MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at (847) 491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

February 10, 2004

Northwestern Celebrates Black History Month

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University has scheduled an array of programs during February and early March in honor of Black History Month.

This year, Northwestern’s African American Student Affairs office celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation Supreme Court ruling by presenting a series of lectures, discussions and programs that encourage thought, reflection and action.

Events are free, unless otherwise noted, and are open to the public. Here are some of the month’s highlights of programs scheduled for the Evanston campus.

• Through Tuesday, Feb. 10, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center. 1999 Campus Drive, “Pandemic Imaging AIDS” exhibition. This traveling education exhibition of 30 photographs by award winning photographers and artists is aimed at increasing awareness of the global AIDS crisis. Based on the book published by Umbrage Editions and Moxie Firecracker Films, with essays by Kofi Annan, Nadine Gordimer, Rory Kennedy, Nan Richardson and Jeffrey Sach, this compelling and provocative exhibition uses the experience of people living with AIDS as the backdrop for the story. For more information, call (847) 491-2300.

• Through Sunday, March 28, Alsdorf Gallery, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, “Lorna Simpson: 31” exhibition. Since the 1980s, Lorna Simpson has engaged the collective social invisibility of the African American female as the subject of her photographs, installations and film. “Lorna Simpson: 31” is a recent film installation that tracks one month in the life of an unknown woman seen in a grid of 31 video monitors. For more information, call (847) 491-4000 or visit www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.

• 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, Fireside, “Facing AIDS in Our Community.” In collaboration with the Dittmar Gallery exhibition “Pandemic Imaging AIDS” this fireside will address the issues of this disease as it relates to our campus and surrounding communities. A reception will follow. Seating is limited. For more information, call (847) 491-2348.

• 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, Mussetter-Struble Theatre, Theatre and Interpretation Center, 1949 Campus Drive, Performance of “James Baldwin: Down from the Mountaintop.” Tony Award nominated actor Calvin Levels wrote and portrays James Baldwin in this one-man play about the life of this critically acclaimed writer. The play traces Baldwin’s life from his early childhood in Harlem as a young minister, to his friendships and relationships with Richard Wright, Norman Mailer, Lorraine Hansberry, and others. It also addresses his association with Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, and others active in the civil rights movement. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Call (847) 491-5122.

• 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, Leverone Hall, Owen L. Coon Forum Auditorium, 2001 Sheridan Road, Panel Discussion: “Perspectives on Brown v. Board of Education.” Members of the Northwestern community will offer legal interpretations and personal opinions on Browns v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the landmark Supreme Court case intended to end segregation in American public schools. Panelists also will address post-decision implications for local School District 65 and other communities. The panel moderator is Loren Ghiglione, dean of the Medill School of Journalism. Panelists include Lawrence Lavengood, Kellogg Professor Emeritus and former member of School District 65 (Evanston); Michael Powell, director of Equal Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Labor Relations; Arin Reeves, principal consultant, The Athens Group, Chicago, and faculty, African American Studies; and Dorothy Roberts, professor, Northwestern University School of Law and the Institute for Policy Research. A question-and-answer period follows the discussion.

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, African American Student Affairs, 1914 Sheridan Road. “The Written Word: Understanding The Keys To Success in Publishing Your Own Literary Works.” Pameshia Jones, sales and marketing assistant for Northwestern University Press, and Tonika Johnson, editor and publisher of Earthtone magazine, will share their expertise on how to navigate through the world of publishing.

• Feb. 12 through March 17, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, ”Views of the American Food Chain” exhibition. Chicago food and restaurant photographer Eric Futran presents a series of black and white photos documenting scenes and people involved in the business of bringing America’s food to the table. Chicago locations include Gladys’ Restaurant on West Madison and Taste of Chicago. For gallery hours, call (847) 491-2300.

