Black Culture Week advocates 'One America'
Nov. 14, 2006
An award-winning author and a family that lived through Hurricane Katrina will visit MU this week as part of One America: Red, White, Black and Brown, the theme of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center's 14th annual Black Culture Week.
The five-day event, which started on Sunday with a soul food dinner, looks to educate people about issues facing the black community and to show others a different perspective on life, Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center director Nathan Stephens said.
"Again, the student body needs to realize that each of us views life through a particular lens," Stephens said. "This week is an opportunity for those who view America one way to come and learn something different."
He added that the theme comes from the progress society has made with racial issues, but he cautioned that society still has work to do.
"In other words, idealistically, there is one America. Realistically, it's not," Stephens said.
He also said that Hurricane Katrina was not isolated.
"By this I mean that many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And if a hurricane hit their home, they would be homeless, hungry and destitute," Stephens said. "The city of Columbia talks about unemployment being under 5 percent for the city. But First Ward Councilwoman Almeta Crayton would argue that the U.S. census shows unemployment is 25 percent in her ward."
Monday evening the event held its first panel, and tonight, Sonia Sanchez, who won the 2001 Robert Frost medal in poetry will host a book-signing with a lecture titled "The 21st Century for People of Color" at 7 p.m. in Jesse Wrench Auditorium.
On Wednesday night, "The Katrina Nightmare: A Year Later" and the economic conditions of black people across the U.S. will be discussed at 7 p.m. at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. Among the contributors will be Earnest Perry, an MU associate journalism professor, Kathryn Oberg of the Lutheran Family and Child Services and a relocated New Orleans family.
Wrapping up the event is "Sumthin' Fo' Yo' Soul" at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Black Culture Center, sponsored by the Missouri Students Association and the Graduate Professional Council. Music and food will be provided.
Jabari Turner, president of the Legion of Black Collegians, which is co-sponsoring the five-day event, urged students to attend the educational week.
"It's a good outlet to help people better understand and to eradicate ignorance," Turner said.
All events are free and open to the public.
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