NAACP CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
WEDNESDAY, February 11, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Free. Reservations Required. Please call 215.409.6700 or order online.
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
As part of the National Constitution Center’s America I AM: The African American Imprint exhibition, join us for a conversation about the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Centennial. The NAACP is responsible for a number of victories in the struggle for justice and equality in America. Still vibrant today, the NAACP has an extraordinary history and it has had a profound impact on the country we live in today. Jabari Asim, Wendell Pritchett and Theodore Shaw join moderator Elmer Smith for this conversation.
Jabari Asim is a nationally known cultural critic and author of the new book, What Obama Means. He is the former deputy editor of Washington Post Book World, and Editor-in-Chief of the NAACP’s Crisis magazine. He is Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His books include Not Guilty: Twelve Black Men Speak Out on Law, Justice, and Life, The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why, and several books for children. His children’s book Whose Toes Are Those? was chosen as a best book of 2006 by Child Magazine, Nick Jr. Magazine, and The Forward.
Wendell Pritchettis professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches several courses, including property, land use and urban policy. His new book, Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City examines the life of the first African-American cabinet secretary and the first head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. His first book, Brownsville, Brooklyn: Jews, Blacks and the Changing Face of the Ghetto, explores race relations and public policy in 20th century Brooklyn. He serves as President of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation and Vice-Chair of the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia.
Theodore M. Shaw, director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) from 2004-08, is one of the nation’s leading voices in civil rights. He graduated from Wesleyan University with honors and from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Charles Evans Hughes Fellow. He has traveled and lectured extensively on civil rights and human rights in Europe, South Africa, South America, and Japan. He currently serves on the Legal Advisory Network of the European Roma Rights Council, based in Budapest, Hungary. Shaw is a member of the bar in New York and California, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of California; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court. He also serves as Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, as the second appointee to the Phyllis Beck Chair at Temple Law School, and as the 2008 Visiting Scholar at the National Constitution Center.
Elmer Smith is a columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News where he has been employed for 25 years, starting as a sports writer before being elevated to sports columnist. For eight years he was featured columnist of the Daily News opinion pages. He was appointed to the Daily News Editorial Board eighteen years ago. Smith has won numerous writing and civic awards.
Parking for this event is available for $7.00 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change, so please call the ConstitutionCenter on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.
For reservations please call 215.409.6700 or order online. Programs at the National Constitution Center begin promptly and latecomers may not be admitted to the program. Please note that this program is subject to change.
The National Constitution Center is hosting the world debut of America I AM: The African American Imprint, celebrating nearly 500 years of African American contributions to this country. The exhibition presents a historical continuum of pivotal moments in courage, conviction, and creativity that solidifies the undeniable imprint of African Americans across the nation and around the world. Featuring more than 200 artifacts culled from every period of U.S. history, the exhibit will include objects, texts, religion, music, narration, and media. An interactive component of the exhibition will allow visitors to leave their own video “imprints,” and this collection will grow throughout the life of the exhibition with the potential to become the largest recorded oral history project in U.S. history. The exhibition is developed in partnership with Tavis Smiley, and organized by Cincinnati Museum Center and Arts and Exhibitions International (AEI).
Links:
NAACP
America I Am: The African American Imprint