NIMHD names first African-American scientific director at NIH

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) announced today the appointment of William G. Coleman, Jr., Ph.D., as the NIMHD’s first permanent scientific director and the first African-American scientific director in the history of the NIH Intramural Research Program. The appointment follows an extensive national search. Dr. Coleman is one of 23 scientific directors at the NIH.

Dr. Coleman has had a long career as a scientist in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Intramural Research Program and has held a number of positions within NIDDK including research microbiologist, staff fellow and senior investigator. Dr. Coleman’s research spans the realms of basic research and health disparities. His recent research emphasis has been on H pylori pathogenesis. H pylori infection is associated with several clinical pathologies including gastritis, ulcers and gastric cancers. About 10 percent of the U.S. population develops peptic ulcer disease during their lifetime, of which 90 percent of cases are related to H pylori infection. In the U.S. population, infection is much more common among Mexican Americans (62 percent) and non-Hispanic blacks (53 percent) than non-Hispanic whites (26 percent). Non Hispanic blacks are also more likely to be infected with virulent H pylori strains.

"Dr. Coleman brings a wealth of knowledge and notable scientific contributions to meet the challenges of an evolving health disparities environment. His extensive research repertoire and reputation within the science community will make him a great addition to the NIMHD team. Dr. Coleman’s appointment exemplifies one of the major objectives that we seek to achieve through the NIMHD intramural research program, and that is to add to the diversity of individuals and research disciplines in the NIH intramural program," said John Ruffin, Ph.D., NIMHD director.

As scientific director, Dr. Coleman will direct the overall portfolio of trans-disciplinary research conducted by the NIMHD through its newly established Health Disparities Intramural Research Program. The goals of the intramural program are to:

* Conduct state-of-the-art research focusing on the linkage between biological and non-biological determinants of health in health disparity populations
* Create training and mentorship opportunities to increase the number of intramural researchers focusing on health disparities research including those from health disparity populations
* Contribute to a pool of early stage and experienced investigators that would enhance the diversity of the NIH Intramural Research Program in terms of scientists and research disciplines
* Utilize its successful Centers of Excellence and Community Based Participatory Research Program models to expand health disparities intramural research into urban and rural health disparities communities in order to respond to urgent public health needs, examine high-risk/high impact research opportunities, and establish collaborations for long-term complex research efforts

Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Coleman served as a lecturer at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. and biology teacher in Atlanta. He brings over 45 years of experience to NIMHD. Dr. Coleman received his doctorate from Purdue University. He holds a master’s degree from Atlanta University and a bachelor’s degree from Talladega College in Talladega, Ala. He has written nearly 30 journals and publications. In 2005, Dr. Coleman received the Dr. Philip J. Browning Scientific Pioneer Award.

NIMHD is a part of the NIH that promotes minority health, conducts and supports research, training, research infrastructure, fosters emerging programs, disseminates information, and reaches out to minority and other health disparity communities. For more information on the NIMHD, see www.ncmhd.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

For Immediate Release Friday, January 14, 2011 Contact: Kester Williams 301-402-1366

King March slated for Monday

Morehead State University will celebrate the life, dream and vision of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 17.

The theme of the celebration is “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” This year’s theme is a continuation of the themes from the 2009 and 2010 MLK Jr. Unity in the Community Service.

The event will begin with the traditional march at 6:30 p.m. at the Little Bell Tower on the MSU campus. After brief remarks, participants will travel to the Morehead United Methodist Church, 227 West Main Street, for the unity service, which is set to begin at 7 p.m. or as soon as group reaches the church. A reception will follow the program.

The program will feature Dorothy B. Wilson as the speaker.

Wilson is an accomplished businesswoman, having worked in major corporate and nonprofit positions for nearly 30 years. She is regional vice president of the largest Goodwill Industries enterprise in the world and is responsible for 400 employees, more than 45,000 program participants and a $25 million division in Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago. All of the organization’s workforce development, vocational training, senior citizens and disability programs are under her supervision.

She holds an MBA degree from Clark Atlanta University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and economics from Benedict College. A Milwaukee native, Wilson is currently the international first vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest African-American service sorority for college trained women.

Following the program, MSU President Wayne D. Andrews and Dr. Francene Botts-Butler, director of Multicultural Student Services, will offer closing remarks.

Additional information is available by calling the Office of Multicultural Student Services at (606) 783-2668.

Offices at Morehead State University will be closed on Monday, Jan. 17, in observance of the national holiday in remembrance of Dr. King’s birthday.

Posted: 1-13-11 Morehead State University 150 University Blvd. Morehead, KY 40351 • 1.800.585.6781

Submarine Group 2 Hosts Black Heritage Month Gospel Concert

GROTON, Conn. - The Commander of Submarine Group 2 and the Black Heritage Committee seek choirs to help “make a joyful noise” and celebrate Black Heritage Month through music during a Black Heritage Month Gospel Music Concert on Feb. 18 at the Shepherd of the Sea Chapel, 231 Gungywamp Rd.

Currently, the committee is seeking choirs to participate. If you are interested, please RSVP not later than Jan. 21 with your church and choir name and/or soloist representative. Also include your musical needs. All choirs are asked to render two selections; all soloists one selection. Points of contact for this event are Joseph M. Brickhouse Sr., office 860-694-4292/3341, cell 201-463-3867 and Eric Rattler, office 860-694-4451/3341.

We have come to understand that from inception to present day, music has been a part of the trials and triumphs in African-American heritage. Moreover, the church and Gospel music have been the backbone for much of African-Americans culture. Therefore, we want to recognize and celebrate the many contributions of African-Americans to the country and the world by lifting our voices in unity through song and fellowship.

Thank you for helping us celebrate an important part of our national heritage. - USN - 1/10/2011 From Submarine Group 2 Public Affairs

Chandler-Gilbert Community College will offer African-American Literature: The Beautiful Struggle (ENH114, Sec 28790) this spring

Chandler-Gilbert Community College will offer African-American Literature: The Beautiful Struggle (ENH114, Sec 28790) this spring, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:50 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. beginning January 18.

This course explores significant eras of African-American Literature from the early 1800s to present. Students will read from a variety of genres including slave narratives, novels, memoirs, short fiction, essays, poetry, and plays. The course is discussion-oriented, interactive, and reading-intensive. A service-learning project will enable students to apply classroom learning toward real-world situations.

This course provides both a Humanities (HU) credit and Cultural Inquiry (C) credit.

For more information, please contact Patrick Williams at 480.857.5007 or patrick.williams@cgcmail.maricopa.edu. To register, access my.maricopa.edu.

Former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond headlines MLK celebration at Vanderbilt

Civil rights leader and former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond will deliver the keynote address at a 4:30 p.m. event at Vanderbilt University commemorating the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 17.

The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Vanderbilt student tickets are still available. A limited number of Vanderbilt faculty/staff and general public tickets are also still available. Student tickets not picked up by Friday will be released so that others may attend. Tickets can be picked up at the Sarratt Box Office in Sarratt Student Center. Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff must show Vanderbilt ID to pick up tickets.

Sarratt Box Office’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/sarratt/hours or call 615-343-3361.

The event featuring Bond opens with performances by Vanderbilt student groups Voices of Praise, Victory A Cappella and Jeremiah Generation, and winners of an earlier MLK Essay and Oratorical Contest for local middle and high school students will read their winning essays. Bond will begin his keynote address at 5 p.m. A reception for attendees will follow the event.

Julian Bond

The theme for Vanderbilt’s commemoration is the “The Road to Freedom,” which will carry through to Bond’s address titled “The Road to Freedom: From Alabama to Obama.” Bond’s talk will be streamed live and made available after the event at news.vanderbilt.edu. Born in Nashville, Bond is an activist, writer, teacher and lecturer who helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta during the early 1960s. He was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center and served 20 years in the Georgia General Assembly.

He was chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, from 1998 until early 2010. He currently is a distinguished adjunct professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a professor of history at the University of Virginia.

Other holiday activities scheduled include university-provided transportation for members of the Vanderbilt community wishing to participate in Nashville’s annual citywide march and convocation. Starting at 9:30 a.m., shuttle buses will depart from Hank Ingram/Murray Circle at The Commons, Branscomb Quad and Kirkland Hall to Jefferson Street Baptist Church for the beginning of the march. Lunchtime roundtable discussions on issues relevant to King’s legacy and teach-ins conducted by Vanderbilt faculty and staff are scheduled throughout the afternoon. Students will also participate in community service projects throughout the day and the preceding weekend.

Vanderbilt students will also have the opportunity to tour significant sites in Nashville’s civil rights movement with local civil rights leader Kwame Lillard. The tour buses will depart from Branscomb Quad at 12:15 p.m. Students must register to attend. Visit www.vanderbilt.edu/mlk to register. Fifty students will be selected randomly. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, Jan. 12.

The grand opening for “Relevance, an art exhibit featuring the work of Kamal Al Mansour” will begin at 1 p.m. at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. Mansour uses large mixed media pieces and shadow-box dioramas to depict the African American experience. The center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

At 3:30 p.m. in Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema, middle and high school participants in the Black Cultural Center’s MLK Essay and Oratorical Contest will present their works. A vespers service and candlelight vigil will be held at 9:30 p.m. in Benton Chapel and a short film, “Vanderbilt and the Civil Rights Movement: Reliving the Words from Our Past,” will be shown continuously from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Library Lawn. The film features video of speeches made by prominent civil rights era leaders such as Bond, King and Stokely Carmichael during Vanderbilt’s Impact Symposium, one of the oldest university lecture series of its caliber in the nation that continues today. The Vanderbilt Central Library’s Special Collections provided the video for the film.

For more information, please visit the Vanderbilt University MLK Commemoration website at www.vanderbilt.edu/mlk.

Media Contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu

South Mountain Community College Langston Hughes 'Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz'

As a lead-in to South Mountain Community College's 2011 celebration of Black History Month, the college will present "Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz", a multi-media concert based on a poetic masterwork by poet/playwright LANGSTON HUGHES, at the SMCC Performance Hall on Wednesday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Led by internationally recognized scholar Dr. Ron McCurdy, the program will feature Hughes' insightful, wise, poignant, funny and soulful poem, accompanied by a live jazz quartet and video images of the Harlem Renaissance by African-American artists and photographers such as Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks and Romare Bearden.

Tickets will be on sale at the door for $5, general admission. All Maricopa Community College students with a current ID will be admitted free of charge.

South Mountain Community College is located at 7050 S. 24th Street in Phoenix, just north of Baseline Road.

For additional information about SMCC performing arts events, call 602.243.8353 or visit southmountaincc.edu.

