University News
GBCC Presenting MLK Celebration Jan. 17
January 10, 2013
MACOMB, IL – The Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center at Western Illinois University will present the 27th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Celebration Thursday, Jan. 17.
This year's celebration, themed "Remember! Celebrate! Act! King's Dream for Our World," will be held at the Multicultural Center on the Macomb campus, beginning at 7 p.m. The featured speaker will be Erik Brooks, chair of WIU's Department of African American Studies.
Brooks is a native of Montgomery, AL, and has held academic positions at Alabama State University, the University of Richmond and Georgia Southern University. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, a master's degree in secondary education from Alabama State University, a master's degree in public administration from Auburn University Montgomery, a master's degree in counseling and human development from Troy State University and bachelor's degrees in journalism and art from Troy State University.
Brooks has authored six books and more than 60 research articles, scholarly essays and book chapters. In 2014, he has two more books scheduled for release, "Tigers and the Tempest: Savannah State University and the Struggle and Civil Rights and Campus Freedoms" and
"African Americans at Risk."
Other program participants will include WIU President Jack Thomas, Macomb Mayor Michael J. Inman, College of Arts & Sciences Dean Susan Martinelli-Fernandez, Student Government President Caleb Markey, Board of Trustee Student Representative D'Angelo Taylor and Black Student Association President Rayvón Shelton.
The Heritage Ensemble and Cultural Expressions are scheduled to perform and Charice Rodgers will be performing the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
This program is open free to the public.
For more information contact Belinda Carr, director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center, at (309) 298-2220.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing
Connect with us: