THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2005
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson  
Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities, and Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies, at the University of Pennsylvania ; author of numerous books, including “I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.,” "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching For Tupac Shakur," “Between God and Gangsta Rap,” and his April 2005 release "Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?"
Dyson's powerful scholarship has won him legions of admirers and has made him what the Washington Post terms a "superstar professor." Dyson's fearless and fiery oratory has drawn comparisons to Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, leading the Chronicle of Higher Education to declare that with his rhetorical gifts he "can rock classroom and chapel alike." Dyson's eloquent writing inspired Vanity Fair magazine to describe him as "one of the most graceful and lucid intellectuals writing on race and politics today." And his visible and principled defense of young people - bolstered by appearances like his notable turn on HBO's Def Poetry Jam … has earned him the love and affection of millions of youth around the country.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2005
  Dr. Thomas Shapiro
Pokross professor of law and social policy, Brandeis University 's Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and author of "The Hidden Cost of Being African American"
The book offers a new perspective on race in American society by looking at how inequality is generated and passed along. Shapiro interviewed nearly 200 families from Los Angeles , Boston , and St. Louis - meeting with white and black families, middle and working class families and urban and suburban families. In addition to teaching graduate courses at The Heller School, he also has a joint appointment in the sociology department. Shapiro received the Distinguished Publication Award from the American Sociological Association and the C. Wright Mills Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems for his book Black Wealth/White Wealth (1995), co-authored with Melvin Oliver.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005
Professor Kimberle Crenshaw
 
Professor of Law, UCLA and Columbia Law Schools , and co-editor of “Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement”
Writing in the area of civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law, her articles have appeared in the "Harvard Law Review," "National Black Law Journal," "Stanford Law Review" and "Southern California Law Review." She is the founding coordinator of the Critical Race Theory Workshop, and the co-editor of a volume, "Critical Race Theory: Key Documents That Shaped the Movement." Crenshaw has lectured nationally and internationally on race matters, addressing audiences throughout Europe, Africa and South America . She has facilitated workshops for civil rights activists in Brazil and constitutional court judges in South Africa . Her work on race and gender was influential in the drafting of the equality clause in the South African Constitution.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2006
 
Ann Coulter
Author of four New York Times bestsellers, including — How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) (October, 2004), Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (June 2003); and Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (June 2002).

She is a frequent guest on many TV shows, including Hannity and Colmes, Wolf Blitzer Reports, At Large With Geraldo Rivera, Scarborough Country, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, The O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America and has been profiled in numerous publications, including TV Guide, the Guardian (UK), the New York Observer, National Journal, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle magazine, among others. She was named one of the top 100 Public Intellectuals by federal judge Richard Posner in 2001.

FROM "Ms. Right" by John Cloud, Time Magazine , April 17, 2005

But no one on the right is so iconic, such a totem of this particular moment. Coulter epitomizes the way politics is now discussed on the airwaves, where opinions must come violently fast and cause as much friction as possible. No one, right or left, delivers the required apothegmatic commentary on the world with as much glee or effectiveness as Coulter. It is almost impossible to watch her and not be sluiced into rage or elation, depending on your views. As a congressional staff member 10 years ago, Coulter used to help write the nation's laws. Now she is far more powerful: she helps set the nation's tone.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006
Jeff Johnson  
Host, “Cousin Jeff's Chronicles,” Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Jeffrey Johnson, the voice for a new generation of leadership, is the new face of BET as "Cousin Jeff", Big Tigger's conscious cousin on Rap City . A social activist, AME minister, public speaker and leadership trainer, Jeff can be seen every Wednesday on Rap City engaging viewers on issues from violence to voting. A powerful and fiery orator, Jeff is currently working to increase the nation's young voter turn out as the National Director for America Votes Young Voter Project. Formally the National Director of the NAACP Youth and College Division, Jeff was responsible for over 700 Youth Units representing over 60,000 young people. Jeff has been seen on CNN, BET Tonight, MTV, and C-Span and featured in USA Today, and The New York Times. He has lectured at colleges and universities all over the country and conducts countless leadership training sessions for young people and adults.
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2006
 
Roslyn Brock
Vice Chairman, NAACP
Roslyn McCallister Brock serves on the National Board of Directors and the National Board of Trustees for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Over the past 19 years, Brock has served the NAACP in several leadership roles. In February 2001, at the age of 35, she made history when she was unanimously elected vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors. She is the youngest person and the first woman to hold this post in the organization's history.

MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2006  
Karrine Steffans, the once sought-after sexy siren who appeared in the music videos of multi-platinum hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly, and LL Cool J. A top-paid video dancer, Steffans transitioned to film when acclaimed director F. Gary Gray picked her to co-star in his film A Man Apart , starring Vin Diesel. But the movie and music video sets, swanky Miami and New York restaurants, and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only skims the surface of Steffans' life.

In her best-selling autobiography, Confessions of a Video Vixen , Steffans goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip hop dancer industry. This memoir—part tell-all, part cautionary tale—shows how Steffans came to be the confidante of so many, why she kept their secrets, and how she found herself in Hollywood after a life marked by physical and emotional abuse, rape and drugs—all before she was twenty-six that's rampant in the industry. By sharing her emotionally charged story, she hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticized industry.