A MORE PERFECT UNION: CONFRONTING AMERICA’S RACIAL DIVIDE
THURSDAY, March 18, 2010, 6:30 p.m. Free. Reservations required. \
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
F.M. Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
On the two-year anniversary of then-Senator Barack Obama’s pivotal campaign speech, A More Perfect Union, Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for "The PBS Newshour," Martin Luther King, III, Founding President and CEO of Realizing the Dream, Inc., and Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue, David Boies Professor of History and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, will join the National Constitution Center for an open dialogue on race, moderated by Dr. Charles A. Williams III, assistant clinical professor and director of the Center for the Prevention of School-Aged Violence at Drexel University. Before joining the panel, Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO of UNCF (the United Negro College Fund), will begin the conversation with a presentation proposing that education leads America’s racial priorities.
Follow the discussion on Facebook, share your thoughts on this topic through Twitter using the tag #perfectunion, and tune in to the LIVE webcast to submit questions for our expert panel.
Dr. Michael Lomax is the president and CEO of UNCF–the United Negro College Fund. Immediately before joining UNCF, he served seven years as president of Dillard University in New Orleans. He served as the first head of the Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs; and was elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, serving as first African American chair. Dr. Lomax is a member of the Council of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He serves on the board of Teach for America, The KIPP Foundation, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Studio Museum in Harlem, Bill T. Jones Dance Company and National Black Arts Festival.
Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for "The PBS Newshour." She is also the best-selling author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Ifill reports on a wide range of issues from foreign affairs to U.S. politics and policies interviewing national and international newsmakers. She has covered six Presidential campaigns and moderated two vice presidential debates -- in 2004 the debate between Republican Dick Cheney and Democrat John Edwards and in 2008 the debate between Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Governor Sarah Palin.
Martin Luther King, III, the second oldest child of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, serves as the Founding President and CEO of Realizing the Dream, Inc., a national nonprofit organization with an international vision to carry on the important work embodied in the legacies of his parents. King has launched a series of innovative initiatives through Realizing the Dream, such as Poverty in America – a national poverty tour aimed at empowering disadvantaged communities – and the Generation II Global Peace Program, which brings together the heirs of 20th century peace makers – such as Chavez, Gandhi, Trudeau, Tutu – to address some of the world’s most compelling crises. A human rights advocate, community activist, and political leader, King has been actively involved in significant policy initiatives to maintain the fair and equitable treatment of all peoples, at home and abroad. Having been nurtured among individuals deeply committed to the struggle for human rights and a nonviolent society, his messages and initiatives are all rooted within the tenets of Kingian nonviolent conflict resolution.
Historian, author, and critic Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue is a specialist in twentieth-century American politics, urban history, civil rights, and race. His forthcoming book, Not Even Past: Barack Obama and the Burden of Race, will be published by Princeton University Press in 2010. Sugrue's most recent book, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, was selected as a Main Selection of the History Book Club and a finalist for the 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His first book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis, won the Bancroft Prize in American History, the Philip Taft Prize in Labor History, the President's Book Award of the Social Science History Association, and the Urban History Association Award for Best Book in North American Urban History. Sugrue is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters, and is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe, among others.
Dr. Charles A. Williams III, is the former co-host of The Grimaldi & Williams Show on CBS Radio's Big Talker 1210 AM. He has written editorials for both the Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer on issues such as crime, race and politics. Recently, he served as moderator for the PA Progressive Summit's 2010 debate between Senator Arlen Specter (D) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D). He is currently an assistant clinical professor and director of the Center for the Prevention of School-Aged Violence at Drexel University.
The Knight Constitutional Conversation series has been generously underwritten by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Parking for this event is available for $9.00 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 Constitution Center on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.
For information about this program, please call 215.409.6700. 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.
*Convenience fees apply to online ticket orders. Call to reserve your tickets at no cost: 215-409-6700.
Related Links:
A More Perfect Union: The Center’s Lesson Plan
United Negro College Fund
Dr. Chuck Williams' Blog