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

Langston Hughes

"Ask Your Mama" is an 800-line, twelve part poetic suite written by noted African-American poet/writer/playwright LANGSTON HUGHES in 1961. This work is described as a multimedia presentation that recreates Hughes' vision of the global struggle for freedom in the coming, turbulent decade. The piece itself is an original work conceived by USC Professor and Chair of Jazz Studies DR. RON McCURDY, and DR. JOHN S. WRIGHT, Morse-Amoco Distinguished Teaching Professor of Afro-American Studies and African Studies and English at the University of Minnesota. A scholarly exploration of the original work by Dr. Wright revealed that Hughes had originally included musical cues to accompany his poem, intending to work with musical contemporaries on a full production; regrettably, Hughes died in 1967 before a production could be developed.

Dr. Wright felt that the unrealized work had enormous potential, not only to entertain, but more importantly to introduce modern audiences to the power of Hughes' words and the eloquence of his political discourse. A collaborative effort between Drs. Wright and McCurdy expanded on Hughes' original concept, adding images from the Harlem Renaissance gleaned from Dr. Wright's work at the Schomberg Research Center in Harlem, and an accompanying jazz suite based on Hughes' original notes, composed and arranged by Dr. McCurdy and Eli Bruggeman. As the McCURDY/WRIGHT CONSORT, these two gentlemen have presented "THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT" in both performances and master classes on the college circuit and for African American Heritage celebrations throughout the nation. Information about The Langston Hughes Project is available at: www.ronmccurdy.com/about_hudges_project.

Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC) and is Past President of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Prior to his appointment at USC he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC. He has served as Professor of Music and chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1997, Dr. McCurdy served as Visiting Professor at Maria-Sklodowska- Curie University in Lublin, Poland. In 2001 Dr. McCurdy received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas.

Dr. McCurdy recently released a CD titled Once Again for the First Time on the INNOVA label and is author of Meet the Great Jazz Legends, published by Alfred Publishing Co. Dr. McCurdy is co-author of a vocal jazz improvisation series titled Approaching the Standards, published by Warner Bros. Dr. McCurdy is in demand as a guest clinician, soloist, speaker, director of honor jazz ensembles and choirs throughout the United States and Canada. He has directed All State Jazz Ensembles in New York, Texas, Arizona, Vermont, Nebraska, Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Florida. Dr. McCurdy received his undergraduate degree from Florida A & M University and his Masters and Ph. D. degrees from the University of Kansas.

Dr. McCurdy is a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs including serving as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He served as Director of the Walt Disney All-American Summer College Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers in Orlando, Florida for seven years and continues to serve as a consultant for the college program. A few of the guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, and Dianne Reeves. He has served as a member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp faculty. Dr. McCurdy is a performing artist for the Yamaha International Corporation.

Contact: Robert Price (602) 243-8030 robert.price@smcmail.maricopa.edu 2011 Jan 10 For Immediate Release.

Indiana University Bloomington will remember Martin Luther King Jr.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington will remember Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate his legacy with activities beginning Thursday (Jan. 13) and running through Jan. 21.

Highlights will include the presentation on Sunday (Jan. 16) of an original, one-woman play by actress and playwright E.P. McKnight, entitled "I Question America," which chronicles the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

The university also will help to present the Bloomington community's celebration on Jan. 17, which will feature as keynote speaker Sonia Sanchez, a poet, activist and international lecturer on black culture and literature, women's liberation, peace and racial justice. The theme for IU Bloomington's celebration is "Sustaining the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Other IU events include a day of activities for elementary school children at the IU School of Education, an interfaith prayer service, a leadership breakfast, a unity summit and a series of films that will be presented in campus cultural centers and residence halls. With the exception of the breakfast, all IU events celebrating King's life are free and open to the public.

Classes are not held on the King holiday, and many IU Bloomington students use the day to honor King's legacy by volunteering in the community. "A Day On, Not a Day Off" -- a massive volunteer effort organized in cooperation with a number of nonprofit agencies, IU and the city of Bloomington -- will be all day on Jan. 17. Also on Jan. 17, the IU School of Optometry, in collaboration with the Salvation Army, will provide eye exams and eye glasses to members of the Bloomington community who do not have access to vision care. Eligible patients are required to sign up with the Salvation Army prior to the holiday. The event will begin at 9 a.m. at the Community Eye Care Center, 803 N. Monroe.

The IU Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs and the MLK Jr. Day Celebration Planning Committee are coordinating many events. They are working closely with Residential Programs and Services, the Kelley School of Business and the IU schools of education, journalism and optometry and the sociology department in the IU College of Arts and Sciences.

E.P. McKnight's "I Question America"

McKnight's performance of "I Question America" will begin at 3 p.m. on Jan. 16 in Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St.

McKnight, a graduate of Fordham University and author of Words "N" Action, a book of inspirational and motivational poetry, wrote the play to help others become more familiar with Hamer's role in history. Her on-screen credits include roles in "Once And Again," "ER," "Passions" and "Another World" and "All My Children."

Inspired by organizers from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Hamer began to strive for equal rights in 1962 and later co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She represented the organization in 1964 at the National Democratic Convention and challenged Mississippi's all-white and anti-civil rights delegation.

"If the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America," Hamer said in a nationally televised speech. "Is this America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? Where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hook, because our lives be threatened daily?"

Hamer also helped to organize the "Freedom Summer" in Mississippi that summer and was seated as a member of Mississippi's legitimate delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and again in 1972.

In a 1970 lawsuit, Hamer v. Sunflower County, she demanded school desegregation in her local community. She ran unsuccessfully for the Mississippi state Senate in 1971 and published To Praise Our Bridges: An Autobiography in 1967. Hamer died in 1977.

McKnight also will speak at a reception that follows her performance, which is free and open to the public.

"Jazz Service for Peace"

Keith McCutchen, director of the IU African American Choral Ensemble, is coordinating a program, "Jazz Service for Peace," on Sunday (Jan. 16). The program will begin at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, 2120 N. Fee Lane. The service will allow the Bloomington community to experience the universal power of jazz music interwoven with the words of King's principles of freedom, community, non-violence and cultural exchange. The performance will feature local church and school choirs and other community organizations, a jazz quintet and the African American Choral Ensemble, conducted by McCutchen.

The musical service will feature the jazz arrangements by Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Hall Johnson and McCutchen. The musical also will feature the reading of King's Opening Address at the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival along with other readings and ecumenical prayers for peace.

Sonia Sanchez

Sanchez is a poet, playwright and educator noted for her black activism. She received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Hunter College in 1955 and briefly studied writing at New York University. In the 1960s, Sanchez was introduced to the political activism of the times and published poetry in such journals as The Liberator, the Journal of Black Poetry, Black Dialogue and Negro Digest and has written more than 16 books and plays.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Lucretia Mott Award in 1984, the Outstanding Arts Award from the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators; the Peace and Freedom Award from Women International League for Peace and Freedom for 1989 and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for 1992-93.

The Jan. 17 community event, which also will feature musical performances, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., and is free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.bloomington.in.gov/, or contact Craig Brenner at 812-349-3471.

Other events centered around the holiday include:

An annual Leadership Breakfast that brings the IU community together to focus on King's ideals, beginning at 8 a.m. on Jan. 17 in Alumni Hall of the Indiana Memorial Union. Winners of IU's MLK Day essay contest and Building Bridges Award will be announced and receive special recognition. Attendance is by invitation only and an RSVP is required to mlkjr@indiana.edu.

An Interfaith Prayer Service scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Jan. 17, in Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union. The program celebrates and increases awareness of various faith traditions through reflective prayers, music and the spoken word.

A Unity Summit in the Willkie Auditorium, 150 N. Rose Ave., Jan. 17, noon to 3:30 p.m. The event brings IU students together for a program that promotes civil dialogue and explores ways to improve the campus climate for all IU students.

The IU Bloomington School of Education's Eighth Annual King Activity Day with Children, Jan. 17, in the School of Education Atrium. Elementary-age students from the community will participate in a variety of educational activities, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, contact Leana McClain at 812-856-8160 or lemcclai@indiana.edu.

IU's Race and Ethnic Relations Committee will screen the documentary, "Citizen King," at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 at La Casa Latino Cultural Center, 715 E. Seventh St. Fabio Rojas, IU associate professor of sociology, will moderate a discussion afterwards.

A discussion will follow a presentation of King's "I Have a Dream" speech at 7 p.m. on Thursday (Jan. 13) at the Kelley School of Business.

"Speak to Me: Open Mike Night" will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Union Street Center Auditorium.

At 7 p.m. Sunday in Ernie Pyle Hall, visiting journalism professor Marty Pieratt will discuss his book, First Black Red: The Story of Chuck Harmon, the First African American to Play Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. The book is a biography of Chuck Harmon, a Washington, Ind., native and one of 12 children who was the first African-American to suit up for the Reds on April 17, 1954.

A series of films which deal with civil and human rights, including "A Time to Kill," "Crash," "Remember the Titans," "Invictus, "Freedom Writer" and "Gran Torino" will be shown across campus. For details, go to www.indiana.edu/~mlkjr

"Have We Lost Sight of Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream?," a luncheon discussion at noon on Jan. 21 at the Asian Culture Center, 807 E. 10th St.

Complete information about all IU King Day events is available at a special Web site at www.indiana.edu/~mlkjr/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 10, 2011

Double Exposure: African Americans Before and Behind the Camera

EXPLORATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS EXPERIENCES THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY TO BE PRESENTED AT THE DAVID C. DRISKELL CENTER.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. – Double Exposure: African Americans Before and Behind the Camera, showcases 90 vintage photographs from The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s historical collection of art and artifacts with photo-based art by contemporary African American artists. The exhibition organized by the Amistad Center for Art & Culture at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of art in Hartford, CT, opens to the public at the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland on Thursday, January 20, 2011, with an opening reception on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, from 5pm to 7pm. The exhibition will stay on view until Friday, March 11, 2011.

Double Exposure, curated by guest curators Lisa Henry and Frank Mitchell, illuminates the persistent interplay between the past and the present in African American photography. The exhibition highlights and explores the African American experience by bringing together photographic works from the 19th and 20th centuries by artists who expressed the experience of race through the use of personal, cultural and historical images. The exhibit delves into the interconnected reality of the past and the present for African American photography as well as concepts of identity and memory through visually theorizing the shifting relationships between black cultural memory and contemporary photographic storytelling

Willie Middlebrook Portraits of My People #246, 1991. Gelatin silver print © Collection of the artist, Long Beach, CA

Double Exposure presents the history of African American photography in thematic sections rather than a strict chronology. The major themes include: the influence of historical and family photography on contemporary African American art; the multiple uses of photographic appropriation, a technique that has been used since the 1970s to commemorate as well as to critique;

the importance of the portrait tradition in African American photography from the earliest studio portraits of the 19th century to the mural size color and digital portraits made today; and the influence of master photographers such as Augustus Washington and James Van Der Zee. The techniques represented in the exhibit include: daguerreotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite, traditional silver prints, Polaroids, digital prints, assemblage, and photographs printed on linen, wood and felt.

The works of a variety of African American photographers are represented; in addition to those mentioned earlier, also included are J. P. Ball, Napoleon Sarony, Cornelius Marion Battey and Addison Scurlock as well as contemporary photographers such as Leslie Hewitt, Carla Williams, Clarissa Sligh, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, Albert Chong, and Myra Greene. Varying greatly in age and life experiences, as well as having different artistic, photographic and cultural interests, these artists display the daily lives of African American individuals and families in the Antebellum and Post Antebellum periods across the United States. This exhibition displays a range of works that cover significant events and periods throughout the history of the African American community such as the Reconstruction period to the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. This exhibition was sponsored by Aetna.

About the David C. Driskell Center: The David C. Driskell Center celebrates the legacy of David C. Driskell – Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Art, Artist, Art Historian, Collector and Curator – by preserving the rich heritage of African American visual art and culture. The Driskell Center is committed to preserving, documenting and presenting African American art, as well as replenishing and expanding the field of African American art. This exhibition is supported in part, by a special fund from the Office of the President at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.

All exhibitions and events at the David C. Driskell Center are free and open to the public. The facility is wheelchair accessible. The Driskell Center Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 11:00am to 4:00pm with extended hours on Wednesday until 6:00pm. The Driskell Center observes all UMD closings including snow days and holidays; for closing due to Inclement Weather, visit www.umd.edu/umnews/weatherprocedures. For further information regarding this exhibition and future activities at the Driskell Center, please call 301.314.2615 or visit www.driskellcenter.umd.edu.

NEWS RELEASE Date: January 3, 2011 Contact: Ms. Dorit Yaron Title: Deputy Director Phone: 301.405.6835 Email: dyaron@umd.edu

Sleeping Through a Great Revolution

"Sleeping Through a Great Revolution" to be keynote address of Jan. 13th celebration of the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Sleeping Through a Great Revolution" will be the keynote address Thursday (Jan. 13) at a community celebration of the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Open to the public, the free 7 p.m. program will be held at West Virginia University at Parkersburg in the college's multi-purpose room.

The celebration is co-sponsored by DuPont Washington Works and WVU Parkersburg.

Keynote speaker will be Joseph Bundy, founder and artistic director of the Afro-Appalachian Performance Company.

The program will also feature performances by the Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus.

Bundy is an actor, writer and humanities scholar. He has been active in the arts in West Virginia and the mid-Appalachian region for several years. As a dramatist, Bundy has directed and performed in numerous plays for the Afro-Appalachian Performance Company and has been a guest artist for various theatrical groups.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus

He is known for his Chautauqua impersonations of James Weldon Johnson, Booker T. Washington, Martin R. Delany, A. Phillip Randolph and others. Bundy was selected by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission as one of five to receive the 2010 “Living the Dream Human and Civil Rights Award.” The Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus includes approximately 40 men, both clergy and lay leaders, from 26 denominationally diverse congregations from St. Albans to Oak Hill.

Under the direction of Marshall Murray, the ensemble sings both contemporary and traditional African-American gospel music.

Also, as part of the program, winners in student essay and art contests will be announced. A reception will follow in the multi-purpose room.

The program is being presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusion or recommendations do not necessarily represent those of the West Virginia Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 6, 2011

For additional information, contact: Connie Dziagwa WVU Parkersburg Executive Director. Institutional Advancement (304-424-8203 - Office) E-mail

Panel discussions to focus on legal issues, historical significance of UGA’s desegregation

Athens, Ga. – Two panel discussions on the University of Georgia’s desegregation 50 years ago will take place Jan. 10-11 on campus.

“We believe that it’s very important for students to know about this history—even though we are five decades removed from 1961,” said Derrick Alridge, director of the Institute for African American Studies and co-chair of the 50th Anniversary of Desegregation Committee. “The desegregation of UGA ushered in an era of change that paved the way for UGA to become a world-class university.”

A panel discussion about the legal issues involved in UGA’s desegregation and progress the university has made over the past five decades will be held Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. in Masters Hall of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.

Participants will include Horace Ward, the first African American to challenge UGA’s discriminatory admissions policies after being denied admission to the School of Law in 1950, and Robert Benham, who was one of the first African Americans to receive a law degree from UGA in 1970 and later became the first African-American chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

Horace T. Ward

Specifically, the group will discuss Ward’s experiences with his court case and the court case surrounding Hamilton Holmes’ and Charlayne Hunter-Gault’s 1959 application to UGA. Ward, currently a senior district judge, served on Holmes’ and Hunter-Gault’s legal team. He also is the first African American to sit on the federal bench in Georgia. “Horace Ward was the first African American to apply to the School of Law and his case helped pave the way for Hamilton and Charlayne’s case to come along a few years later,” Alridge said. The panel discussion “Chronicling UGA’s Desegregation” will be held Jan. 11 at 4:30 p.m. Room 101 of the Miller Learning Center.

It will feature five authors who have written about the desegregation. From UGA’s faculty, the authors are Maurice Daniels, dean of the School of Social Work, who wrote Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights Advocacy and Jurisprudence; Robert Pratt, a history professor who chronicled UGA’s desegregation in We Shall Not Be Moved; and Thomas Dyer, a history professor emeritus who included a chapter on the event in his bicentennial history of UGA.

Robert Cohen, professor of history and social studies at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, who also has written about UGA’s desegregation in the Georgia Historical Quarterly; and Calvin Trillin, who wrote An Education in Georgia and was a reporter for Time magazine at the time of the desegregation, also will participate in the discussion.

“These are the most prominent scholars on UGA’s desegregation,” said Alridge. “Their scholarship comprises the major historiography of UGA’s desegregation.”

Betty Jean Craige, director of the Willson Center for the Humanities and Arts and University Professor of Comparative Literature, will moderate the discussion. She will ask about the importance of UGA’s desegregation in the history of the university and higher education in the U.S., about students reaction to the presence of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes and about when white student attitudes toward black students and faculty begin to change.

For more information about the desegregation of UGA and anniversary events, see desegregation.uga.edu/.

South Mountain Community College annual production of Black Women Walking

SOUTH MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESENTS BLACK WOMEN WALKING ~ Popular Production Returns to Highlight Black History Month ~ Shows Set For Feb. 11-12, 2011

WHAT:

To observe and celebrate Black History Month, South Mountain Community College, the SMCC Black Student Union and Seek First Entertainment will present their third annual production of Black Women Walking, the popular one-act play spotlighting the achievements of eleven notable African-American women, February 11-12, 2011.

SYNOPSIS:

From the living room of three friends, playgoers venture back in time to meet such historic figures as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, and other Black heroines of history, and witness the courage, character, and brilliance of these women who impacted the American landscape with their powerful journeys toward freedom, justice and equality.

WHO:

Sojourner Truth

The play is written by Karen F. Williams and directed by Kevvin Taylor. The complete cast will be announced at a later date. WHEN: * Friday, February 11, 7 p.m. * Saturday, February 12, 7 p.m. WHERE: Black Women Walking will be presented in the South Mountain Community College Performance Hall, 7050 S. 24th Street in Phoenix, just north of Baseline Road.

TICKETS:

General admission tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and $5 for seniors age 55 and older.

INFORMATION:

* Call 602.315.8178 (Seek First Entertainment)

• Email smcc@smcmail.maricopa.edu
• Visit www.southmountaincc.edu

2011 Jan 04 For Immediate Release Contact: Robert Price (602) 243-8030 robert.price@smcmail.maricopa.edu

Civil Rights Icon Joins Speaker Series

Carlotta Walls LaNier who, along with eight other students, integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 at the age of 14, will speak at Fayetteville State Univeristy (FSU) on January 20, 2011. LaNier’s appearance is part of the Chancellor’s Speaker Series. The presentation begins at 6 p.m. and is fee and open to the public.

The oldest of three daughters, LaNier was born on December 18, 1942. She made history as the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine courageous African American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School. The world watched as these children and their families braved constant intimidation and threats.

Inspired by Rosa Parks and the desire to get the best education available, LaNier enrolled in Central High School. White students called her names and spat on her and armed guards escorted her to classes, but LaNier concentrated on her studies and protected herself throughout the school year. Governor Orval Faubus stopped the public schools from opening in September of 1958, and after a year of closure and controversy, the schools re-opened in 1959. LaNier returned to Central High, graduating in 1960.

Carlotta Walls LaNier

LaNier attended Michigan State University for two years before moving with her family to Denver. In 1968, she earned a B.S. from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and began working at the YWCA as a program administrator for teens. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage company. Her experience in real estate extends from constructing and remodeling properties to marketing and selling them. Cherry Creek Realtors hired her in 1987. LaNier was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1958. She has been a member of the Colorado Aids Project, Jack and Jill of America, the Urban League and the NAACP, as well as the president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African Americans.

She has also served as a trustee for the Iliff School of Theology. In 1999, President Bill Clinton bestowed the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. In 2009, LaNier completed her book, A Mighty Long Way, a biography with forward by Bill Clinton. LaNier and her husband, Ira

(Ike) LaNier, have two children, Whitney and Brooke.

FSU is the second-oldest public institution in North Carolina. A member of the University of North Carolina System, FSU has more than 6,300 students and offers degrees in 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Fayetteville State University News and Information For more information, please call (910) 672-1474.

IPFW Brings the Community Together for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Great music and an inspiring keynote speaker will mark Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne’s (IPFW) annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. In observance of the civil rights leader’s birthday, the IPFW Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will sponsor “Bringing the Community Together: A Discussion on Civility,” Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Auer Performance Hall in The Rhinehart Music Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Bishop John R. Bryant will serve as the keynote speaker. Bryant is the presiding prelate of the Fourth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), which includes AME Churches in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada. Bryant also led the initiative that planted AME churches in India.. He was a Martin Luther King Jr. Fellow and holds honorary doctorates from Paul Quinn College, Wilberforce University, Payne Theological Seminary, and Virginia Seminary. Ebony Magazine included him on its Honor Roll of Outstanding African American Preachers and 100 Most Influential Black Americans.

In addition to the keynote address, the world-renowned Wilberforce University Choir will perform.

The event is part of the week-long 2011 MLK Celebration “IPFW and Beyond.” The event is co-sponsored by the Turner Chapel, the Gomez Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the IPFW Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. For more information, e-mail Christopher W. Riley, assistant director of multicultural services and career and technical education coordinator, or call 260-481-6847 For Immediate Release.

Eating Less Healthy Fish May Contribute to America’s Stroke Belt

ST. PAUL, Minn. – People living in the “stroke belt” states eat more fried fish than people living in the rest of the country, which may contribute to the high rate of death from stroke in those states, according to a study published in the December 22, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Studies have shown that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish, especially fatty fish, may reduce the risk of stroke. Research has shown that frying fish leads to the loss of the natural fatty acids.

The study also found that African-Americans and people living in the stroke belt eat more fried fish than Caucasians and people living in the rest of the country. The stroke belt includes the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. People living in the stroke belt are more likely to die from a stroke than people living in other parts of the country.

“These differences in fish consumption may be one of the potential reasons for the racial and geographic differences in stroke incidence and mortality,” said study author Fadi Nahab of Emory University in Atlanta and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 21,675 people participating in the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, with an average age of 65. Of the participants, 21 percent were from the “stroke buckle,” which is the coastal plain region of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia with stroke mortality rates even higher than in the rest of the stroke belt.

Another 34 percent were from the rest of the stroke belt and 44 percent were from the other 40 contiguous states.

Participants were interviewed by phone and then given an in-home physical examination. They took a questionnaire asking how often they ate oysters, shellfish, tuna, fried fish and other fish not fried.

In the entire study, fewer than 1 in 4 participants consumed two or more servings of non-fried fish per week. The American Heart Association recommends that people eat fish at least two times per week with an emphasis on fatty fish. Those in the stroke buckle were 11 percent less likely to meet the recommendations than those in the rest of the country. Those in the rest of the stroke belt were 17 percent less likely than those in the rest of the country.

African-Americans were more than three-and-a-half times more likely to eat two or more servings of fried fish per week than Caucasians, with an overall average of 0.96 servings per week of fried fish for African-Americans compared to 0.47 servings for Caucasians.

Those in the stroke belt were 30 percent more likely to eat two or more servings of fried fish than those in the rest of the country. Those in the rest of the stroke buckle were 17 percent more likely to eat two or more servings of fried fish. Overall, those in the stroke belt ate an average of 0.68 servings per week, compared to 0.64 in the stroke buckle and 0.62 in the rest of the country. For non-fried fish, those in the stroke belt ate an average of 1.45 servings per week, compared to 1.52 servings in the stroke buckle and 1.63 servings in the rest of the country. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Funding was provided by General Mills for coding of the food frequency questionnaire.

The REGARDS study enrolled participants across the United States, age 45 or older, between January 2003 and October 2007.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 22,500 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.

Media Contacts Angela Babb Media & Public Relations Manager ababb@aan.com (651) 695-2789

Rachel Seroka Media & Public Relations Administrator rseroka@aan.com (651) 695-2738

IMAGE CREDIT: Army.mil Images Images on the Army Web site are cleared for release and are considered in the public domain. Request credit be given as "Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army" and credit to individual photographer whenever possible.

DU hosts events in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday

Dominican University will host a lecture, “Rivers, Waves and Dreams: Metaphors of the African American Sociohistorical Experience,” on Thursday, January 20 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday week. Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, president of the National Council for Black Studies, will present the lecture at 4:30 p.m. in Rosary Chapel, 7900 W. Division Street, River Forest.

Cha-Jua, associate professor of history and African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will discuss the river, waves and dream metaphors used by Langston Hughes, Vincent Harding, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The dream was King’s central metaphor for African Americans’ aspirations for freedom, justice and equality. Cha-Jua will look at how the river analogy applies to African Americans’ long, winding sojourn in the U.S. Cha-Jua argues that the modern Black liberation movement is best conceived as a series of dialectically related, surging waves whose advances are followed by the ebbing waters of retrenchment and regression.

Cha-Jua is the author of America’s First Black Town, Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915 (2000); Sankofa: Racial Formation and Transformation, Toward a Theory of African American History (2000); and co-editor of Race Struggles (2009). He serves on the editorial boards of The Black Scholars, Journal of African American Studies, and Journal of Black Studies.

Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

In addition to the lecture on January 20, Dominican will hold a panel discussion on “King’s Legacy: Civil and Political Rights and Nonviolent Resistance” on Tuesday, January 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the Rosary Chapel. Panelists will include Sister Clemente Davlin, professor emerita of English; Gilmer Cook, assistant professor of English; Hugh McElwain, professor of theology; Dianne Costanzo, lecturer in arts and sciences; and Megan Graves, class of 2014. The university will also participate in Chicago’s city-wide day of service on Monday, January 17. On Thursday, January 20, at 6:30 p.m., the university will host a spoken-word gathering for students and members of the community in the campus Underground.

Re-igniting the Dream will feature spoken-word performances inspired by King’s writings and speeches. A jury headed by Oak Park River Forest High School teacher Peter Kahn will award a $100 prize. For more information, contact Trudi Goggin, dean of students, at (708) 524-6822.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Janice Monti, chair of the sociology and criminology department, at (708) 524-6771 or janicemb@dom.edu.

Contact: Jessica Mackinnon jmack@dom.edu (708) 524-6289 December 28, 2010

Tying activity to spirituality may help some people be more active.PODCAST

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat. HHS HealthBeat Download MP3 for PODCAST

Tying activity to spirituality may help some people be more active. Researchers checked how that works by enrolling about 60 African-American women over 60 years old in physical activity programs through their churches.

