The University Record, January 30, 1995
Asa Hilliard to kick off Black History Month events
By Bernie DeGroat
News and Information Services
Asa G. Hilliard, professor of urban education at Georgia State University, will launch a series of activities for the University’s Black History Month celebration with a free, public lecture titled “The Bell Curve: Fact or Myth?” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Michigan Union Ballroom.
Hilliard, an educational psychologist and historian, is a King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Professor. He also is the author of The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization.
“Dr. Hilliard is known throughout the nation for his work in African and African American history,” says John H. Matlock, director, Office of Academic and Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI). “Given the controversy around the book The Bell Curve, we look forward to using his expertise as a historian to counter the false assumptions put forth by the authors of that book.”
His talk is sponsored by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (CAAS), Office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs, OAMI, King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Professors Program and Office of Minority Engineering Programs.
Other Black History Month events include:
- A lecture by U-M alumnus and state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith, the first African American state senator in Michigan to serve a district (Washtenaw County area) outside of metropolitan Detroit, at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Michigan League Ballroom.
- A talk by Sister Souljah on her book No Disrespect at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at Borders Books and Music, second floor. Call (313) 668-7652 for information. Sponsored by Borders.
- The 1995 Zora Neale Hurston Lecture by Geneva Smitherman, professor of English at Michigan State University, at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Rackham Building Amphitheater. Author of Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America, she will discuss “From the Hood to the Amen Corner: African-American English, Attitudes and Public Policy.” Sponsored by CAAS.
- A brown-bag discussion on “Living for the City: Race, Gender and Economic Equality” by Irene Brown, associate professor of sociology at Emory University, at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Robert E. Hayden Lounge, 111 West Engineering Building. Sponsored by CAAS; School of Social Work; Women’s Studies Program and Program on Poverty, the Underclass and Public Policy.
- Ann Arbor African American Fair, featuring student entrepreneurs, businesses and health care booths, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Michigan Union Ballroom.
- A talk by Michael Awkward, director of CAAS and associate professor of English and of Afroamerican and African studies, on his book, Negotiating Difference: Race, Gender and the Politics of Positionality, at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Robert E. Hayden Lounge, 111 West Engineering Building.
- A viewing and discussion of the videotaped satellite conference, “Black Studies at the Crossroads,” at 4 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Robert E. Hayden Lounge, 111 West Engineering Building.
- Art exhibition and symposium, “We Who Believe … Songs of Our Fathers: Double Consciousness and Africentricity in the Visual Arts,” Feb. 12&endash;13 in the CAAS Gallery, 200 West Engineering Building.
- Discussion with director Pratibha Parmar and viewing of “Warrior Marks,” his film about female genital mutilation, at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at 1300 Chemistry Building. Sponsored the Women’s Studies Program, International Institute and CAAS.
All events are free to the public. For more information, call CAAS, 764-5513, or OAMI, 936-1055.
