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The
first
lecture
features
Charles
M. Blow,
an
American
journalist,
commentator
and
op-ed
columnist
for The
New York
Times
and
current
political
analyst
for
MSNBC.
Mr. Blow
is also
the
author
of the
critically
acclaimed
New York
Times
best-selling
memoir,
Fire
Shut Up
in My
Bones.
His
second
book is
called,
The
Devil
You
Know: A
Black
Power
Manifesto. |
|
2023
President's
Lecture
Series
features
author
and
journalist
Charles
Blow and
a focus
on
enslaved
people
in
America
By
Laydell
Wood
Harper
tellusdetroit.com
DETROIT,
MI - The
first of
the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History’s
2023
Presidents
Lecture
series
took
place
this
past
Monday
on
Martin
Luther
King
Day.
“We are
proud to
celebrate
Dr.
Martin
Luther
King
Jr’s.,
holiday
each
year at
The
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History.
Dr.
King's
work and
vision
is as
relevant
today,
in these
ever-changing
times,
as they
were
during
his
lifetime.
This
year, we
again
look
forward
to a
dynamic
day of
celebrating
his life
and
legacy,
and
imagining,
with the
various
generations
who will
join us
on
Monday,
and what
it means
to
continue
to carry
his
vision
forward,”
said The
Wright
Museum
President,
Neil A.
Barclay.
The
upcoming
curated
collection
of
events
will
feature
dynamic
speakers
selected
by Neil
A.
Barclay.
The
series
is
dedicated
to
bringing
insightful
and
robust
conversations
to the
Detroit
community.
The
series
is
designed
to
address
critical
topics
that
touch
the
lives of
everyday
people
such as
civic
engagement,
art,
history
and
culture
and the
community.
The
first
speaker
in this
popular
series
was
Charles
M. Blow,
op-ed
columnist
for the
New York
Times.
His
column
appears
every
Monday
and
Thursday.
Mr. Blow
is well
read and
known to
tackle
hot
button
issues
head on
that
affect
the
lives of
everyday
citizens
such as;
racial
justice,
social
Justice,
gun
violence,
police
violence,
presidential
politics
and
Black
Lives
matter.
The
evening
began
with Mr.
Blow’s
thought-provoking
lecture
to a
nearly
filled
to
capacity
Wright
auditorium.
The
audience
pretty
much
reflected
his New
York
Times
readership.
They
were
black,
white,
young
and
middle
age. His
lecture
set the
stage
for the
Q & A
session.
And the
audience
was
waiting
for this
huge
opportunity
to ask
Charles
Blow
those
important
questions
they’ve
been
wanting
to ask
especially
after
this
comment
from Mr.
Blow:
“Only
racist
are the
people
that
talk
about
race.”
Edith
Clifton
attended
the
lecture
and
offered
these
comments,
“As a
regular
reader
of the
New York
Times
I've
followed
Charles
Blow's
weekly
columns
dissect
racism
in this
country
with
precision.
Monday
evening
during
his
address
and
audience
Q and A
Blow
offered
further
insight.
The
Answer
to the
question
of
whether
racism
could
ever be
expunged
in the
USA,
Blow
said
Race was
an
invention
to begin
with.
Centuries
of World
History
exist
without
categories
based
solely
on skin
color.
White
supremacy
used
this as
a tool
to
perpetuate
slavery
of
Africans
for
life.
Thus,
racism
based on
skin
color
was used
to
promulgate
inferiority
of dark
skin and
superiority
of white
skin. It
would be
hard to
reverse
but not
impossible.
A
controversial
proposal
put
forth by
Charles
Blow is
a
reversal
of the
Great
Migration...returning
to
Southern
states
like
South
Carolina,
Georgia,
Alabama
and
Mississippi
where we
can
build
large
Black
pluralities
and
elect
Senators.
Georgia
did it.
Here is
an
example
of one
of the
questions
asked:
Who is
Jim Crow
and
where is
he
barred?
Of
course,
that
question
got a
huge
laugh
from the
audience.
Blow
responded,
“they
just use
that
name.”
Mr. Blow
is also
a CNN
commentator
and was
a
Presidential
Visiting
Professor
at Yale,
where he
taught a
seminar
on Media
and
politics.
He is
the
author
of the
critically
acclaimed
New York
Times
best-selling
memoir,
Fire
Shut Up
in My
Bones.
The book
won a
Lambda
Literary
Award
and the
Sperber
Prize
and made
multiple
prominent
lists of
best
books
published
in 2014.
His
second
book,
The
Devil
you
Know: A
Black
Power
Manifesto,
was
named “a
most
anticipated
book” by
the San
Francisco
Chronicle,
O, the
Oprah
Magazine,
Time
Out,
Town and
Country,
and
Lithub.
Advertise With Us:
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