Speakers highlight VCU’s celebration of Black History Month

By Tom Gresham

Two leaders of the civil rights movement, a prize-winning poet and the author of a novel about school integration will be featured lecturers at Virginia Commonwealth University in February during Black History Month.

Wyatt Tee Walker and Tony Brown, who both played roles in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s; Nikki Giovanni, a politically active poet; and Judge Julian Houston, an associate justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts and author of the young-adult novel, “New Boy;” will each appear at VCU during the month for lectures that are free and open to the public.

Walker, former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will discuss “The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Role of the Press in the Civil Rights Movement,” at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9 in the Commonwealth Ballrooms on the second floor of University Student Commons at 907 Floyd Avenue.

Walker was King’s friend and adviser during the civil rights movement and experienced firsthand many of the most stirring moments of the era, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott and King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. King installed Walker as the first full-time executive director of the fledgling SCLC in 1960. Under Walker’s guidance, the organization soon became a critical entity in the civil rights fight.

Walker’s appearance is in conjunction with the “Minorities and the Mass Media” course taught by Clarence Thomas, Ph.D., an associate professor of journalism in VCU’s School of Mass Communications.

“Dr. Walker is one of the few remaining figures from that period,” Thomas said. “It’s an absolute honor to have him come here to talk to us at VCU. Everyone who has a chance to hear him speak should take advantage of his visit. This man was there when all of these major events were taking place. He was part of many of the decisions that changed history. Some of the strategies of the civil rights movement came from his ideas.”

Giovanni, a professor at Virginia Tech, will speak on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Commonwealth Ballrooms of the University Student Commons. The event is free, but tickets are required for attendance.

Giovanni has written more than two dozen books, including volumes of poetry, illustrated children’s books and three collections of essays. Her three most recent volumes of poetry won NAACP Image Awards. She was called “the Princess of Black Poetry” by The New York Times.

Giovanni has been an outspoken activist on issues of civil rights and race relations; among her books is a collection of essays called Racism 101.

Houston, who was born in Richmond, will visit VCU to discuss “New Boy,” a semi-autobiographical novel about school integration in the 1950s. Houston will speak on Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts at 922 Park Ave. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.

“New Boy” examines the experiences of a black student at a fictional boarding school in Connecticut. The student struggles with his status as the only black student in the school, while watching the civil rights movement unfold and wondering what part he will play in it. James Carroll called the book “a fine and moving novel.”

Brown, the host of “Tony Brown’s Journal” on PBS, will discuss his latest book, “Empower the People,” on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Richmond Salons at University Student Commons. A book signing and reception will follow.

Brown, the first dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communication at Hampton University, was an active figure in the civil rights movement, organizing the massive “Walk to Freedom” in Detroit in 1963. “Empower the People,” his third and most recent book, reveals Brown’s seven-point plan to fight back against the “very real conspiracy that controls our government, steals our income and usurps our freedom.”