NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A panel of Nashville leaders will lead a town hall meeting-style discussion of minority issues on Thursday, Feb. 3, as part of Black History Month events at Vanderbilt University.
The “Understanding Our Legacy, Building Our Future” discussion will be from
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center on the Vanderbilt campus. The meeting is free and open to the public.
Among the topics to be discussed are the participation of African Americans in education and politics, HIV/AIDS in the black community and images of African Americans in the media.
“The goal of this town hall meeting is to help understand these issues in a broader historical and social context, access the current trends and conditions and discuss how we can build on the strength of our heritage for a brighter future,” said Nicole McDonald, a research assistant at the center who organized the meeting.
Panelists will include Howard Gentry, vice mayor of Metro Nashville; Sybril Bennett, executive director of the New Century Journalism Program at Belmont University; Mary Owens, education coordinator for women with Nashville Cares; E. Kelly Sanford, associate professor of sociology at Tennessee State University; and Gilman Whiting, senior lecturer of African American Studies at Vanderbilt.
The town hall meeting is one of many activities the revitalized Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center is sponsoring for Black History Month, including the rededication of the center on Feb. 1, a film series and lectures. The center is headed by director Frank Dobson.
For more information on the center‘s Black History Month activities, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases?id=16944.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu