"Who
Is Responsible for
the African American Poor?"
Cal State Fullerton to Host April 13 Forum
March 29, 2006 :: No. 188
In 2005, comedian Bill
Cosby berated the African American community for the number
of unplanned pregnancies, poor parenting, crime and high
dropout rates among poor African Americans. A year later, he was the
topic of Michael Eric Dyson’s
book Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class
Lost Its Mind? Dyson, a University of Pennsylvania professor,
became concerned that Cosby’s comments would shut down
effective discussion on solutions to some of the problems
Cosby addressed.
With this
in mind, the African American Resource Center at Cal State
Fullerton is hosting a town hall-style public forum, “Who is Responsible for the African American
Poor?” from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in
the Titan Student Union.
“We
wanted to invite a panel of academics, students and community leaders to address
these concerns,” said Julie Stokes, associate professor of Afro-ethnic
studies and director of the university’s African American Resource Center. “Our
plan is to have our panel members speak for about 45 minutes
and then have lots of time for questions and discussion.”
“The
issue of who is responsible for the poor came to the forefront for many Americans
after Hurricane Katrina,” said Davida Hopkins-Parham, executive assistant
to the vice president for academic affairs and one of the event organizers. “For
many, seeing the victims of the hurricane created an awareness
that poverty in America, particularly among African Americans,
is a very real issue today.”
Panelists
include: Lezlee Hinesmon-Matthews, a lecturer at Cal State
Long Beach who worked for more than 10 years in the field of urban planning
and community economic development; Jamie Wilson, assistant professor of Afro-ethnic
studies at Cal State Fullerton; Clyde Woods, assistant professor at UC Santa
Barbara who specializes in the study of urban poverty and culture; Kristine
Wright, a sociology lecturer at UC Irvine; Nnamdi Okafor,
Western region vice president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity;
Stacy Ellis, a student member of Cal State Fullerton’s
Sistertalk; and Marty Sellers, singles and young adult director
at the Friendship Baptist Church of Yorba Linda. The facilitator
for the event is Sabrina Sanders, acting director of athletic
academic services at Cal State Fullerton.
“We
hope to look at topics ranging from individual responsibility to societal problems
and pressures,” said Stokes. “We hope that by
providing a forum where people can discuss ideas and issues,
we can address some misunderstandings and move on from a
position of finger-pointing and come up with ways to address
different problems.”
In fact,
Stokes hopes to continue the dialogue by focusing on whether
there is a need for Black History Month, the role of the black church in African
American culture, as well as who and where are the leaders and servants of
the African American community.
The forum
is co-sponsored by Cal State Fullerton’s Afro-Ethnic
Student Association, African American Resource Center, Afro-Ethnic
Studies Department, African American Faculty and Staff Association,
and the Office of the Vice President for Administration and
Finance.
The forum
is open to all and free of charge. Public parking on campus
is $5 per vehicle. Additional
information is available at 657-278-3230.
# # #
Media Contacts
Julie Stokes,
African American Resource Center, at 657-278-3845 or jstokes@fullerton.edu
Valerie Orleans,
Public Affairs, 657-278-4540 or vorleans@fullerton.edu
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