Please join us for the 20th Annual Black Women's Conference honoring bell hooks

Finding Our Place: A Conference in Honor of the Work and Writings
of bell hooks

Schedule | Contact

20th Annual Black Women’s Conference: April 18-19, 2014
This year is the 20^th convening of the Annual Black Women’s Conference.  In its history, there are few subjects of interest and important to the lives of Black women the conference has not explored.  As we celebrate this important year of the conference, we turn our attention to the work of a native daughter of Kentucky and preeminent feminist and intellectual, bell hooks.  Over the course of her career, hooks has been a leading thinker on the complexity of the positions of black women in American society and politics.  hooks continues to challenge  us with her current work to be both creative and thoughtful about understanding and making our place. Join us in celebrating the work of this important scholar and two decades of gathering black women in community. - more info: https://aaas.as.uky.edu/black-womens-conference

Sara Baartman Connections

photo credit - http://triciagilson.tumblr.com/post/10145301936/the-story-of-sara-baartman-is-haunting-and

We are continuing our discussion about the influence of Sara Baartman on popular culture, inclusive of sociology, psychology, and family interactions.

Please identify one photo (electronic or print) of Sara Baartman and then identify three photos of Baartman-like women that were produced in the 20th/21st Century, 1900-Present.

You may want these photos to be reflective to your research project ideas. Be able to tell me why the photo has Baartman's connotations or likenesses. Be able to say why the photo is relevant to research. 

Please post links and explanations regarding the photos in the comments portion of this post. 

Mekhatansh K McGuire presents at NCUR 2014

“BAD GYALS”, “ONE MINUTE MEN” & SEXUAL SUPREMACY: WOMEN-RAPPERS BOTH APPROPRIATING & RESISTING SEXISM AND MISOGYNY WITHIN HIP HOP.

Mekhatansh K. McGuire, Jacqueline Couti, Gender & Women's Studies, University of Kentucky

Sat 9:00-9:20 The White Hall 205 - The University of Kentucky

Mekhatansh K. McGuire - African American and Africana Studies Minor, University of Kentucky

pic from http://hiphopandpunkfeminisms.weebly.com/speakers--performers.html

This oral presentation will be exploring how women rappers appropriate tenets of hegemonic masculinity centering around the necessity to possess a high sexual prowess to legitimize and solidify the desired dominant position within the male-centered framework of hip hop. By using the contemporary artist Shystie and the more classic artist Foxy Brown; I come to conclusions about themes of resistance, dominance, black feminism and racism within the lyrical content of each artist. This sexual domination has a layer that seeks power and supremacy through one’s sexual prowess exposing a superficial testament to the power of a vagina which can be seen as empowering or pro-woman with residue from cultural feminism. But if you look deeper , what is revealed is a belief that a woman’s power rests solely in the her sexual prowess because without her ability to please or attach herself to a man she has nothing in this society that is rooted in a white supremacist, racist, sexist, patriarchal framework. In examining each of these women, I will show the nuanced relationship that Black women have with problematic cultural fixtures as well as how they negotiate success within the specific hegemonic masculine framework of mainstream hip hop as a means of creating scholarship that is in direct conversation with the culture that creates the need for these problematic appropriation.

Sat 9:00-9:20 The White Hall 205 - The University of Kentucky

National Conference on Undergraduate Research 2014

The University of Kentucky is proud to welcome the

National Conference on Undergraduate Research to its campus. 

Readiness for the Future: Maximizing Undergraduate Research

English Major/African American Studies Minor, Nathan Moore, will be presenting  Subjugation and the Supernatural: the Underworld in African American Letters. 

