Black History Month at ODU
This year's theme for Black History Month is "Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas." It's an appropriate theme, as last November millions of citizens of every color voted to elect the country's first minority president, Barack Obama.
The Black History Month theme is being celebrated and explored at Old Dominion University through a number of events this month.
On Tuesday, "Power Lunch: Knowing Your Rights" will be held in the Chesapeake Room of Webb University Center. Sponsored by the Legal Resource Center, the 12:30 p.m. event features two African American attorneys from the firm of Bullock and Cooper.
On Wednesday, "I'm Looking for an Obama," an open forum on relationships focusing on trust and commitment, will be held in the Hampton-Newport News rooms of Webb Center at 7 p.m.
The following two weeks will see a number of events on campus to mark Black History Month. To see the full list of events, go to the Student Affairs Black History Month home page, at http://studentaffairs.odu.edu/oir/blackhistorymonth2009.pdf.
Among the highlighted events is an evening symposium Thursday, Feb. 19, sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. It runs from 7:15-9:50 p.m. in room 1012 of the Batten Arts and Letters Building. There will be a reception with light refreshments starting at 6:30 p.m.
Called "A New Day: Implications of the Obama Presidency," the symposium will feature a panel discussion looking at race relations in the United States.
Gwen Chunn, past president of the American Correctional Association, will serve as moderator. Panelists will include Judge Jerrauld C. Jones, judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court and former director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice; Althea Tait, assistant professor of women's studies at ODU; Ingrid Whitaker, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at ODU; and Robert Wojtowicz, associate dean, Research and Graduate Studies, with ODU's College of Arts and Letters.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The centennial of the NAACP is being used to highlight issues of race and citizenship in American history, from the experiences of free blacks in a land of slavery, to the political aspirations of African Americans today.
Black History Month organizers also hope the theme of this year's celebration will prompt scholars and citizens to look at the history of other nations in the Americas, where former slaves also sought the fruits of citizenship.