Santiago keynote speaker for Racial Legacies town meeting

January 30, 2007

Journalist and author Roberto Santiago of the Miami (Florida) Herald will be the keynote speaker at the 17th Racial Legacies & Learning town meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 22, in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center. The focus of the meeting is poverty and social justice.

The program will include reactions to Santiago’s presentation by a diverse panel of civic leaders, community members, educators and students, followed by a question-and-answer session and book signing. Dr. Mark Christian, Associate Professor of Sociology and Black World Studies at Miami Hamilton, will serve as moderator.

A native of Spanish Harlem, Santiago has amassed an impressive body of work as a reporter and editor for Emerge magazine, Cleveland Plain Dealer, New York Daily News and the Miami Herald, where he currently works as a senior staff writer.

In 1995, Santiago published the widely-respected anthology Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writings.

Santiago is passionate about issues of poverty and social justice. He acknowledges that his interest in covering the poverty beat as a reporter stems from his own experiences growing up poor in Spanish Harlem.

“At the heart of the racial legacies series of town meetings is an attempt to create dialogue that can enhance and improve race relations in our local communities and American society as a whole, “ said Jimmie Jones, Director of Multicultural Services at Miami Hamilton.

The program is produced by Miami Hamilton and the City of Hamilton Department of Human Relations, with major sponsorship provided by The JournalNews, the City of Fairfield, Fort Hamilton Hospital, Hamilton Community Foundation, Neighborhood Housing Service of Hamilton and the YWCA of Hamilton.

In conjunction with the Racial Legacies town meeting, the 7th annual African American Student Leadership Summit also will take place at Miami Hamilton on February 23-24.

Activities on Friday, February 23 will include a tour of the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

The summit concludes with A Taste of Soul from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, February 24, in the Wilks Conference Center. The public is invited. Cost is $10 per person, $8 for senior citizens and children.

For more information, contact Katina Chandler, Miami Hamilton Office of Multicultural Services, 513-785-3024, chandlkl@muohio.edu.