• 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, Annenberg Hall, 2120 Campus Drive, Room G21, Talk by Haki Madhubuti, “Running Toward Fear: A Poet’s Response to War & The Black Situation.” Born in Detroit, Haki Madhubuti, chief executive office and founder of Third World Press, founded Third World Press in 1967. Located on the south side of Chicago, Third World Press has become a major publisher of African and African American poetry. Madhubut, a poet and author of 22 books, also is director of the Gwendolyn Books Center and professor of English at Chicago State University.

• 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, McCormick Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive, Talk by Felipe Luciano, “Building Diverse and Multicultural Communities.” As founder and chairman of the Young Lords Party, Felipe Luciano has impacted culture and society from New York to Puerto Rico. Whether it is becoming the first Puerto Rican news anchor on network television or sharing with audiences his adept oratorical skills through spoken word and rap as a member of the original Last Poets, Luciano is always on the cusp of the cutting-edge trends.

• 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, McCormick Tribune Center Forum, Crain Lecture Series. Juan Williams, senior correspondent for National Public Radio and political analyst for Fox Television, will deliver a lecture titled “Brown v. The Board of Education 50 Years Later” as part of the Crain Lecture Series. A former prize-winning columnist and editorial writer for The Washington Post, Williams is author of “This Far by Faith,” an examination of the African American religious experience. His critically acclaimed biography of Thurgood Marshall, “Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary” is being reissued this year with a new epilogue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Brown decision. For information, call (847) 491-5401.

• 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, “Views of the American Food Chain” exhibition reception.

• 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Recital by Toni-Marie Montgomery, piano; Anthony Elliott, cello. Northwestern School of Music Dean and pianist Toni-Marie Montgomery is a founding member of the Black Music Repertory Ensemble of Columbia College Chicago, which performs works by African American composers and promotes appreciation of black musical traditions. With cellist Anthony Elliott -- a University of Michigan professor who has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and others -- she will perform three works featured on their recent compact disc, “Music for Cello and Piano by African American Composers.” The duo will also play Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor. Tickets $4 to $8.50.

• Noon, Thursday, Feb. 19, African American Student Affairs. 1914 Sheridan Road, Dwight N. Hopkins, professor of theology, University of Chicago Divinity School, “Keeping the Dream Alive: Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr. for Today.” Professor Hopkins will discuss his work and the impact of the spiritual legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. An ordained American Baptist minister, he is the author of a number of books on Black Theology including “Shoes That Fit our Feet: Sources for a Constructive Black Theology” (1993) and “Heart and Head: Black Theology – Past, Present and Future” (2002). 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19; 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20; and 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, Shanley Pavilion, 2031 Sheridan Rd., “Out Da Box,” African American Theatre Ensemble’s Annual Comedy Review and Improv. This annual sketch comedy show is written, produced and performed by students. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. For information, call (847) 491-36

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, Leverone Hall, Owen L. Coon Forum Auditorium, 2001 Sheridan Road, Dr. David Satcher, director of the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine and former U.S. Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health, ”Healthy People 2010.” Dr. Satcher, who also previously served as the director of the Center for Disease Control, will talk about where the nation’s healthcare system is heading next. He will participate in a question and answer session.

• 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, Annenberg Hall, 2120 Campus Drive, Room G21, “Model” Minority meets the “Real” Minority Speakers Series, Diane Fujino, Professor of Asian American Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. Professor Diane Fujino will open the series with a presentation examining the experiences between Asian and black Americans during the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on Asian and black radicals of the civil rights era: Yuri Kochiyama, Malcolm X, Richard Aoki and the Black Panther Party.

• 6 p.m. Saturday, March 6, Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Northwestern Community Ensemble (NCE) Winter Gospel Concert. The voices of the Northwestern Community Ensemble will be joined by guest gospel artists Ray Bady and Percy Bady, Marvin Sapp of Detroit, and Virtue, a Tennessee gospel group. Admission is free to Northwestern students, faculty and staff members with WILDcards; $5 for the general public.

For more information about all of the planned events, visit http://www.northwestern.edu/aasa/.