NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Feb. 12 lecture by Anita Hill at Vanderbilt University was canceled on Tuesday by Hill because of an illness in her family.
Hill, who had planned to deliver the keynote speech during the celebration of Black History Month at Vanderbilt, expressed regret at the cancellation and said she hoped to reschedule.
Yollette Jones, acting director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, said that Vanderbilt’s other Black History Month activities will go forward as scheduled.
"I know it’s disappointing to lose such an anticipated speaker, but we still have a strong slate of Black History Month programs in February that is very exciting," she said.
The theme for Black History Month at Vanderbilt is "The Year of Living Dangerously: Controversy and the Black Community." All events are free and open to the public and sponsored by the Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt.
Events include a speech by Bakari Kitwana (author of the upcoming book Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop), a panel discussion on "African Americans in the Media" and an exhibit of photographs of Booker T. Washington.
Kitwana will speak at 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Room 203 of Alumni Hall on "Does Hip-Hop Breed Controversy?" A former editor of The Source magazine and an expert on hip-hop, Kitwana is the author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture and The Rap on Gangsta Rap.
"Kitwana maintains it is our ignorance about hip-hop that makes it so controversial," said Jones. "If you ever wanted to understand hip-hop culture as one of the most important developments in recent African-American history, this is the presentation for you."
A panel of prominent black journalists and a scholar will assemble on Thursday, Feb. 26, in 203 Alumni Hall to discuss "African Americans in the Media." The discussion will center on the reporting of news about minorities, in particular the legal difficulties of black male celebrities as compared with others accused of serious crimes.
The panel will include Dwight Lewis, columnist for The Tennessean; Rosetta Perry, publisher of The Tennessee Tribune; Yvonne Prather, assistant professor of communications at Austin Peay State University; and LaTonya Turner, a freelance reporter formerly with WSMV-TV.
From Feb. 2 to Feb. 27, photographs of Booker T. Washington will be exhibited in Room 025 of Alumni Hall, the temporary home of the Black Cultural Center. The exhibit is titled "Booker T. Washington: Sell-Out or Statesman?"
The photographs come from speaking tours Washington undertook from 1910 to 1915 in black communities. The founder of the Tuskegee Institute was considered the foremost black educator of his time, but was also criticized by groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for being too appeasing to whites. The photographs examine visually his relationship with African-American audiences during his lifetime.
A closing reception of the exhibit will be held on Friday, Feb. 27, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu