Friday, January 23- 3:00pm

Location: U-M Alumni Center

Join us as we celebrate James Chaffers, Professor/Architect and his journey here at the Univesity of Michigan. As one of the initial people who served on the committee that chose the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C., James Chaffers is a true visionary.

Sponsored by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies

Contact Elizabeth James, ecnirp@umich.edu

Tuesday, January 13- 7:00pm

Trotter Multicultural Center, 1443 Washtenaw Avenue

Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged what it means to be an American, President Obama can redefine what it means to be an American in the global community, wit the help of Americans engaged internationally.  Hear from U of M’s Diplomat-in-Residence about her career as an African-American representing the US in international relations, and learn of the unique role that students of color studying and working abroad can play in changing how America is perceived.

Sponsored by the International Center & the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs

Contact Bill Nolting, 734-647-2299, bnolting@umich.edu & Amer  Ahmed, 734-647-2299, amahmed@umich.edu

Wednesday, January 14- 12-1:30pm

Location: McGregor Commons, School of Social Work, 1080 South University Venue

Inclusion. Participation. Self-organization. Collaboration. Collective reflection. And You.

The United States Social Forum (USSF) offers a process for creating movement convergence  across our many struggles, sectors, regions, and rich diversity. Following the legacy of Dr. King, it lifts up the voices and demands of working people and youth at the grassroots in building for fundamental transformation in the 21st century.

The USSF process can be a space to communicate and educate, organize and mobilize. Within the broader society and with our partners in the Global South, we envision another United States and another world. We are deepening our shared strategy to make it a reality and Detroit has great potential to be 2010s host.

As we enter a new political administration, come capture the hope and energy from this election in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to learn about the USSF 2010. A short film, informal panel discussion, and involvement opportunities will be presented.

Sponsored by the School of Social Work

Food is provided! Please RSVP to ssw.ossrsvp@umich.edu

Wednesday, January 14- 4:30-6:30pm

Location: Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown

UMS “Reading Culture” Book Clubs are for teachers, principals, and administrators, and serve as programmatic and thematic connectors for our Youth Education Program.  In these facilitated sessions, participants explore arts and culture issues, express opinions about stimulating literature, and learn strategies for leading book discussions in the classroom.

The theme of a hero’s journey appears in literature throughout the ages.  In Elijah of Buxton, young Elijah makes his own journey of realization and heroism from his Canadian hometown of Buxton into the unfamiliar and slave-populated United States.  His journey provides a unique opening for a discussion about the AFrican American experience: the slave trade, the struggle for freedom and equity, and the role of the arts in providing hope, relief, and inspiration to the oppressed.  A master storyteller, Christopher Paul Curtis’s youth novel invites students, teachers, and parents to enhance their cultural literacy while journeying on a historical and cultural landscape of powerful narrative and evocative imagery.

Sponsored by The U of M Center for Afroamerican & African Studies & The U of M School of Education

Contact Omari Rush, 734-615-0122, wrush@umich.edu

Participation is free and open to educators; registration is required. The first 30 registrants receive a free copy of the book.

Wednesday, January 14- 6:00pm

Location: Trotter Multicultural Center, 1443 Washtenaw Avenue

This forum hopes to bring diverse communities together to facilitate discussion around barriers that prevent underrepresented communities from being successful both within student life and academia. Some concerns to be addressed include: the need for safe spaces on campus for students of color; strengthening engagement across communities and identities such as race, ethnicity and sexuality; and how MESA can serve as a vital resource to these communities.  This is an opportunity to begin vital conversations around the issues that our diverse student body needs to address in order to develop a collective voice working toward creating insightful solutions.

Sponsored by the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Afairs

Contact Linh Nguyen, 734-763-9044, mlinh@umich.edu

Thursday, January 15- 12:10pm

Location: 3222 Angell Hall

Part of the English department’s ongoing “Conversations on Pedagogy” series, this panel discussion will feature two English faculty members who regularly ask their students to think critically about race and diversity issues.  Ann Curzan will report on discussions with her students to resistance to the embrace of linguistic diversity.  Megan Sweeney will talk about her experiences teaching urban fiction, a popular and controversial genre in prisons and the publishing world.

Sponsored By: English Department

Contact David Porter at dporter@umich.edu, (734) 936-2271

Thursday, January 15 - 4:00pm
Location: Vandenberg Room-Michigan League

The granddaughter of civil and labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, human rights activist and diversity speaker Julie Chavez Rodriguez was introduced to the farm worker movement at an early age. Throughout her life, she has played an active role in the fight for social justice, human rights, and the rights of working people. Chavez Rodriguez is currently the programs director for the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, where she spearheads the National Youth Leadership Initiative, an effort which addresses academic and civic engagement among today’s youth.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez has also worked with the state of California on the development and administration of the Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning, and a web-based K-12 curriculum on the life and work of Cesar Chavez. Prior to joining for the foundation, she worked with the United Farm Workers on voter registration and community empowerment programs throughout California. Chavez Rodriguez holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California at Berkeley.

Human rights activist and motivational speaker Julie Chavez Rodriguez shares her personal perspective on her grandfather’s mission and success in establishing the United Farm Workers. Going beyond Cesar Chavez the man and leader, she addresses topics that were central to his life’s work, such as civil and human rights, community service, diversity, education, environmental issues, healthcare, agricultural labor, poverty, non-violence, volunteerism, service-learning, and youth leadership. Through her keynote speech, Chavez Rodriguez inspires audiences to seek justice, equality, and dignity for all individuals.

Sponsored By: The Office of Academic Initiatives

Contact Theda Gibbs at (734) 936-1055, tgibbs@umich.edu

Thursday, January 15- 7:00pm

Wedge Room, West Quad Residence Hall

Come join the West Quad Minority Peer Advisors for dinner and a screening of the movie Los Mojados.

In Los Mojados, director Tommy Davis takes a 120 mile cross-desert journey that has been traveled innumerable times by nameless immigrants–who like these four young migrants from Michoacan, Mexico–all had the simple, American dream for a better future.  Davis brings to life the often unheard hopes and stories of these migrants as their dehydrated days evading the U.S Border Patrol turn into sub-zero nights filled with barbed wire, brutal storms an the ever-present confrontation with death that is reality for the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who make a similar journey into the United States every year.

Sponsored by University of Michigan Residence Education: West Quad Minority Peer Advisors

Contact Sarah Rahman,  sarahnr@umich.edu

Friday, January 16- 4:00pm

Location: 4448 East Hall

Join us as we host Marcyliena Morgan, Director: Hiphop Archive, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute 

Sponsored by the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the Department of Linguistics

Contact Elizabeth James, ecnirp@umich.edu

Friday, January 16- 7:30pm

Location: Michigan Union, U-Club

Student feminist group “The F-word” presents a night of VISUAL ART and OPEN MIC poetry to give the U of M community a place to celebrate, rant, embrace and explore gender identity and expression.

$3 dollar ticket fee at door.

Contact Kimberly Leung, thef-word@umich.edu

“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect.” - Audre Lorde

Cosponsored by MSA