Black
Cultural Conference to be held at UNM
UNMs
first annual Black Cultural Conference, sponsored by African
American Student Services (AASS) and the Black Student Union
(BSU), will be held Thursday, Oct. 9 through Sunday, Oct. 12,
in the UNM Student Union Building.
Aspects
of African American life including art, music, language, dress,
values, food and history will be explored.
While
people of African American descent constitute only three percent
of New Mexicos population, our goal is to expose participants
to African American culture in a regional context and to instill
a renewed sense of pride in our heritage and contributions to
the state and country, said Jocelyn Gamble Mims, AASS
senior student program advisor.
The conference
will feature several speakers including Bakari Kitwana, Tajuana
TJ Butler, Steve Birdine, and Frederick Gooding,
Jr., esquire.
Kitwana,
author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the
Crisis in African American Culture, will speak Friday,
Oct. 10, at a noon luncheon. Former executive editor of The
Source: the magazine of hip-hop music, culture and politics,
Kitwana will talk about Translating Hip-Hops Commercial
Success into Political Power.
Gooding
Jr., UNM Law School graduate, will address reparations and police
misconduct Friday at 6 p.m. at a dinner banquet. He practices
with the Cochran Firm in Los Angeles, Calif.
Birdine,
a sought after speaker on self-reliance and affirmations, will
speak Saturday, Oct. 11, at a noon luncheon about the concept:
Im Black and Im Proud. Butler, author
of Sorority Sisters and Hand-me-down Heartache,
will speak at the dinner banquet set for 6 p.m.
In conjunction
with UNM Career Services, the conference will host a diversity
career fair Friday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Johnson
Recreation Center Auxiliary Gym.
Participants
are invited to attend Balloon Fiesta on Sunday.
Advance
tickets to the conference are $40 or $35 for high school students
and $10 for individual lectures. Tickets may also be purchased
at the door for $50, $45 (high school), $10 per lecture.
For more
information, contact Jocelyn Gamble-Mims or Angela Green at
505-277-5645.