SUBJUGATION AND THE SUPERNATURAL: THE UNDERWORLD IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LETTERS

Nathan Alexander Moore, DaMaris Hill, Dept. of English, University of Kentucky, 1215 Patterson Office Tower Lexington KY 40506-0027

This research explores how to better understand and contextualize race in literature, particularly, social consciousness and oppression. A major component of the African American literary tradition is the social consciousness rooted in the racial discrimination of socially subjugated people and their negotiation of second-class citizenship. Another aspect of this research centers on how the language and themes used with African American texts are ways in which authors try to conceptualize their subjugation in the larger American social environment. Specifically, the works of Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and W.E.B. DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk serve as expressions of my research. These texts are intrinsically haunted by the themes of racial subjugation, social consciousness and the supernatural. Both authors use mythic imagery and supernatural themes associated with the Underworld to articulate the experience of African Americans. They use theories associated with the American body politic and morality to describe the experience of African Americans. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs details her life and experiences as a slave. Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in South Carolina and successfully escaped the “Demon Slavery”. Jacobs’ text is littered with the brutalization of African American bodies and the allusion that this moral savagery is an inherent pathogen under this peculiar socio-economic institution. In discussion with the greater social consciousness in African American letters, Jacobs crafts a narrative that has gossamer Underworld underpinnings of werewolf lore and allusions to silver as an economic/material agent that influences the viral efficacy of these decrepit conditions. W.E.B. DuBois, a prominent social scientist and activist within African American history and an accomplished author, was greatly influenced by his sociological background. DuBois’ text, The Souls of Black Folk, is blatantly critical of the racialized oppression in the United States and makes striking connections to Underworld and a type of morality rooted in spiritual disparity within the African American community. In conclusion this research furthers the discussion of social consciousness within the African American literary tradition and how this consciousness is conceptualized through the use of mythic imagery and supernaturalism. This research is so very important because it points not only to the spiritual strivings of a historically oppressed people, but furthers the insights into the social and psychological state of African American culture. By focusing this research on the themes of socially perceived and constructed Underworld environments, the reader can better realize that these authors are attempting to articulate a subjugated position that is so cumbersome, that the experience cannot be adequately conveyed using traditional allegories, the author must resort to divine experience. These authors use mythology to connect these supernatural aspects with the overarching and pervasive system of oppression, and subjugated social status.

NCUR oral presentations

topics in

African/African American Studies

*pink highlighted panels indicate research that may be relevant to our class

Thursday

DECONSTRUCTING DISCOURSES OF THE MIGRANT IN SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY FROM APARTHEID TO THE PRESENT

Cate Anderson

Thu 11:20am-11:40am, Fine Arts (Little) Library 301

STEVE BIKO: AN INTELLECTUAL OF HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS

Alexander Habibi

Thu 11:20am-11:40am CB 247

ADS OF IDENTITY: TRENDS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN BEAUTY ADVERTISEMENTS

Sakeena Fatima

Thu 2:00pm-2:20pm FA6

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMIFICATION & MEDICAL PRACTICE & ITS RELATION TO GREEK MEDICAL ADVANCEMENT THROUGH THE PRACTICE OF DISSECTION BY HEROPHILUS & ERASISTRATUS IN ALEXANDRIA

James Vondenberg

Thu 2:20pm-2:40pm

MALAWIAN WOMEN'S POUNDING SONGS

Giulia Perucchio, Joseph Lanning

Thu 2:20pm-2:40pm CB 335

RACIALIZED PATHS AND THE BUSINESS OF TOWNSHIP TOURISM (South Africa)

Emily de Wet

Thu 3:30pm-3:50pm CB 346

AN ALTERNATIVE VACATION: EXPLORING AND EVALUATING CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM IN JAMAICA

Michaela Santos, Zelmia Harvey, McKayla Hoffman, Alexandra Pivero

Thu 3:50pm-4:10pm  CB 346

HOSTILE RHETORIC: THE EFFECTS OF THE MEDIA ON THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE

Kelli Richards

Thu 11:00am-11:20am CB 247

NILE WATERFRONTS AND BRIDGES: THE NATURE OF COMMODIFICATION AND DEPUBLICIZATION IN CONTEMPORARY CAIRENE SPACES (Egypt)

Eddie Dioguardi

Thu 11:00am-11:20am Fine Arts (Little) Library 301

NEO-COLONIALISM IN AFRICA OR CONTINENTAL IMPRISONMENT: WHO TO BLAME?

