In keeping with the College of Charleston’s commitment to diversity on its campus, and in celebration of 2015-Black History Month, the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) will host Rep.
ATTEND: See more events hosted by the Office of Institutional Diversity.Bakari Sellers, Esq., as the keynote speaker for its “Signature Speaker Series.” Rep. Sellers will speak on Thursday, February 5, 2015, at 5:00 p.m., in the Stern Center Ballroom, located on the College of Charleston campus (71 George St.). The event is free and open to the public. Rep. Sellers will present “How far have we come and where do we go from here?: A Journey to excellence….”
Elected in 2006 to the South Carolina House of Representatives at the age of 22, Bakari Sellers is an attorney, one of the youngest State Representatives, and the youngest black elected official in the United States. Viewing himself, not as a politician, but as a public servant, Sellers is a passionate keynote speaker on civil rights, equality, education, and faith.
Education has always been a top priority for Sellers. He graduated from the South Carolina public school system and then proceeded to Morehouse College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Morehouse college, Sellers was elected Student Government Association President and, by virtue of his position, served on the College’s Board of Trustees. He earned his juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law and soon entered politics, working for United States Congressman James Clyburn, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, and the Southeastern Regional Director of the NAACP.
With the strong moral and ethical grounding of his parents and grandparents, the never-ending thirst for education of his mother, and the undying passion for equal opportunity of his father, Sellers has returned to South Carolina. He hopes to continue the Sellers’ legacy of walking in faith, while creating change that benefits all persons—no matter the race, color, or creed.
According to Dr. John Bello-Ogunu, Sr., associate vice president and chief diversity officer at the College of Charleston, “We are very fortunate to have Rep. Sellers as our 2015-Black History Month keynote speaker. The rich and enviable history of his personal and professional accomplishments is a significant connectingbridge between the painful history of yesterday’s struggles of Blacks in America and the hope-filled stories of their present day victories and successes.”
OID’s Signature Speaker Series was created to promote community dialogue on diversity and social justice issues through presentations, workshops and seminars by local, regional and national speakers with the ultimate goal of advancing diversity, access, equity and inclusion at the College of Charleston.
Professor Morgan Koerner’s book chapter “Beyond Media Critique: Performance and Pop-cultural Pleasuresin Elfriede Jelinek and Frank Castorf’s Raststätte oder sie machens alle” has been published in A Different Germany: Pop and the Negotiation of German Culture.
This semester we’re continuing a series of informal talks with faculty discussing their current research. All talks will take place in the African American Studies conference room, located in Education Center Suite 207, room D.
January 28, 12pm—Michael Hemphill, Health and Human Performance
Scholarship and Community Engagement
in the Charleston Promise Neighborhood: Opportunities and Challenges
Professor Morgan Koerner’s latest article “Beyond Drama: Postdramatic theater in upper level, performance-oriented foreign language, literature and culture courses” has been published in the Scenario 8.2 (2014): 1-16.
Need a laugh? Want to hear jokes from some of the world’s most successful black comedians, as well as their thoughts on the evolution of black comedy?
On Thursday, February 5, 2015, the College will screen Why We Laugh: Great Black Comedians, a documentary based on comedian Darryl Littleton’s 2008 book, Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy. The film traces the development of black comedy in America and includes interviews with comedians Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, D.L. Hughley, Steve Harvey and more.
After the film, Littleton will perform and then answer questions about his book and the documentary, of which he was an executive producer.
The film will begin screening at 6 p.m. at the College’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at 125 Bull Street in Charleston.
For more information on Why We Laugh, check out the film’s preview:
