Panel discussion to feature Carl West, Robert Starks, and Leah Holmes
Every now and then, a rare opportunity comes along. This weekend is just one of those times. World lecturer and Third World Press Foundation founder and CEO Dr. Haki Madhubuti will be the featured speaker on Saturday, April 27, from 3:00-5:00PM during the Nation Studies series presented by Third World Press Foundation (TWPF) and the Institute of Positive Education (IPE). As part of the presentation, Madhubuti will read from his recently released Black Panther: Paradigm Shift or Not? A Collection of Reviews and Essays on a Blockbuster Film. The book is co-edited by acclaimed author, journalist, activist, and noted Black history historian Herb Boyd.
A panel discussion on the topic will feature WVON1690AM radio host/ commentator and TBT News founder Carl West; commentator, activist, and National Black United Fund board member and professor Robert Starks; and Betty Shabazz International Charter Schools alum and entrepreneur Leah Holmes.
Madhubuti is an award-winning poet, one of the architects of the Black Arts Movement, an essayist, and educator. He is the author of more than 30 books of poetry and nonfiction including Not Our President: New Directions from the Pushed Out, the Others, and the Clear Majority in Trump’s Stolen America and Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?, which sold more than 1 million copies. A long-time community activist and institution builder, Madhubuti is a co-founder of several schools in Chicago. His distinguished teaching career of 42 years includes Columbia College, Cornell University, Howard University, University of Iowa, Chicago State University, and DePaul University.
A diverse roster of contributors provide interesting and intriguing commentary in Black Panther: Paradigm Shift or Not? The 196-page anthology presents a broad spectrum of politics and culture, covering every theme from Afrofuturism to Kemet, anticipating and probing some of the outcomes of the film while taking stock of its reflection on ancient African concepts and modalities.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, at the Institute of Positive Education/Betty Shabazz Academy, 7825 S. Ellis Ave., from 3:00pm-5:00pm. Doors open at 2:30pm. A book signing will immediately follow. The event is free and open to the public.
Nation Studies began in the early 1970s to provide a forum for authors, activists and artists to share their works. After years of dormancy, the Nation Studies series began again in 2015. Featured 2018 presenters have included authors Useni Eugene Perkins, Erin Goseer Mitchell, Dr. Carl Bell, and James D. Montgomery. The mission of TWPF and IPE is to make literature accessible to as many individuals as possible. The goal of the Nation Studies series is to inform and to stimulate thought and conversation, with an emphasis on providing young activists with a forum to exchange ideas as they formulate strategies for their work.
Established in 1969, the Institute of Positive Education is a non-profit, tax exempt, community service organization. Since its inception, IPE has been committed to African-Centered education and has operated a preschool, elementary school, summer camp, teacher training center, extended day care program, parent resource library, parent study group, food co-op and has published informative quarterly bulletins on education, technology, science, politics and literature. Call 773-651-0700 or visit http://www.ipeclc.org/
For more than 50 years, Third World Press Foundation has published poetry, fiction, and non-fiction by the most prolific writers across multiple generations. Its writers include Pulitzer Prize-winner and Illinois Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, Jacob Carruthers, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Asa Hilliard, Julianne Malveaux, Gil Scott-Heron, as well as Next Generation writers such as Marc Lamont Hill, Lita Hooper, and many more. Visit http://thirdworldpressfoundation.org/ for details.
