Black Studies Program
Black Aspirations Calendar
Celebration
April 22 - 29, 2006
<Photo Library | Calendar | Reports
Black
Studies Program
is proud to announce
Black Aspirations Celebration Week
This year's theme is
“IMANI”
a Kwanzaa principle meaning “FAITH.”
A Cleveland State University tradition for 33 years, Black Aspirations Celebration brings together contemporary social, political, and economic issues. All are welcome to learn and participate as we identify, examine, analyze, and reflect upon responsible actions for the growth and development of the African American community, while celebrating our unique blend of cultural arts and entertainment including lectures, speakers, workshops, seminiars, performers, film series and a community dinner.
Black
Aspirations Celebration is one of the six instruments
of the CSU Black Studies Program whose
mission is to provide opportunities for the entire University
and Metropolitan communities
to acquire greater knowledge and appreciation of the history,
life, all aspects of the arts,
culture and experiences of peoples of African descent.
We invite you to review Black
Aspirations 2004 and Black
Aspirations 2005.
All events for this University and community collaboration are free and open to the public unless otherwise
noted.
For further information, call the Black Studies Program
at 216-687-3655.
The
Black Studies Program presents
the 33rd Annual CSU Black Aspirations Celebration
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
IMANI focuses on honoring the best of African-American traditions by striving for a higher level of life for humankind and by affirming the self-worth and confidence in the ability of Black people to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.
Each day of Black Aspirations, those revolutionary spirits who changed the world through their FAITH are honored and celebrated. Please joine us as we recognize "the FAITH that the dark past has taught us... and the hope that the present has brought us."
Saturday,
April 22
Robert F. Williams and Mabel R.
Williams
Robert
Williams married Mabel Robinson in 1955. She participated actively
in all his subsequent civil rights and political endeavors. He
served as president of the Monroe, NC chapter of the NAACP from
1956 to 1959 when he was suspended for initiating armed resistance
to Ku Klux Klan violance. Subsequestnly, he and his family fled
the US and lived in exile in Cuba from 1961 to 1966. There, he
and Mabel continued their anti-racist commitment and activities
through the publication of the Crusader, and Radio
Free Dixie, which broadcast to the US. In 1962, his book Negro With Guns, was published. In 1964 he was designated
the "leader in exile" of the Revolutionalry Action Movement
(RAM). The Williams family moved to China in 1966. The Rpublic
of New Africa (RNA), a black nationalist organization, elected
him as their exiled president in 1986. He returned to the US in
1969 and resigned as the RNA's president because of internal discord.
Robert and Mabel continued their political activism by participated
in the People's Association for Human Rights and the Newaygo/Lake
Michigan NAACP chapter.
DEACONS
FOR DEFENSE Movie
Levin College, Bonda Board Room, Rm 254, 2 pm
1717 Euclid Avenue
18TH
ANNUAL CURTIS WILSON SCHOLARSHIP FUND DINNER * +
Wolstein Convocation Center, 6:30 pm
Tickets $40, call 216-687-2048
2000 Prospect Avenue
FIFTY
YEARS BEYOND BANDUNG:
THE LINKAGES BETWEEN ASIA, AFRICAN AND THE DIASPORA+
^
4/21 Dr. Ali A. Mazrui, SUNY, Binghamton, CSU College of Law, 7 pm
4/22 Dr. Yang Banyun,
Peking U., P.R. of China, Levin College Atrium,
8:30 am
Kwame
Nyamekye, Indegenous Aboriginal Order,
Levin College, Atrium 10 am-12 pm
Prof.
John Bracey, Jr., U. of Massachusetts, Levin
College Atrium,
11:30 am
Sunday, April 23
El Hajj El Malik (Malcolm X) Shabazz
and Betty S. Shabazz
Malcolm X and Betty (Sander) X
were married on January 14, 1958. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken
Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader
Marcus Garvey. When Malcolm was a child his father was murdered
by white supremists. Exposing racism, its causes, pervasiveness,
and effects became a focal point in his later life. While in jail
for burglery, Malcolm was introducted by his brother Rginald to
the teaching of Elijah Muhammad. Upon his release Malcolm rose
to become the national spokesperson, dedicated separatist, top
Minister in the Nation of Islam, and a media magnet. Betty, a
sheltered, adopted child, attended Tuskegee Institute and later
became a nurse in New York City where she met Malcolm. She later
became a Muslim. Malcolm's Hajj created a shift in his perspective
and he dedicated himself to a more global ideal. This change eventually
attributed to his growing disappointment with the Nation and Muhammad's
allegedly nefarious lifestyle causing him to split from the organization.
