| Miami University Hamilton welcomes
Dr. Maulana Karenga as the keynote speaker for
Racial Legacies and Learning XIII: How To Talk
About Race, a town hall meeting to be held Thursday,
February 17, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Parrish
Auditorium.
Widely known as the creator of Kwanzaa, Karenga
studies the plight of urban African American
youth as professor and chair of the Department
of Black Studies at California State University
in Long Beach. He also is an author of numerous
scholarly articles and 12 books.
According to Jimmie Jones, co chair of the
Racial Legacies Committee and director of Miami
Hamilton’s Multicultural Center, “statistics
throughout the United States clearly indicate
the major problem with urban violence and the
premature death of many young African Americans.
During the town hall meeting, Karenga will not
only discuss the problem, but offer some solutions.” |
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| In addition, Karenga
welcomes M. K. Asante, Jr., who will bring to
the discussion a younger generation perspective.
At 23, Asante, Jr. is an award-winning author
and filmmaker. His first book, a collection
of poems entitled Like Water Running Off My
Back, received the American Academy of Poets
Jean Corrie Prize in 2002. He wrote the screenplay
for the soon-to-be released film 500 Years Later,
a film by Owen ‘Alik Shahadah. Miami Hamilton
will show a special FREE screening of the film
Friday, February 18, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30
p.m. in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center.
Culminating the evening, the Racial Legacies
committee will announce this year’s recipients
of the Best Practices Awards to be given to
local organizations and businesses who strive
to examine their own biases; work to overcome
them; set positive examples for their family,
friends, and co-workers; work for tolerance;
and take leadership roles against hate and injustice.
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