Ambassador Atallah Shabazz, daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X, will give a talk, “Melting Pot: Cultural Diplomacy/Multi-National Patriotism,” at Vanderbilt University Thursday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. in Room 103 of Wilson Hall. Her lecture is among several free, public events scheduled at Vanderbilt University during February – Black History Month. A light reception in Wilson Hall from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. precedes Shabazz’s talk.
A producer, writer and diplomat, Shabazz is the eldest of six daughters born to Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X Shabazz. Appointed as ambassador-at-large by the prime minister of Belize, she is an adviser on international cultural affairs and project development. She also founded The Pilgrimage Foundation, Tapestry Bridge, Legacy Inc. and the Malcolm X Shabazz Birthplace and Foundation. A member of the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum’s Task Force on the Digital Divide, she serves on a number of international boards and humanitarian councils. She is currently completing her memoir titled From Mine Eyes.
Earl Lloyd brings his story to the university Friday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. as part of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center’s Living History Series. The event – a special reception honoring the professional basketball pioneer – will be held in the black cultural center’s auditorium.
Lloyd was the first African American to play in an NBA game when he started at power forward in 1950 for the Washington
Capitols. However, his debut in what was then a fledging national basketball league did not make the splash Jackie Robinson’s did three years earlier in the sport already established as America’s past time – major league baseball.
The university will host a second public reception honoring Lloyd, who now lives in Crossville, Tenn., immediately following the Vanderbilt-Kentucky men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 12. The event will be held in the Admiral Lounge at Memorial Gym where he will sign copies of his book, Moonfixer: the Basketball Journal of Earl Lloyd, written with Sean Kirst.
Following is a list of free, public events scheduled at Vanderbilt for Black History Month:
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Tuesday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m., Film screening, “The 904 Shadow on the Sunshine State,” a one-hour documentary on the real-life story of the epidemic tide of violence in Jacksonville, Fla. (Sarratt Cinema)
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Tuesday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m., Lecture by Mandy Carter – “Justice or Just Us?” – Carter is one of the leading African American lesbian activists in the country. In her keynote, she seeks to ask and challenge the LGBTQI movement to acknowledge the paths blazed by the women’s movement and the civil rights movements of people of color, and create a movement that truly embraces and includes all of us in the struggle toward equality. (Student Life Center, Board of Trust Room)
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Wednesday, Feb. 9, Noon, Brown Bag Discussion with Mandy Carter: “Activism as Community Service” (Community Partnership House)
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Thursday, Feb. 10, 8 p.m. Ambassador Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X, will deliver a lecture – “Melting Pot: Cultural Diplomacy/Multi-National Patriotism.” A light reception from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. will precede Shabazz’s talk. (Wilson Hall, Room 103)
- Friday, Feb. 11, 6 p.m., Living History Speakers Series: Special Reception Honoring Basketball Pioneer Earl Lloyd, the first African American to play in the NBA. (Auditorium, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center)
- Saturday, Feb. 12, Book signing and reception for Earl Lloyd immediately following the Vanderbilt-Kentucky men’s basketball game. Lloyd is the subject of Moonfixer: The Basketball Journey of Earl Lloyd written by Earl Lloyd and Sean Kirst. (Admiral Lounge, Memorial Gym)
- Tuesday, Feb. 15, 4 p.m., Poetry reading and discussion, Fred Hord: “The Rhythm of Home.” Hord is professor and chair of Black Studies at Knox College. He is founding director of the Association for Black Cultural Centers and a renowned scholar, poet and educator. (Black Cultural Center Auditorium)
- Tuesday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m. Film Screening – “Freedom House Saviors,” a film about 26 unemployed black men taken off the inner-city streets of Pittsburgh in 1967 and trained to become the first paramedics in the United States. (Sarratt Cinema)
- Thursday, Feb. 17, Noon, “Standing on my Sisters’ Shoulders” – a lunchtime viewing of excerpts from the award-winning documentary and a discussion with one of its heroines – Constance Slaughter Harvey, the first African American woman to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi Law School. (Auditorium, Black Cultural Center, lunch will be served)
- Thursday, Feb., 17, 4 p.m., Lecture by Constance Slaughter Harvey – “The Struggle for Social Justice Today.” (Law School, Moore Room)
- Monday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., The African American Playwrights’ Exchange presents “An Evening with Paul Robeson and Billie Holiday.” Join the artists of the African American Playwrights’ Exchange in an evening of dramatic readings on the lives and legacies of 20th century legends Paul Robeson and Billie Holiday. (Auditorium, Black Cultural Center)
For more information and updates, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/bcc.