JANUARY 21, 2010 ISSUE
Nikki Giovanni Speaks at ASU January 28 and 30
Nikki Giovanni will give keynote speeches at ASU on Thursday and Saturday, January 28 and 30. Photo submittedThe 26th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at ASU features noted writer and activist Nikki Giovanni in a 7:00 p.m. talk on Thursday, January 28, in Farthing Auditorium.
The program is sponsored by ASU’s Office of Multicultural Student Development and admission is free. A reception and book signing from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. will precede Giovanni’s talk in the Farthing Auditorium lobby.
Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. A widely read American poet, she prides herself on being “a black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.”
During the 1950s and 60s, Civil Rights Movement leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired millions to stand up against social injustice. The movement’s message of non-violence and civil disobedience would inspire pivotal events like the lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro, the bus boycott in Montgomery Ala., the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., the freedom rides throughout the South, the march to Montgomery and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech, Giovanni is committed to the fight for civil rights and equality with a focus on the individual, specifically on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others.
ASU Senior Programs and ASU’s Sociology Club are sponsoring a food drive in conjunction with the address. Attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items to the auditorium. All donations will be distributed among food banks for the five counties served by ASU Senior Programs (Ashe, Alleghany, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes).
In addition to her January 28 talk, Giovanni will give the keynote address at the Saturday, January 30 Celebrate, Educate, Appreciate, Diversity (CEAD) Conference 2010 on campus. Registration is $10 and begins at 11:00 a. m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom.
The opening luncheon session with Giovanni will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the breakout sessions will start at 1:10 p.m. on January 30. The conference will end at 5:30 p.m. Groups of seven or more may pay a group rate of $7 per person until Monday, January 25, if registration forms and payment for the entire group are submitted at the same time. In addition to lunch, the conference includes workshops and networking opportunities. All registrants will receive a conference gift.
For registration forms, click to www.multicultural.appstate.edu. Checks or money orders are required at time of registration and must be submitted to the Office of Multicultural Student Development. Cash, credit cards and debit cards cannot be accepted. Registration will close on January 25.
For more information, call ASU’s Office of Multicultural Student Development at 828-262-6252.
Other Giovanni Appearances
In addition to the two keynote addresses she will give at ASU, Nikki Giovanni will also make a couple of other appearances around Boone on Friday, January 29.
Poetry Reading and Q&A Session with Center for Appalachian Studies
Giovanni will give a poetry reading and question-and-answer session for the students and faculty of the Center for Appalachian Studies at ASU on Friday, January 29, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. The talk will take place in Great Hall Room 205 of The Living Learning Center. Giovanni was interviewed in the recently released documentary Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People, and she will read from her poetry related to Southern Appalachia and elaborate on her comments in that documentary. For more information, call Dr. Katherine Ledford at 828-262-4089 or 828-688-9521.
Luncheon Keynote and Reading for The Children’s Playhouse
Giovanni will give a 25-minute talk and reading of her children’s poetry at The Children’s Playhouse on Friday, January 29, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. The luncheon is an annual fundraiser for The Children’s Playhouse, which is located at 400 Tracy Circle in Boone. For more information, call Dr. Martha McCaughey at 828-262-7603.
Additional I Have a Dream Week Events
The mayors of Boone and Blowing Rock, ASU’s chancellor, the Watauga County Commissioners and the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Friday to Sunday, January 15 to 24, to be I Have A Dream Week, a celebration of Martin Luther King’s vision and lifetime of service to humanity.
Like the 26th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at ASU, the following events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted.
Let’s Hold Hands
Saturday, January 23
Paper doll-making to celebrate Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute’s work of building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan will take place daily at Watauga County Library through this Saturday, January 23. For more information, call 828-264-8784.
I Have A Dream Special
Saturday, January 23
Young World Radio Show will give its “I Have A Dream Special,” a one-hour children’s radio tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at noon this Saturday, January 23, on WATA-AM 1450 and WXIT-AM 1200. For more information, call 828-264-6016.
Dances of Universal Peace
Saturday, January 23
The Dances of Universal Peace, dedicated to the Dream, will take place at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday, January 23, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, located at 170 Councill Street in Boone. A donation of $5 is requested. For more information, call Akal Dev Sharonne at 828-264-1384.
A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sunday, January 24
A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will take place this Sunday, January 24, at 11:00 a.m. at Mennonite Brethren Church, located at 222 Church Street in Boone. For more information, call 828-263-0502.
Dances with Rumi
Sunday, January 24
Rumi, a 13th-century Persian mystic, is the most widely read poet in America today. Dances with Rumi, featuring poetry, dance and flute, sitar and percussion, will take place at 4:00 p.m. this Sunday, January 24, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, located at 170 Councill Street in Boone. A donation of $5 to $10 is requested to compensate performers. For more information, call Akal Dev Sharonne at 828-264-1384.
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