Awa Gaye

Thu 2:00pm-2:20pm, CB 243

PROBLEMATIZING DECENTRALIZATION: THE EFFECTS OF CLASS ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN AFRICA

Lyndsey Czapansky

Thu 2:40pm-3:00pm CB 243

INFLUENCES ON GM FOOD POLICY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Olivia Lewis

Thu 2:20pm-2:40pm CB 243

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT: HYBRIDIZATION OF MARRIAGE IN THE ASHANTI REGION, GHANA

Katie Rawls

Thu 3:30pm-3:50pm Fine Arts Library 301

Friday

WESTERNERS ABROAD: NINETEENTH CENTURY EGYPT THROUGH THE EYES OF EUROPEAN TOURISTS

Margot Willis

Fri 9:40am-10:00am CB 233

ISLAMIC FEMINISM: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN MOROCCO

Fri 9:20am-9:40am, CB 306

“A PEN AND A STETHOSCOPE”: THE HEALTHCARE SITUATION IN SENEGAL AS SEEN THROUGH FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE

Marianne Macaluso

Fri 9:00am-9:20am POT 145

APPROPRIATION AND IDENTITY IN WILLIAM H. JOHNSON’S SELF-PORTRAITS (U.S.)

Heather Kolnick

Fri 9:40am-10:00am, CB 342

CUSTOMIZATION AND CONFLICT: BIOMEDICINE IN MAASAILAND (Kenya/Tanzania)

Maye Emlein

Fri 10:30am-10:50am CB 237

AFRICAN DANCE: HIDDEN BENEATH THE SURFACE

Sara Palmisano

Fri 10:50am-11:10am,  President’s Room, Singletary Center

GOROVODU MEDICINE AMONGST THE EWES OF GHANA AND TOGO

Nishanth Alluri

Fri 10:50am-11:10am CB 237

CULTURAL TWINS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ROBERT FARRIS THOMPSON’S TEN CANNONS OF AFRICAN ART IN RELATION TO THE CULTURAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ARCHETYPES IN AFRICA AND BLACK AMERICA  (Nigeria)

Olivia Harp

 Fri 3:50pm-4:10pm  CB 102

SLAVE RELIGIONS (U.S.)

Matthew Rakowski

Fri 3:50pm-4:10pm CB 342

SLAVERY AS ENTERTAINMENT: POWER RELATIONSHIPS OF SLAVERY IN 19TH CENTURY MINSTREL SHOWS (U.S.)

Kelly Schmidt

Fri 4:10pm-4:30pm CB 342

EGYPT POST-MUBARAK AND THE TURKISH MODEL

Salma Abdou

Fri 4:10pm-4:30pm, CB  4 :10 – 4 :30 

Saturday

THE POLITICS OF YOUTH MOBILIZATION AND INTERVENTION IN THE COLOURED TOWNSHIPS OF CAPE TOWN (South Africa)

Jessica Nielsen Kristin Doughty

Sat 9:00am-9:20am

CB 346

CARRIE MAE WEEMS: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE NUDE IS “NOT MANET’S TYPE”

Xiaoshan Bao

Sat 9:00am-9:20am CB 340

NORTHSIDE (Lexington)

Melissa Carter

Sat 9:40am-10:00am Briggs Theater

THE IMPACT OF COLONIAL LEGACY ON AFRICAN WOMEN: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AND FRENCH COLONIAL INSTITUTIONS (Togo, Ghana)

Kaylee Gleason

Sat 9:40am-10:00am, CB 122

Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture

Greetings, Class Community. 

We are reading Janell Hobson's Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture.  Please comment on the following considerations in the comments post below.  

In your first comment post, please post at least three facts that associated with the iconic historical figure of Sara Baartman, "Venus Hottentot".

