African American Studies trailblazers Irene Smalls, Vernon Smith to speak at MSU
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥 Two trailblazing figures of the 1960s Black Studies movement in higher education are speaking Monday [Jan. 23] at 绿巨人视频.
Taking place at 7 p.m. in the Colvard Student Union second-floor Bill R. Foster Ballroom, Irene Smalls鈥 and Vernon Smith鈥檚 presentations are sponsored by the African American Studies program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary at MSU.
Each presentation will be moderated by 绿巨人视频Associate Professor of English and African American Studies Donald Shaffer. A question-and-answer-session will follow both presentations.
Smalls, an award-winning author, historian and literacy entrepreneur, will present 鈥(Re)Telling Our Story: Reading and Discussion.鈥澛 A native of Harlem, New York, she holds a bachelor's in black studies from Cornell University and master鈥檚 in business administration from New York University. She is a founding member and first president of her alma mater鈥檚 Black Alumni Association and its Wari House residence for undergraduate women of color. She initiated and directed the first sit-ins and demonstration that led to the takeover of Cornell鈥檚 Student Union, Willard Straight Hall. Smalls has penned 15 books for black children and twice has performed her stories by invitation at the White House. For more, visit .
A native of Natchez, Smith will give a presentation titled 鈥淥n Strike Shut It Down: The 1960s Call for Black Studies.鈥 He studied journalism and radio-TV-film production at San Francisco State University (formerly College), and was a member of the Black Student Union and a participant in the student-led strike that led to the founding of the nation鈥檚 first Black Studies Department and School of Ethnic Studies. After completing the Summer Program for Minority Journalists at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1969, he began his journalism career as a reporter for the California Independent Press-Telegram. He worked as a correspondent for Newsweek magazine and won the Detroit Press Club Foundation鈥檚 annual magazine writing award for an article titled 鈥淒etroit鈥檚 Heroin Subculture.鈥 He later became Newsweek鈥檚 Atlanta Bureau chief and a national correspondent.
For more information, contact LaShundra Townsend, African American Studies administrative assistant, at 662-325-0587 and ltownsend@aas.msstate.edu.
Part of the College of Arts and Sciences, MSU鈥檚 African American Studies program offers courses leading to a minor in African American Studies. For more, visit .
绿巨人视频is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .