africans pulled into the slave trade.

With help from the public, researchers plan to reconstruct the migration histories of Africans who were forced onto slave ships in the Atlantic in the early 19th century, says David Eltis, principal investigator on the project.

A listing of names of Africans liberated from slave vessels.

“The original project, Voyages, traced the routes of captive Africans from ports on the African coast, across the Atlantic Ocean via slave ships to points of disembarkation in South, Central and North America,” says Eltis, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History at Emory. “The new African Origins project turns the focus towards Africa, to trace who these Africans were and from where they originally came.”

The African Origins project will create an online database on 67,000 liberated Africans, including such details as name, gender, age, African port of departure, and in some cases, the name of the place where the person originally lived. The information comes from registers created by International Courts of Mixed Commission located in Havana, Cuba, and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

These and other courts were established around the Atlantic Basin in the early 19th century, following the United States’ and Great Britain’s suppression of the transatlantic slave trade in 1808, says Eltis. The courts adjudicated cases of slaving ships intercepted by the British, Portuguese and Brazilian navies.

The spoken names of Africans liberated from these vessels, along with other identifying information they provided through translators, were recorded in court registers, in an effort to protect these Africans from future enslavement. Now these names are clues to discovering who these Africans were.

The persistence of naming practices among many African social groups, as well as the strong links between the use of certain names in certain languages, means that these names can be used to identify what language or ethnic group an African belonged to, and through this, where the individual lived in Africa at the time he or she was pulled into the slave trade, says Eltis.

Volunteers sought

To canvas the thousands of languages and dialects likely spoken by the more than 67,000 individuals listed in these historical registers, the African Origins project seeks volunteer help among communities of Africans and scholars worldwide. Members of the public with knowledge of African languages, cultural naming practices and geographic areas can assist in identifying the language, ethnic and geographic origins of people listed in these registers, by taking a few minutes to search these records, listen to a name and offer an assessment of an individual’s likely affiliations.

With these insights, scholars serving as editors of the database can consider the range of possible languages and groups affiliated with a name, alongside historical records of peoples’ locations and movements across western Africa.

As contributions are received and analyzed and new data on origins published, says Eltis, visitors to the African Origins site eventually will be able to search for Africans by ethno-linguistic group and geographic place of origin and view maps of the historical locations of groups pulled into the slave trade.

Much like the Voyages project that preceded it, this work will depend on the contributions and expertise of many in addition to the Emory team, says project manager Liz Milewicz. Most notably, it will employ “citizen science,” soliciting voluntary help from members of the public to help identify the likely language or ethnic group suggested by an African’s name.

“In our case, we’re really looking for ‘citizen historians’ to help us with this project,” Milewicz says. “The detail and diversity of this historical data requires contributions from people familiar with a vast number of African languages, cultures and geographic areas.”

The African Origins database will launch for public use in late spring 2010. To learn more about the project or contact the project team, visit http://www.african-origins.org.

About David Eltis

A research associate at Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute since 1993, principal investigator Eltis is the author of two prize-winning books on the Atlantic slave trade: “Economic Growth and the Ending of the Transatlantic Slave Trade” (New York, Oxford University Press, 1987) and “The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas” (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2000). He also has edited and contributed to “Coerced and Free Migration: Global Perspectives” (Stanford University Press, 2002). His most recent works include “Extending the Frontiers: Essays on the New Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade” (2008) and the forthcoming “An Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade,” both published by Yale University Press.

About Voyages and Origins


A National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant provides the bulk of support for this project, with additional funding provided by Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and by Emory University’s Research for Collaboration in the Humanities Program. NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities. ###

Contact:

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