In your second post describe how the ideas steatopygia and sexual fetish are conflated?  And how do the conflation of ideas impact intersectional identity (such as being black and a woman) and ideas of beauty in popular culture? 

In your third comment, please describe the relationship between Sara Baartman and Cuvier i two or three sentences. 

Yours truly, 

Dr. Hill 

Who Are You Looking At? - Research Considerations for AAS401-Politics of Physical Appearance

Greetings, Ladies.

We are discussing our research interests.  Please take a moment to post a summary of your abstracts.  Take a moment to discuss how it connects with other theories we are exploring in the course.

Dr. Hill

Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body by Susan Bordo

Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body by Susan Bordo

Greetings, Class Community. 

We explored the constructions of femininity through the theoretical ideas presented in the chapter, "The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity" by Susan Bordo.  We also discussed how the constructions of femininity operate in popular culture. Then, we discussed how the constructions of femininity and the ways the 'pretty patrol' is expressed in Morrison's The Bluest Eye. 

In the comments portion of this post, please write two responses of at least two or three sentences.

  

1. Please identify one or two ways femininity was constructed in Morrison's The Bluest Eye.

2. Please identify and write what the "ideal femininity" in American culture looks like. Then provide examples; describe how femininity is constructed and 'patrolled' in our society.   

Your working abstract/paper proposal should be emailed to me by Monday, March 3, 2014.  The abstract should be 250-300 words long and include a research question, research component (a description of the research method you would like to use) and a brief description of the longer paper. 

Yours truly, 

Dr. Hill 

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - Meet and Greet

Greetings, Class Community.

As a class, we are reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.  There are a number of characters in the book that we will explore.  We will be considering the ways these characters interact with one another and their symbolism in a larger dialogue about Black women and beauty in American culture.  

Please describe 2 or more of the following characters when you reply to this post using 4 sentences or less.  Consider the following about each character. 

1. Her relationship to the other characters, particularly the protagonist Pecola Breedlove.

2. Her physical characteristics.

3. Her thoughts and actions.

List of Characters

Narrator, Claudia MacTeer

Frieda MacTeer

Mrs. MacTeer

Rosemary Villanucci

Pecola Breedlove

Maureen Peal

Geraldine

Pauline (Polly) Breedlove

China 

Poland 

Miss Marie
M'Dear
Darlene

REMEMBER:  Please use 4 sentences or less in your descriptions.  Please use a separate comment post for each character.

Yours truly,

Dr. Hill 

Readings and Considerations Regarding the "Pretty Patrol"

Greetings, Class Community.


We are taking a moment to consider how Appiah's theories pertaining to the ethics in identity. In The Ethics of Identity, he questions how does identity fit into our broader moral projects [as a society].  He also finds that identities have patterns and structures to them and that identity has a certain 'value' in society.

(from http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Identity-Kwame-Anthony-Appiah-ebook/dp/B002WJM5BE)

Consider your identities.  Identify your primary identities and answer the following.

• How would you define your identity?  
• What are the  patterns or features associated with that identity?  
• How do you express 'value' in that identity?  
• How much of this identity is articulated in your personality based on that 'value'?

Also consider how this reading affirms, complicates or changes your ideas of the "pretty patrol" and the politics of physical appearances pertaining to Black women?

Yours truly, 

Dr. Hill 

Events to Consider and Announcements

Contest Alert!!!!! +ukcolonel   Sketch a political cartoon or write a satirical article between 250 and 2,5000 words covering an issue of your choosing, from UK Basketball, to ObamaCare, to George W. Bush’s self-portraits.  more info - http://ukcolonel.com/participate-in-our-article-contest/

The Martin Luther King Center is excited to share our Spring Events! Feel free to attend and send this information out to your organization and/or students. Thank you so much for your support.

