Historian Manning Marable to speak at Fairfield University's Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration | Press Releases

Dr. Manning Marable, one of America's most influential historians and political interpreters of the black experience, will be the speaker at Fairfield University's Martin Luther King Jr. Human Relations Convocation on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 3 p.m., in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. His talk is part of a three-day observance that celebrates the life and achievements of the slain civil rights leader and has as its theme, "Reinventing the Dream: Creating a New Diversity Through Knowledge and Power."

Perhaps the most widely read intellectual within the African American community, Dr. Marable is the author of 13 books, including "Black Leadership," (1998); "Black Liberation in Conservative America" (1997); "Beyond Black and White" (1995) and "Black American Politics" (1985). Since 1976, he has written "Along the Color Line," a syndicated political affairs series that appears regularly in over 400 black-owned and black-oriented mass publications in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and India.

Frequently called upon to comment on the history and politics of race in the United States, Dr. Marable has appeared on CNN's "Talk-Back Live," C-SPAN, the NBC "Today Show," ABC "Weekend News," the "Charlie Rose" show and BBC television and radio, among others.

Since 1993 Dr. Marable has been professor of history and political science at Columbia University where he also serves as the founding Director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies. Before that he taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Ohio State University and Colgate University, where he was the founding director of the Africana and Hispanic Studies Program.

In January 1999, Dr. Marable initiated "Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society." A quarterly journal, it examines key theoretical issues within black America, Africa and the Caribbean.

In 2001, he initiated the "Malcolm X Project" at Columbia University. The research project includes the development of a Malcolm X e-course; an electronic multimedia version of Alex Haley's "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," and other writings on Malcolm X.

Most recently, in 2002, Dr. Marable launched the "Africana Criminal Justice Project" with funding from the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation). The project encourages the development of civic capacity building and leadership training among former prisoners, and proposes fundamental legal reforms within the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex.

Other MLK Events
On Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration opens with a Multicultural Marketplace in the lobby of the Barone Campus Center. Merchants will be offering a wide array of products from various cultures and Dr. Marable's book will be available for purchase.

Tuesday evening from 6 to 10 p.m., Sodexho, the university's food service, is helping to arrange a special, culturally diverse dinner for all students in the Barone Center Oak Room. Students will use their usual dinner card or pay the standard dinner fee.

Following Dr. Marable's talk on Wednesday afternoon, a Vision Awards Dinner takes place in the dining room of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, beginning at 6 p.m. Honored at the dinner will be area leaders who received the Martin Luther King Jr. Vision Award earlier at the convocation for their "tireless effort to instill and inspire the teachings and ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. in today's youth."

On Thursday, Jan. 23, a Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Leadership Workshop for area middle school students will be held in the Barone Campus Center Oak Room from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In addition, a Civil Rights photography exhibit will be on view at the Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery on campus from Thursday, Jan. 23,through Sunday, March 23, with an opening reception with photographer James Hinton on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. An award-winning filmmaker, Mr. Hinton produced thousands of photographs from the Civil Rights era.