For half of the women, the programs included Scripture readings that focused on making their lives better; the others got non-religious health material.

The researchers say the group that got Scripture did more walking at six months. O. Kenrik Duru at UCLA led the research, and says:

I’d really advise people to ask around. If it’s not in your church, then maybe a church in your community is offering physical activity with a faith-based component.’’ (7 seconds)

The study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at HHS.gov

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Statement by the President and First Lady on Kwanzaa

Michelle and I extend our warmest thoughts and wishes to all those who are celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season. Today is the first of a joyful seven-day celebration of African American culture and heritage. The seven principles of Kwanzaa -- Unity, Self Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith -- are some of the very values that make us Americans.

As families across America and around the world light the Kinara today in the spirit of umoja or unity, our family sends our well wishes and blessings for a happy and healthy new year.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 26, 2010.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, along with daughters Sasha and Malia, sing during services at St. Michael's Chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kailua, Hawaii, Dec. 26, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Smithsonian Acquires Rare “Black Wall Street” Film Depicting African American Life in Tulsa

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History recently acquired a collection of home movies filmed by the Rev. Harold M. Anderson of Tulsa, Okla. Dating from 1948-1952, the 16 mm film reel shot by the original camera over many years documents Tulsa’s Black Wall Street neighborhood. That section of Tulsa was devastated by a 1921 race riot that left 85 people dead and many buildings destroyed. The Rev. Anderson captured a vibrant and entrepreneurial African American community, revived and thriving almost 30 years after the riot.

Called Black Wall Street because of its prominence within the community, the footage highlights the African American-owned businesses, schools and community organizations that fostered prosperity and promoted pride among the citizens of the neighborhood. The film was donated by the Rev. Anderson’s family through his daughter Pat Sanders. It will be preserved in the museum’s Archives Center, alongside other collections documenting the African American experience, including the extensive collection of materials from the Scurlock photo studio of Washington, D.C. After conservation treatment the film will be available to researchers and scholars.

“This footage is especially important because it looks at the Black Wall Street community through a personal lens,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum.

Tulsa’s Black Wall Street neighborhood.

“It is rare because so few African American home movies from that time period exist, and it provides viewers with less-mediated footage and an insight into the interdependence of this community.” The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro lunch counter sit-in, the museum explores stories of freedom and justice, both in Washington and online. To learn more about the museum, check americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000, (202) 633-5285 (TTY). # # # SI-153-2010

Media only Valeska Hilbig (202) 633-3129

2011 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series Explores 'Beauty and the Black Body'

NEWARK, NJ – The evolution in the concepts of black beauty – and how they have changed over time – will be explored at the 2011 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series. New Jersey’s largest and most prestigious conference commemorating Black History Month celebrates its 31st anniversary on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at the Paul Robeson Campus Center on the Rutgers University’s Newark Campus. It is free and open to the public.

Next year’s program entitled Beauty and the Black Body: History, Aesthetics, and Politics will examine how the presence and persistence of African Americans in the United States have challenged and reshaped notions of beauty, especially in the realms of art, popular culture, and photography. Deborah Willis, professor of photography at New York University, will give The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Saturday morning, in conjunction with her current exhibition Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present. Richard Powell from Duke University, whose research examines race and representation in the African diaspora, will comment on Professor Willis’ lecture.

At the time of the MTW conference, Posing Beauty 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 at The Newark Museum to view the Posing Beauty exhibition and enjoy live musical entertainment by The Bradford Hayes Trio.

Pickin', by Lauren Kelley (1999)

The MTW afternoon session features three distinguished speakers who will further examine the theme of Beauty and the Black Body from their perspectives: Professor Maxine Craig from the University of California at Davis who will draw on her scholarship in the field of gender and race studies; Professor Tiffany Gill, from the University of Texas, Austin, whose scholarship looks at the emergence and importance of the black beauty industry in modern African American life and politics; and Dr. Okwui Enwezor, an internationally preeminent scholar, art critic and curator of African art.

During a special presentation, Dr. Marc Mappen, historian and former executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission, will receive the second Marion Thompson Wright Award in recognition of his steadfast support, and the Commission’s co-sponsorship, of the Series since its inception. The inaugural award was presented to Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, in 2007.

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, from the 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 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series is a civic ritual without peer,” according to Dr. Price. “It is also a prominent symbol of civic engagement, public scholarship at a very high level, and community endearment to lifelong learning.”

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 served for many years on the faculty of Howard University. An honors graduate of Newark’s Barringer High School and Columbia University’s Teachers College Class of 1938, she 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 2011 conference receives additional support from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, and the Rutgers Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes.

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

College of Human Medicine sponsors MLK program on health equity

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Khan Nedd, an internal medicine physician in Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, will discuss the importance and hurdles of providing care to the medically underserved as part of the college's annual program honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Nedd, whose program is called "Health Equity: Providing Quality Care to the Underserved in Our Communities," will speak at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at 130 Secchia Center in Grand Rapids. The event will be simulcast to MSU's East Lansing campus in A133 Life Sciences Building.

Nedd, a 1986 alumnus of the College of Human Medicine, also serves as chairperson of the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute and medical director for Hospitalists of West Michigan. ###

Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.

Contact: Jason Cody, University Relations, Office: (517) 432-0924, Cell: (734) 755-0210, Jason.Cody@ur.msu.edu