CATalyst presents Boxes & Walls

This Monday-Wednesday, April 7^th – April 9^th

Tours start at 4pm & end by 7pm

Order your ticket online at http://boxesandwalls.eventbrite.com

The students in CATalyst are partnering with six other organizations: NAACP, African Student Association, Latino Student Association, Sexperts, UK Center for Community Outreach, and the International Student Council to build a multicultural museum. This year’s theme is Oppression through Time and participating organizations will build their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.  The goal is to highlight that oppression looks different depending on which groups are targeted, but that there are also some underlying similarities that can unite efforts toward inclusion behind the common enemy of discrimination.   The 5^th annual Boxes & Walls experience will walk students through exhibits designed to personalize struggle and to educate attendees on the impact of oppression over time.

  

The English Department Presents A Book Talk with Dr. Vershawn Young

This Wednesday, April 9^th

MLK Center 3pm

Dr. Young  will be discussing his recent book Other People’s English: Code-Meshing, Code-Switching, and African American Literacy

MLKC Emissaries presents a Community Service Opportunity with Reforest the Bluegrass 2014

This Saturday, April 12

Meet at MLK Center 8:30am for transportation

Service is from 9:00am-1:00pm

“Be part of the effort to recreate streamside forests that were once native to the inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Through Reforest the Bluegrass, Lexington is progressively restoring the long-lost benefits of streamside forests for generations to come. This is a crucial step to protecting our valuable water resources and enhancing our living standards.”

First come, first serve! Limited spots available contact Christina Lucas @ christinalucas2012@gmail.com

* VOLUNTEERS RECIEVE FREE T-SHIRTS AND A FREE LUNCH!!!! 

Black Student Union presents Lyman T. Johnson Student Awards Banquet

Next Wednesday, April 16^th

Reception in the Great Hall at 6:30pm

Banquet in the Grand Ballroom at 7:30pm

***Get tickets at the Student Center ticket office TODAY!!!

Designed to recognize student achievement, it is named in honor of Dr. Lyman T. Johnson, the legendary human rights champion whose legal victory resulted in desegregation at UK.

MLKC Emissaries presents Soup & Substance

Next Thursday, April 17^th

5:30pm

MLK Center

A Discussion on World Health with Health Colleges Student Diversity Services, College of Medicine, and College of Public Health.

Majestic U.N.I.T.Y

Monday, April 21^st

6pm

MLK Center

Summa Summa Summa Time: How to Make Yours Count: A Discussion on how to maximize your summer opportunities

Tuesday, April 22  7:00 pm
UKAA Auditorium
On the first floor of the William T. Young Library  (500 S. Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40506)

The UK Department of English and African American and Africana Studies Program
present
A Reading by Roger Reeves
Roger Reeves's poems have appeared in journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, and Tin House, among others. Kim Addonizio <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/kim-addonizio> selected “Kletic of Walt Whitman” for the Best New Poets 2009 anthology. He was awarded a 2013 NEA Fellowship, Ruth Lilly Fellowship by the Poetry Foundation in 2008, two Bread Loaf Scholarships, an Alberta H. Walker Scholarship from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and two Cave Canem Fellowships. He earned his PhD the University of Texas-Austin and is currently an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His first book is King Me(Copper Canyon Press, 2013).

A Night with Jeff Johnson

Tuesday, April 22nd

6:30pm

Memorial Hall

Jeff Johnson is an award-winning television journalist, social activist, political correspondent, motivational, speaker and author. He regularly contributes commentary and analysis for news broadcasts on networks and publications such as CNN, MSNBC, BET, EbonyJet, and Huffington Post.

Harambee Graduation Celebration

Friday, May 9th  

7pm

Worsham Hall

Reception in Grand Ballroom

Harambee highlights academic achievement and honors the support of family and friends. During the ceremony, each graduate received individual recognition as well as graduation mementos from the Office for Institutional Diversity and the UK Alumni Association.

The University of Kentucky is proud to welcome the

National Conference on Undergraduate Research to its campus. 

Readiness for the Future: Maximizing Undergraduate Research

English Major/African American Studies Minor, Nathan Moore, will be presenting
Subjugation and the Supernatural: the Underworld in African American Letters. 

2:20-2:40 in The White Hall, Room 203

The Late Night Film Series and VIP Center Present

The Color Purple in Worsham Theater, Thursday March 27th at 7 pm

The Color Purple follows the life of an African American woman during the 1900s.  The tale follows her as she builds strong friendships that allow her to overcome her abusive husband.  Follow her as she struggles to overcome her trials of racism and sexism.


The Martin Luther King Center is excited to share our Spring Events! Feel free to attend and send this information out to your organization and/or students. Thank you so much for your support.



Lecture & Book Signing with Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr.
TOMORROW, March 25th
7pm
MLK Center
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. was one of the leaders of  the 1960s civil rights struggle in the South. He was a co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) , a leader in the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins, and a Freedom Rider. He worked with  Dr. Martin Luther King in the Southern Christian Leadership and served as the national coordinator of the Poor People's Campaign. Dr. LaFayette was also a primary organizer of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement. 



His memoir was recently published by the University Press of Kentucky titled: In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma. The book "recounts the stirring details of his personal journey to overcome fear and to do what was right, regardless of the consequences. He describes how his faith helped him to face the violence and racism he  encountered and how the support of fellow activists gave him the strength to accomplish his mission."

 





UK Students for Justice in Palestine presents Fast Times in Palestine: a lecture by author Pamela Olson
TOMORROW, March 25th
7pm
Memorial Hall
UK Students for Justice in Palestine is proud to announce that author and activist Pamela Olson will be speaking at Memorial Hall at 7pm on Tuesday, March 25 at the University of Kentucky. Admission is free. She will be speaking about her experiences in Palestine and her recent book "Fast Times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland." The facebook event can be found here <https://www.facebook.com/events/724940410873896/?notif_t=plan_user_joined> . 

Pamela Olson's book was listed in the top ten travel books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly and was voted "Best Travel Book of Spring" by National Geographic. She lived in Palestine for two years during and after the second Intifada, worked as a journalist, and served as the foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.  She will be speaking about her experiences and about life under occupation. 



Violence Intervention & Prevention Center’s Take Back the Night
This Wednesday, March 26th
7pm March from University of Kentucky Patterson Office Tower Plaza
7:30pm Rally @ Courthouse Plaza, downtown Lexington
Take Back the Night is an annual march and rally that has been taking place in Lexington for well over 30 years. This event unites campus and community members to recognize the collective power of our community to end violence, especially sexual assault, stalking, and partner violence
***6:30pm a group of students will meet at the MLK Center and head to Patterson Office Tower for the march

 

Majestic U.N.I.T.Y. Retreat 
Sunday March 30th
Click and Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11aM2FQ9OQ4EqkZLxMbFuDO3SFulV8Fh2xTWPSTdi_2o/viewform
1pm-6pm
Dickey Hall
Meals Provided
With guest speakers Dr. Rynetta Davis, Dr. Aesha Tyler, & Marietta Watts 



Setting the Record Straight
Monday,  March 31st 
 6pm 
Student Center 211
An honest discussion and open dialogue bout identifying as both LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, transgender, queer/questioning) and a person of color.





Black & Latino Male Initiative Dialogue
Thursday, April 3rd 
5:30pm
MLK Center
Dinner Provided
The Black & Latino Male Initiative provides an opportunity for Black and Latino male students at the University of Kentucky to connect with other students, faculty and staff.


See Blue through Ribbons of Hope’s Alessandra Wayne Memorial Dodge Ball Tournament
Saturday, April 5th 
3:00pm
Alumni Gym
If you want to sign up as an individual or as a team contact taylor.dudley@uky.edu



CATalyst presents Boxes & Walls 
Monday, April 7th – Wednesday, April 9th
Tours start at 4pm & end by 7pm
Order your ticket online at http://boxesandwalls.eventbrite.com 
The students in CATalyst are partnering with six other organizations: NAACP, African Student Association, Latino Student Association, Sexperts, UK Center for Community Outreach, and the International Student Council to build a multicultural museum. This year’s theme is Oppression through Time and participating organizations will build their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.  The goal is to highlight that oppression looks different depending on which groups are targeted, but that there are also some underlying similarities that can unite efforts toward inclusion behind the common enemy of discrimination.   The 5th annual Boxes & Walls experience will walk students through exhibits designed to personalize struggle and to educate attendees on the impact of oppression over time.
 


MLKC Emissaries presents a Community Service Opportunity with Reforest the Bluegrass 2014
Saturday, April 12
Meet at MLK Center 8:30am for transportation
Service is from 9:00am-1:00pm
“Be part of the effort to recreate streamside forests that were once native to the inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Through Reforest the Bluegrass, Lexington is progressively restoring the long-lost benefits of streamside forests for generations to come. This is a crucial step to protecting our valuable water resources and enhancing our living standards.”
First come, first serve! Limited spots available contact Christina Lucas @ christinalucas2012@gmail.com
* VOLUNTEERS RECIEVE FREE T-SHIRTS AND A FREE LUNCH!!!!



Black Student Union presents Lyman T. Johnson Banquet
Wednesday, April 16th 
Reception in the Great Hall at 6:30pm
Banquet in the Grand Ballroom at 7:30pm
***Get tickets at the Student Center ticket office 
Designed to recognize student achievement, it is named in honor of Dr. Lyman T. Johnson, the legendary human rights champion whose legal victory resulted in desegregation at UK.





MLKC Emissaries presents Soup & Substance
Thursday, April 17th
5:30pm
MLK Center 
A Discussion on World Health with Health Colleges Student Diversity Services, College of Medicine, and College of Public Health.


Majestic U.N.I.T.Y 
Monday, April 21st 
6pm
MLK Center 
Summa Summa Summa Time: How to Make Yours Count: A Discussion on how to maximize your summer opportunities

Harambee Graduation Celebration
Friday, May 9th  
7pm
Worsham Hall
Reception in Grand Ballroom
Harambee highlights academic achievement and honors the support of family and friends. During the ceremony, each graduate received individual recognition as well as graduation mementos from the Office for Institutional Diversity and the UK Alumni Association.

 
Thank you for your support and we are excited to see you all month long!!!
In Partnership,
MLKC Staff
Martin Luther King Center
133 Student Center
Lexington, KY 40506-0030
(859)-257-3426


Contests:

• SQecial Media is holding a picture poem contest and the deadline is 6 pm on March 31st! More info and examples of picture poems can be found here:
  http://tadoo.com/2014/03/11/sqecial-medias-glorious-picture-poem-contest/
• Arch Street Press is pleased to announce its annual prize for America's best college writer in the nonfiction category.Open to undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 18 and 30, the Arch Street Prize is designed to stimulate interest in writing across the country and to promote today's extraordinary young writers. Arch Street Press offers each winner a standard contract together with a mentoring program and $1,000 cash prize for his/her chosen manuscript of up to 5,000 words. Please see the website (http://archstreetpress.org/arch-street-prize/) for full rules and submission guidelines. Submissions for this year's competition must be postmarked by April 30, 2014.
• The Carnegie Center's 8th Annual Next Great Writers Contest: Writers are invited to submit manuscripts of fiction or nonfiction prose (up to 2,000 words) or poetry (up to 5 poems). Please include a $10 fee per entry, payable to the Carnegie Center. Entries should also include a cover sheet complete with writer’s name, address, e-mail address, and phone number; names should NOT appear on the manuscript itself. Manuscripts cannot be returned. 

Entries must be received or postmarked by Friday, May 9 at 5:00 pm. Send entries to: The Next Great Writers Contest, Carnegie Center, 251 W. Second St, Lexington, KY 40507. The cash prize is $150 for first place and $100 for second place. Winning authors will be notified by June 1.

