Inside the August 2008 issue:

• staying connected
  
• a message from the chair
  
• keep us posted
  
• get involved
  
• faculty in the news
  
• community commitment
  
• "We Still Have a Charge to Keep"
  
• quote of the month

We Still Have a Charge To Keep

African Diaspora Speaker Series

In the 2008 Givens Foundation NOMMO series, AA&AS professor Alexs Pate interviews and moderates discussions with prominent African American literary figures. In our African Diaspora series our faculty will interview and moderate discussions with prominent scholars about rethinking and redeploying understandings of the African Diaspora:

• Professor Njeri Githire will interview a literary figure
• Professor Rose Brewer will interview a social scientist
• Professors Yuichiro Onishi and Keith Mayes will interview a historian
• Professor Aleks Pate will interview a cultural critic

Organic Intellectuals Community Events

Several prominent members of the Twin Cities African American and African communities are widely known and praised as intellectual leaders, even though they might not have formal college educations. Professor Rose Brewer will moderate a series of events held at various community sites where these organic intellectuals will debate ideas and possible solutions to pressing socioeconomic issues with AA&AS faculty and other community members.

"What Every African American Should Read" Series

In 2007, the magazine n+1 published a pamphlet, What We Should Have Known: Two Discussions, that contains transcriptions of two conversations among authors discussing books they should have read in college. Professors John Wright and Alexs Pate will convene two panel discussions (of academics, authors, and community educators) to generate two lists of books that African Americans should read. One list will be for children, the other for adults.

African American and African Film Series

Documentaries about African and African American experiences will be purchased and screened in monthly sessions that will include a panel discussion of faculty, students, and artists. Professor John Wright will moderate this series.

Black Student Union Events

The January conference will contain at least one student event (a panel of students discussing Nerve Juice, a memoir about the Morrill Hall takeover) and one event for members of the community. After the conference at least one additional student event will be scheduled in the Black Student Union, to which the public will be invited.

African American and African Studies Play

A play will be commissioned and performed about the history and evolution of African American & African studies at the University of Minnesota. The play might be modeled on Peace Crimes: The Minnesota 8 vs. The War.

Public Art Creation

Public art will be purchased and installed. One possible piece might be “Walking Warrior I,� created by sculptor Melvin Smith, who was a student in 1969. Another option might be painting a mural on the 8th floor of the Social Sciences Tower (home to the Department of African American & African Studies).