Wall Street Journal writer to speak Tuesday for Black History Month
Black History Month events at Central Michigan University will run throughout February, with Lee Hawkins of MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal giving the keynote address tomorrow.
Hawkins' speech takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Warriner Hall's Plachta Auditorium. The speech is the featured event of Black History month and what Minority Student Services is looking forward to the most, said Shant'l Raines, a graduate assistant from Farmington Hills.
Hawkins earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was the editorial page editor of the Badger Herald student newspaper. He covered General Motors at the Detroit bureau of the Wall Street Journal and has worked as a business reporter for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal.
His forthcoming book, "Newbos: The Rise of America's New Black Overclass," is expected to be published by Gotham Books in June.
"What we want everyone to come out and see is Lee Hawkins," Raines said. "We want people who will expand on black history."
Raines says that Hawkins will be able to provide a new perspective on black history.
"He's a younger man, so he even though he wasn't (alive) during the civil rights movement, he can give his insight as a black in the mainstream media through the people he's intervierwed."
Hawkins interviews for MSNBC include Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons, BET founder Robert Johnson and fashion mogul Tommy Hillfiger.
The mission with Hawkins giving the keynote address is to introduce the CMU community to new figures with different views on history.
Raines said the events this month give insight and expand on history.
The CMU chapter of the NAACP is co-sponsoring Black Family Reunion Food Taster & Game Night at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the Bovee University Center Rotunda Room. The night will consist of food, fun and games and costs $3 for students and $5 for non-students.
Black History Month events
Today
- CMU NAACP Informational table, noon to 2 p.m. in the Bovee University Center lower level
- "Believe Me, this Pimp Game is Very Religious Toward a Religious History of Hip Hop" with Josef Sorett, Ph.D., takes place at 7 p.m. in Anspach Room 162
Tuesday
- "The Express: The Ernie Davis Story," movie viewing at 8 p.m. in Pearce Room 128
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