Events:

• Holler Poets at Al's Bar--tonight, Wednesday, March 26th, from 8 pm to ~ 11 pm (arrive early if signing up for the open mic): Holler 70 features the return of Two of Cups Press founder Leigh Anne Hornfeldt, author of The Intimacy Archive, the debut of Chris McCurry, author of Splayed, and music by Grace Rogers Music, daughter of legendary Kentucky musician Don Rogers, celebrating the release of her new album, When We Make it up the Peak.
• Off the Ground at Common Grounds--this Friday, March 28th, at 7 pm: Join us for a reading by our incredible featured guest, Erik Reece, and then read your own work at the open mic that follows! Sponsored by Graphite, Shale, and Limestone.
• A Joint Reading with Ed McClanahan and Gurney Norman--Friday, April 11th, from 6-8 pm at the Cats Den: Come enjoy refreshments and readings by two Kentucky and literary legends. These guys go way back and definitely know how to spin a yarn! Sponsored by Graphite.
• 12-Hour Marathon Poetry Reading--Monday, April 28th from 8 am to 8 pm at the Student Center Patio: Sign up to read outside Professor Julia Johnson’s office door (1219 Patterson Office Tower). You can read a poem by you or someone else. Sign-up slots are in 1/2 hour spots. Show up to read during your 1/2 hour. Individual readings should be no longer than 3 minutes. If you can't make it to the actual sign-up sheet, please send a note to julia.johnson@uky.edu to pick a time! Co-sponsored by Graphite and the UK English Department.

Something Old, Something New: Disability, Gender, Blackness and Performance in African Diaspora and African-American Studies

https://www.facebook.com/events/709293069110214/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Date:   2014/02/12 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Location: Carnegie Center

Speaker / Presenter: 

UK Faculty [Past and Present]

On February 12th at 6pm Graphite, the Creative Writing Association, will be sponsoring the first annual UK Night at the Carnegie Center! There will be readings by faculty as well as an open mic opportunity! Check out the attached poster and mark your calendars now!

Denise Giardina, a native of West Virginia and the author of The Unquiet Earth, Storming Heaven, and Saints and Villains, is hosting a reading at the Good Shepherd Church on Thursday, February 13th at 7:30 pm.

“Gendered Performance, Sexuality and the (Dis)Able Body in the Black Diaspora”. 

Thursday, February 20, 2014, at the Niles Gallery, from 4:30-6:00 

Day 1: “The body in Pain, Performance in African Diaspora and Caribbean Studies”

Liminality of the Dancing Suffering Body, Gladys M. Francis (Georgia State University)

Suffering Bodies, Dance and Transcendence in Caribbean Literature, Jacqueline Couti (University of Kentucky)

This Thursday, January 23^rd 6pm in the MLK Center

The Martin Luther King Center is excited to share with you about a visit to our campus by Mitzi Sinnott. This programming is free and open to campus and the general public.  

At the start of fall 2013 semester, the MLK Center completed a version of the Hapa Project with over 300 students, encouraging them to define and share their individual identities. Our plan is to continue this  self-reflection around diversity. 

For her first visit, Mitzi will be facilitating her interactive workshop What's Your Story?. In the workshop, students will explore their personal, social and cultural  identities and develop their personal narrative as they explore their past and plan for the future. Students can expect to: write, reflect, and discuss. 

Tuesday, February 4^th    5:30pm in Worsham Theatre 

Mitzi will perform her internationally acclaimed solo show "SNAPSHOT: a true story of love interrupted by invasion".  SNAPSHOT was nominated for BEST ACTRESS at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, special selection at: Cape Town Festival South Africa and International Women's Festival Tornio Finland and recipient of: Brooklyn Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, and Kentucky Foundation for Women Arts Meets Activism Grant.

February 18 at 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The Cats Denat the Student Center is hosting a "Poetry Slam" on February 18 at 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. It is more of a poetry reading (some student have also free-styled) so all are welcomed to get on stage. We had a great turn out last year and great entertainment.  Please contact Morgan Loy with questions. 

February 21st  - Finding Your Voice: How to Develop Your Personal Brand