After leaving the Nation and Muhammad in 1964, Malcom and Betty
X changed their surname name to Shabazz. In 1965 Malcom was gunned
down in front of his pregnant wife and four children by members
of the Nation. Betty was catipulted into American consciousness. After
her own trip to Mecca, Betty remembered the words of Malcolm when
he spoke of the possibility of his murder, "Don't look back,
and don't cry." This gave her strength. She
raised six children while returning to school earning a doctorate
in education at the University of Massachusetts. She worked as
an administrator at Medger Evers College in Brooklyn and traveled widely speaking on civil rights
and racial tolerance. She later died after subcoming to injuries substained in a fire
set by her grandson. Malcome is noted for his quote: "By
Any Means Necessary."
THE
COVENANT WITH BLACK AMERICA Video and Discussion
Moderator: Dr. Dwayne Wright
Panel: Debra Jamie Upton, Rayshawn
Davis, Dwight Sutherland
Cleveland Public Library, Glenville
Branch, 2 pm
11900 St. Clair Avenue
Monday,
April 24
Medger W. Evers and Myrlie B. Evers Williams
Medger Evers and Myrlie Beasley
were married in 1951. He was refused admission to the University
of Mississippi Law School despite the 1954 Superme Court decision
declaring school segreagation to be unconstitutional. Megar was
the first appointed NAACP Mississippi field secreatry in 1954;
Myrlie became his secreatry. Together, they became high-profile
leaders in the civil rights movement in Mississippi spanning nearly
a decade, from 1954 until 1963. Their efforts resulting in James
Meredith's admission to the University of Mississippi in 1962.
Medgar was murdered in his driveway on June12, 1963. Myrlie led
the thirty plus year effort to have his murderer convicted and
she succeeded in 1994. In 1968, she was the
first African American woman to be appointed to
the five member Los Angeles, California Board of Public Works.
In 1975, she married Walter Williams, who died of cancer in 1995.
That same year, she became the first woman to chair the NAACP
board, and in 1999 she published her memoirs, Watch Me Fly:
What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to
Be.
Shaker
Heights High School
SANKOFA PRODUCTION (Mixed
Media)
University Center, Auditorium, Rm 6, 12 Noon
2121 Euclid Avenue
SANKOFA Movie
(Popcorn and door prize)
University Center, Rm 201, 2 pm
COMMUNITY DINNER
Entertainment includes Actress Sherrie
Tolliver
Widows of the Martyrs: Amy, Myrlie and
Betty
University Center, Rm 201, 4-7 pm
SANKOFA
FINE ART PLUS
The Mural Project
All
participants of the Community Dinner will have a chance to contribute
to the painting of a mural that embodies the last principle of
Kwanza, Imani (Faith). Two (2) artists from the Greater Cleveland
area will come together and design a mural the community will
paint that will be displayed for the remainder of the week long
celebration.
University Center, Rm 201, 4-7 pm
JAZZ
HERITAGE ORCHESTRA with
CSU JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Drinko Hall, 8 pm
2001 Euclid Avenue
Tuesday,
April 25
Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Amy Jacques
Garvey
Amy
Jacques became the second wife of Marcus Garvey when they were
married on July 27, 1922. Born in Jamaica, both were dedicated
throughout their lives for Universal African Liberation and advancement.
They were relentless enemies of colonialsim and neo-coloniealism,
committed to race first, self-reliance and nationahood. Amy, who
came to the US in 1917, was one of the pioneer Black female journalist
and publishers of the 20th centery. From its inception in 1918,
she was involved with publishing the Negro World, a weekly newspaper
in Harlem with, its publisher, the Right Honorable Marcus Garvey,
UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) -ACL (African Communities
League) President General. In 1920, the newspaper claimed a circulationof
more than 50,000. Marcus came to the U.S. in 1916 to lecture and
tour, but stayed until he was deported in 1927. With the motto,
"One God! One Aim! One Desticy!", the UNIA sought to
unite "all the people of African ancestry of the world into
one great body to establish a country and Government absolutely
their own." By 1920, the association boasted over 1,100 branhces
in more than 40 countries.
BRO.
ABDUL QAHHAR and DR.
MARK CHRISTIAN
Garvey and Community Activism
University Center, Rm 103, 12 Noon
BRO.
KHALID SAMAD
Community Activism Workshops
• Passing the Baton
• Eldership and African Perspective
• Intergenerational Collaborations
University Center, Rm 103, 1-4 pm
DR.
MARK CHRISTIAN
Department of Sociology and Black World Studies Program
Miami University-Hamilton
“Lost” UNIA Parade
in Columbus, Ohio: September 25, 1923
University Center, Rm 103, 7 pm
Wednesday,
April 26
Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Ferdinand
L. Barnett
Ida B. Wells married Attorney Ferdinand
Barnett in 1895. She was a fearless anti-lynching crusader, suffragist,
women's rights advocate, teacher, speaker and jounalist. In
Memphis, she became a public figure at age 25 by successfully
sueing a local railway for forcibly removing her from a train
when she refused to give her seat to a white man. The decision
was later appealled and overtuned. Using
the pen, Ida documented and spoke-out against lynching, segreagation,
and economic terrorism, while championing voting rights for women.
Forced to move, after a white mob destroyed her printing press,
she settled in Chicago where she met Ferdinand, himself a rights
advocate and founder of the first African American newsspaper
in Chicago. Together, they published the Chicago Conservator and continued the campaign against lynching and Jim Crow laws. Not tolerating any injustice,
in 1913 while demonstrating for universal suffrage, she refused
to march at the back of the demonstration with other black delegrates.
A friend to DuBois and foe to Washington, Ida was one of the founders
of the NAACP. She was one of the first Black women to run for
public office in the United States. Ida wrote about this in her
autobiography, Crusade for Justice.
D.
AKIL HOUSTON
Doctoral Student, Cultural Studies
in Education
Ohio University-Athens
Mass Media and the Hiphop Generation
University Center, Rm 103, 12 noon
Dance
performance by the
Hip Hop Dance Company
OMACR
Multicultural Student Reception +
(Following lecture)
University Center, Rm 103, 1:30 pm
POETRY SLAM
Host, Kisha Foster
University Center, Rm 103, 6 pm
Thursday,
April 27
Shirley Graham Dubois and W.E.B.
Dubois
As
a young widow, Shirly Graham (author, playwright, composer and
activist) married William Edward Burghardt DuBois (scholar, activist,
organizer, father of the Pan African Movement) in 1951. She moved
to Paris in 1929 to study music composition. She received her
Bachelors (1934) and Masters (1935) at Oberlin College. In 1936,
she managed the Chicago Federal Theater. Among her plays are Coal
Dust, I Gotta Home, and Dust to Earth. Later
taught at Morgan College in Baltimore and the Agricultural and
Industrial State College in Nashville. She became a citizen of
Ghana in 1961. W.E. B. organized the Niagra Movement, which later
merged to become the NAACP. Educated at Fisk College, Harvard
University and the University of Berlin in Germany. He was the
first Black to secure a Ph.D. from Harvard University. W.E.B.
sought to discover the "cure" for color prejudice. He
is the author of the Souls of Black Folk, argued for the
outlawing of atomic weapons, and developed the concepts of the
"Talented Tenth" and Double consciousness.
STEPHANIE
HARBIN
Harbin Training Group
Come Out of Your Shell:
Career and Personal Development Workshop
(Lunch provided)
University Center, Rm 103, 12 – 3 pm
DR.
REILAND RABAKA
Department of Ethnic Studies
University of Colorado at Boulder
The Souls of Black Radical Folks
East Cleveland Public Library, 7 pm
14101 Euclid Avenue
Friday, April 28
Paul L. Robeson and Eslanda Goode-Robeson
MSIA
KIBONA CLARK
Uganda Country Specialist for Amnesty International
SOLDIER CHILD: Lord’s Resistance
Army Movie and Discussion
University Center, International Auditorium, Rm
1, 12 noon
AFRICA
IS A CONTINENT, NOT A COUNTRY!!!
African Student Association Education Display
University Center 103, 11 am – 3 pm
A PANTHER IN AFRICA Movie
(Popcorn and door prize)
University Center, Rm 103, 6 pm
Saturday,
April 29
Ruby (Dee) Wallace-Davis and Raiford
C. (Ossie) Davis
Ruby Wallace married Raiford Chatman
Davis in 1948. She graduated from Hunter College. Ruby won the
Obie award for the title role in Boesman and Lena . She
won the Drama Desk Award, the Ace Awared and was nominated for
several Emmys, winning one in 1991. She starred in several films
by Spike Lee, and several plays and films with her husband with
whom she co-authored With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together.
Ossie made his film debut as an actor in 1950 in Sidney Poitier's No Way Out. He directed his first feature film, Cotton
Comes to Harlem, in 1970. Ossie was the first African American
to dierct a feature film, Countdown at Duani, with Black
profesisonal in Africa. He is one of the first African American
film directors, and one of the few African American actors to
have commercial success. Ossie was the recipient of the Kennedy
Center Honors in 2004 and named NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame
in 1989.
SANKOFA
FINE ART PLUS
Artist Development Workshop
A free workshop geared towards the art of business and the business
of making art. Come and gain access to information leave with
knowledge and insight into an organization that wants to propel
all of their artists to the highest level of their profession.
Art Gallery 202 and 208, 12:30 – 4 pm
2307 Chester Avenue
DREAM
ON MONKEY MOUNTAIN *
Black Studies and Mali Yetu Fundraiser
Jelliffe Theatre - Karamu House, 8pm
Tickets $35 call 216-687-3655
2355 East 89th Street
ALL
EVENTS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, except where indicated *
+ Event sponsored by other office, department and/or organization
^ Staff Development Program available for CSU employees
Call
216-687-3566 for more information.
Visit our website at www.csuohio.edu/blackstudies
- Mission Instruments
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- Black Aspirations
- Howard A. Mims African-American Cultural Center
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Black Studies Program
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Avenue, MC 137
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
Main Classroom Plaza 137
1899 E. 22nd Street
Phone: 216.687.3655
Fax: 216.687.5446
r.r.carter@csuohio.edu