March 10, 2009

COLLEGE TO RAZE LANDMARK LIQUOR STORE

WHAT:   City officials will raze the Brickhouse Liquor Store that sits directly across from the main entrance of Philander Smith College.

        The private, historically Black college purchased the property in December with the intent of shuttering the liquor store which has been in operation since the 1950s. The college made this purchase, along with several other dilapidated properties in the area, as part of its campus master plan to clean up the community surrounding the school.   

WHEN:    9 a.m. Wednesday, March 11

WHERE:  911 Daisy Gaston Bates Drive (directly across the street from the main entrance of Philander Smith College)

She wanted a pound cake!

The Prez

We just ended a fantastic Religious Emphasis Week. There were a number of great programs during the week, as well as spirited worship experiences.

One of the presenters was my mom, Marjorie Kimbrough, who talked about womanist theology. She taught religion and philosophy at Clark Atlanta University, and has written a number of books.

We also had a sermon by Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, pastor  of the 6,000 member Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, DC. His sermon was outstanding, and he did a good job reaching the students in attendance.

For our chapel service, we had Rev. Deborah Ann Matthews, an admissions associate with the Memphis Theological Seminary. She too did a great job reaching the students, speaking about her experiences as a child going to events at Stillman College in Alabama.

Last night we held the Living Legends banquet. A student committee selected seven recipients, including one student, for their service to the community. It was well attended and well done.

L to R: Rev. Ronnie Miller-Yow, Dr. Chester Jones, Dr. Jesse Hargrove, Bishop Steven Arnold, Dr. Tommie Taylor,

Bishop D. L. Lindsay, Marcel Jagne-Shaw, Rev. C. J. Duvall, The Prez

The Prez

Tonight we hosted Marvelyn Brown, author of The Naked Truth. The program was sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Minority Health Commission. I read a little of her book last night knowing that I could not attend her lecture, but her story could be that of any college woman. She was 19, met a 23 year old, had unprotect sex with him twice, and became infected with HIV. She represents the new face of HIV/AIDS- black women. You may have seen her on CNN's Black in America this summer (and again recently). My wife attended her lecture and felt that she was very effective since she is just like anyone else her age. I'll have to ask some of the students who attended about their impressions.

At least I did get my book signed.

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Bakari Kitwana, author, "The Hip Hop Generation" and founder of Rap Sessions (www.rapsessions.org)

We had a great time last night at UALR with Rap Sessions. There were six of us on the panel, including Bakari Kitwana (who organized the panel), Lisa Fager Bediako, and MC Serch. The overall conversation was about being post race after the election, and what this means to the hip hop generation. Serch and Lisa battled a little over the content played on radio, and then we discussed a wide range of issues. So we had a great 2 hour conversation. Hopefully we'll be able to bring them back for other conversations. Shout out to Patrick Oliver who was our moderator, and to Ryan Davis and Stacy McAdoo who were the local panelists.

PSC sophomore TJ Green and Lisa Fager Bediako, president, Industry Ears (www.industryears.com)

The Prez (with MC Serch of Third Bass, and host of VH1's "The White Rapper Show" http://www.myspace.com/mcserch)

Rap Sessions: A Community Dialog on Hip Hop

Home | 18 February 2009 11:16 pm

Celebrate Black History Month
February 18, 2009 - 7:00 pm
Donaghey Student Center Rooms A & B
Guests Include: Bakari Kitwana, MC Search, Dr. Walter Kimbrough and Lisa Fager Bediako
Moderator: Patrick Oliver

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Hip-hop activist and acclaimed author, Bakari Kitwana, is collaborating with the Community Technology Foundation of California to continue Rap Sessions, the first national tour exploring race and hip-hop. Is America really in a post racism era?

Come listen. Come be heard.

Last week I was honored to be the Unity Dinner speaker at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. Their president, Tim Hall, and I have a few things in common. One is that he has a blog. But also, he is on Facebook, which is a tougher job for him because he has many more students.

So I appreciate his willingness to go where the students are to get them engaged. You can read his blog through this link:

http://president.apsublogs.com/

The Prez