Programs & Events

Roger D. Hatch
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Central Michigan University

Tuesday, September 26 8:00 p.m. in Kulhavi 146
"Who's Who? Stereotypes, Biases, and Perceptions"
A mystery panel of individuals who voice their experiences in life with stereotypes and biases.
Free pizza and pop.
(75 points)

1. "Awakenings" (1954-1956) 9:00-10:00
Individual acts of courage inspire black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.

2. "Fighting Back" (1957-1962) 10:00-11:00
States' rights loyalists and federal authorities collide in the 1957 battle to integrate Little Rock's Central High School, and again in James Meredith's 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi. Both times, a Southern governor squares off with a U.S. president, violence erupts -- and integration is carried out.

(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
For more information, go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize

3. "Ain't Scared of Your Jails" (1960-1961)
Black college students take a leadership role in the civil rights movement as lunch counter sit-ins spread across the South. "Freedom Riders" also try to desegregate interstate buses, but they are brutally attacked as they travel.

4. "No Easy Walk" (1961-1963)
The civil rights movement discovers the power of mass demonstrations as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as its most visible leader. Some demonstrations succeed; others fail. But the triumphant March on Washington, D.C., under King's leadership, shows a mounting national support for civil rights. President John F. Kennedy proposes the Civil Rights Act.

(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
For more information, go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize
(50 points for each segment)

Monday, October 16 9:00-11:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Eyes on the Prize" series

5. "Mississippi: Is This America?" (1963-1964)
Mississippi's grass-roots civil rights movement becomes an American concern when college students travel south to help register black voters and three activists are murdered. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenges the regular Mississippi delegation at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City.

6. "Bridge to Freedom" (1965)
A decade of lessons is applied in the climactic and bloody march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. A major victory is won when the federal Voting Rights Bill passes, but civil rights leaders know they have new challenges ahead.

(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
For more information, go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize
(50 points for each segment)

Tuesday, October 17 noon-1:00 in University Center, Terrace Rooms A & B
"The Development of Affirmative Action from a Legal Perspective"
Dr. Joyce A. Baugh, professor of political science at CMU
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Tuesday, October 24 7:00 p.m. in Plachta Auditorium, Warriner Hall
"Beyond Black and White: The Future of Civil Rights"
Dr. Frank Wu, dean of Wayne State University Law School
(75 points)

Wednesday, October 25 noon-1:00 in University Center, Terrace Rooms A & B
"White Nationalism, Black Citizenship, and Brown v. Board of Education"
Dr. Robert G. Newby, professor of sociology at CMU
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Thursday, October 26 noon-1:00 in University Center, Rotunda Room
"The Effect of Affirmative Action on Women, Regardless of Ethnic Background"
Dr. Joyce Henricks, Philosophy; Dr. Ulana Klymyshyn, Multicultural Education Center; and Dr. Carole Richardson, Academic Affairs
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Tuesday, October 31 7:00 p.m. in Anspach 161
"From Slave Ship to Affirmative Action: The Relevance of Race in the 21st Century"
attorney David Berney
Berney specializes in employment discrimination, civil rights, personal injury, and general litigation. He has worked on cases that have been argued before the United States Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(75 points)

Tuesday, November 7 5:30 p.m. in Pearce 127
"Black Baseball: 1860-1960"
Raymond Doswell, curator of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, gives a lecture about the history of the Negro Leagues.

Doswell will speak about how blacks began playing baseball in the late 1800s on military teams and college teams. Some even played on white professional teams before Jim Crow laws summarily ended such integration by 1900.
     Black players began forming their own teams, "barnstorming" around the country to take on opposing black teams. Black baseball took a great leap forward in 1920 when Andrew "Rube" Foster, owner of the Chicago American Giants, helped spearhead the Negro National League. Rival black leagues followed, and the big-city crowds flocked to the games to see innovative, creative play. The leagues became centerpieces for economic development in black communities.
     Change came in 1945 when the Dodgers recruited Robinson as the first black in modern times to play in the Major Leagues. That ushered in the recruitment of many more black players, which led to the demise of black leagues in the 1960s as fans followed the players to the bigger stadiums.
     (75 points)

Tuesday, January 16 7:00 p.m. in Rose Arena
(doors open at 6:00)
Jesse L. Jackson
(75 points)

Friday, January 19 6:00 p.m. in Rotunda of Bovee University Center
annual Unity Ball
touring artist Leslie McCurdy presents "The Spirit of Harriet Tubman," a one-woman play reenacting the life of the underground railroad hero and tireless social justice advocate
(also included are hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and beverages; finally Detroit-based jazz ensemble Motor City Beat will play)
Please note: student tickets are $7.00
(75 points; report on the Harriet Tubman play)

Tuesday, February 6 7:00 p.m. in Pearce 127
Prof. Molefi Kete Asante, Temple University
"From Enslavement to Freedom in the African Diaspora"
This is the Keynote address for Black History Month.
(75 points)

Tuesday, February 6 10:00-11:30 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life"
This is part of the "Independent Lens" series on PBS.
As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger, and right-hand man, Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the 20th century. But as a gay man in the 1940s and 1950s, Strayhorn had to lead a discreet existence, while Ellington played to thunderous applause on center stage.

(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
For more information, go to: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/billystrayhorn/index.html
(50 points)

Thursday, February 8 7:30 p.m. in Lake Superior Room of Bovee University Center
"U.S. Women and the Ante-Bellum Indian and Slave Debates"
lecture by Professor Alisse Portnoy, University of Michigan
She will discuss a movement in the 1830s to give rights to women and minorities.
(75 points)

Saturday, February 10 8:00-9:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Slavery and the Making of America" Part 1: "The Downward Spiral"
This segment covers 1619 through 1739 and spotlights the origins of slavery in America, focusing on Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York City). This installment shows how slavery in its early days was a loosely defined labor source similar to indentured servantude: Africans and others of mixed race andn/or mixed culture had some legal rights, could take their masters to court, and could even earn wages as they undertook the backbreaking labor involved in building a new nation -- clearing land, constructing roads, unloading ships. (Parts 2, 3, & 4 will be shown on the next three Saturday nights.)

Sunday, February 11 4:00-5:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"The Story of Oscar Brown, Jr."
This documentary focuses on Chicago native Oscar Brown Jr.'s work as a writer and performer for over half a century.
(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
(50 points)

Sunday, February 11 5:00-6:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Jonathan Green: The Art and Dance"
Explore a wonderful three-part harmony of music, dance, and art. In a unique collaboration, choreographer William Starrett brings to the ballet stage Jonathan Green's paintings of South Carolina's Gullah culture.
(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
(50 points)

Thursday, February 15 7:30 p.m. in Maroon Room of Bovee University Center
Roundtable Discussion: "A Different World"
This discussion explores the different world that students of color live in at Central Michigan University.
(75 points)

Saturday, February 17 8:00-9:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Slavery and the Making of America" Part 2: "Liberty in the Air"
This segment covers the 1740s through the 1830s. It explores the continued expansion of slavery in the colonies, the evolution of a distinct African-American culture, and the roots of the emancipation movement. This episode reveals the many ways the enslaved resisted their oppression, their role on both sides of the Revolutionary War, and the strength and inspiration many of them found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, despite the inherent contradictions that lay in what the documents expressed and what the country practiced. (Parts 3 & 4 will be shown on the next two Saturday nights.)

Sunday, February 18 4:30-5:30 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Dance Party: The Teenarama Story"
Narrated by Motown recording artist Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas, "Dance Party" examines television's teen-dance phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s. During the time, African-American teens often were excluded or given separate-but-equal treatment by shows like "American Bandstand." That all changed in 1963 when a small television station in Washington, D.C. launched a dance program geared specifically to black teenagers.
(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
(50 points)

Monday, February 19 7:30 p.m. in Park Library Auditorium
"A Bed Made in Heaven"
This play was written by Sandra Seaton, professor emerita of English at CMU.
The play offers an interpretation of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. Hemings refuses to be identified merely as a mistress, and a conflicted Jefferson is forced to decide how to deal with a scandal that threatens his presidency.
(75 points)

Tuesday, February 20 noon-1:00 in UC Gold Room
"Working on the (Underground) Railroad"
CMU Art Professor Nedra Frodge discusses her art work on display this month in the Multicultural Center, UC room 115
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Saturday, February 24 8:00-9:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Slavery and the Making of America" Part 3: "Seeds of Destruction"
This segment looks at the period from 1800 through the start of the Civil War, during which slavery saw an enormous expansion and entered its final decades. As the nation expanded west, the question of slavery became the overriding political issue of the time. These years saw an increasingly militant abolitionist movement and a widening rift between the North -- which had largely outlawed slavery but continued to reap the vast economic benefits of the system -- and the South, now home to millions of enslaved black men, women, and children. (Part 4 will be shown next Saturday night.)

Sunday, February 25 5:00-6:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Fannie Lou Hamer: Courage and Faith"
Mrs. Hamer attended the 1964 Democratic National Convention as a member of the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party and challenged the all-white Mississippi delegation. Her spirited plea for justice was captured by network television and struck a cord throughout the country. Many credit her presence at the convention as the impetus for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
(WCMU-TV should be channel 11 on campus cable; channel 12 on Charter cable)
(50 points)

Monday, February 26 8:00 p.m. in Plachta Auditorium, Warriner Hall
Play: "I Am That I Am: Woman, Black," starring Adilah Barnes
Ms. Barnes portrays seven noted African American women: Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, Angela Davis, and Maya Angelou.
This is FREE for students, but you must obtain a ticket at the Central Box Office. (Tickets for non-students are $5.)
(75 points)

Tuesday, February 27 noon-1:00 in UC Gold Room
Danielle Tate
"Reconstructing Race through Inter-Group Dialogue: A Model for Diversity Education"
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Wednesday, February 28 7:00 p.m. in Bovee UC Auditorium
Dr. Na'im Akbar, "The Power of Self-Knowledge"
(75 points)

Saturday, March 3 8:00-9:00 p.m. on WCMU-TV
"Slavery and the Making of America" Part 4: "The Challenge of Freedom"
This segment looks at the Civil War and Reconstruction through the experiences of South Carolina slave Robert Smalls. It chronicles Smalls' daring escape to freedom, his military service, and his tenure as a congressman after the war. As the events of Smalls' life unfold, the complexities of this period in American history are revealed. The episode shows the transformation of the war from a struggle for union to a battle over slavery. It examines the black contribution to the war effort and traces the gains and losses of newly freed African Americans during Reconstruction. The 13th amendment abolished slavery in 1865, the 14th and 15th amendments guaranteed black civil rights, and the Freedmen's Bureau offered aid to former slaves throughout the 1870s. Yet simultaneously, the formation of militant groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, threatened the future of racial equality and segregation laws began to appear across the country. Slavery's end had not brought an eradication to black oppression.

Monday, April 9 8:00 p.m. in Park Library Auditorium
"It's Not Just Black & White ... It's Yellow, Too"
Panel discussion about stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans
This program is part of Asian Heritage Month.
(75 points)

Thursday, April 12 noon-1:00 in Terrace Rooms of Bovee UC
"Diversity in CMU's Curriculum"
Members of CMU's Multicultural and Diversity Education Council present the results of a survey of diversity in CMU's curriculum
This is part of the Soup and Substance program.
Free soup, bread, and beverage are provided.
(75 points)

Thursday, April 12 7:00 p.m. in Bovee UC Auditorium
"Diversity Matters: In and Out of the Classroom"
Dr. John Matlock, director of Multicultural Initiatives, University of Michigan
(75 points)

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September	October
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