Boise State University MLK CELEBRATION 2008:
Jan. 21st - Feb. 4th
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The mission of the Boise State MLK Human Rights Committee is to celebrate the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The MLK Human Rights Committee endures to provide The Boise State University campus with a series of advocacy, awareness, and educational activities for the Boise State community in an effort to promote civility and address the current needs of the community in accordance with the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The goals of the Martin Luther King Jr. / Human Rights Celebration Committee include providing BSU students, the community of Boise, and the State of Idaho with programs involving speakers, workshops, exhibits, and performances involving the academic, artistic, and experiential knowledge concerning the racist features of American society. The result will be, and has been, a more educated public in Idaho concerning issues of diversity and multiculturalism. However, the committee believes that education must be accompanied by social activism in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. vision. This has led to partnerships with campus and community human rights organizations in efforts to enhance racial tolerance in Idaho.
Featured Events
Keynote: Chief Chadwick Smith, March 21st
"Economic Development in Rural and Indidan Communities"
Jordan Ballroom in the SUB, 7:30 - 9:30 pm (Doors open at 7:00)
Chief Smith is a descendant of the leaders of the Original Keetoowah Society who fought to keep tribal traditions and culture alive. Smith's great-grandfather was Redbird Smith, a Senator of the Cherokee Nation in 1896, a famous Cherokee traditionalist who fought the government allotment policy under which the US took over 7,000,000 acres of land from the Cherokees.
Smith holds an MBA in Public Administration, a BA in Education, and a Juris Doctorate. He has served under two Cherokee Nation Chiefs as Director of Tribal Planning, Legal Historian, Attorney, Cherokee Nation Prosecutor, Director of Justice and Advisor to the Tribal Tax Commission.
Highly respected as an Indian legal scholar, Chief Smith has fought for tribal sovereignty and stood up for Indian rights. He has consistently donated his time as a practicing attorney to helping tribal elders, children and families.
Click here for more information on the First Nations Conference
Educational Session: Journey to a Hate Free Millennium, Feb. 20th
Dr. Alexandra Delis-Abrams
SPEC, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
The inspiring documentary addresses the subject of HATE by searching out the origins of how it is "taught and learned," the scope of its danger beginning with childhood taunting to murder. Viewers are invited to take a stand against HATE and create their own vision of a world free of HATE, where senseless acts of violence are a thing of the past.
Click here for more information.
March and Rally, Jan. 21st
SUB - Hatch Ballroom
10:00am - St. Paul's Children's Choir Performs
10:45am - March Begins from BSU SUB
March ends at Anne Frank Human RIghts Memorial
Click here for route
Free Parking in Parking Structure #2 - Lincoln Parking Structure
Keynote: Nikki Giovanni, Jan. 24th
"The Right to Dream"
Morrison Center, 7:00 - 9:15 pm
Nikki Giovanni, Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech, is a Black American poet, essayist and lecturer whose work influenced many throughout the Black Arts Movement of the '60s and '70s. Her poetry is renowned for promoting racial equality, and its urgency in calling Black people to realize their identities and their rights.
Bilingual Poetry Slam: Jan. 30th
Joaquin Zihuatanejo and Natasha Carrizosa
SUB Hatch Ballroom, 6:00 - 9:30
6:00 Sign Ups Begin (limited to 15)
6:30 - Slam starts
8:00 - 9:30 Featured Poets
Joaquin Zihuatanejo
Poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning English teacher, Joaquin Zihuatanejo is also an HBO Def Poet and a National Poetry Slam Finalist, and he has even shared the stage with Maya Angelou. Known as "one of the most dynamic performance poets in the country," his art depicts his life-subjects that include a youth plagued by gang violence.
Natasha Carrizosa
Natasha Carrizosa is a mother, a dreamer, and a lover of music and life. She is a poet/spoken word artist who celebrates her dual heritage (African- and Mexican-American) with works that weave an intoxicating blend of cultures, languages and impressions. She has shared the stage with Maya Angelou, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, E. Lynn Harris and countless other poets, authors, and artists. Her writings have been featured in Rhapsody, Her Mark, and x magazine (United Kingdom.) She is author of mejiafricana, a spoken word CD and nude - a collection of love and erotic poems. Currently she is recording her second spoken word CD - the dreamcatcher. She is also collaborating with Joaquin Zihuatanejo on of fire and rain - a book and spoken word CD that is a testimony of life/love that spans from the barrios of East Dallas to the ghettos of The West Indies.
Presented by KWEI Spanish Radio. Free Parking in the Liberal Arts Parking Lot.