Tag Archives: Philander Smith College

Central High Integration 56th Anniversary Event This Evening

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centralentranceIt was 56 years ago today that the Little Rock Nine entered Little Rock Central High School and finally started their school year.  Each year this date is commemorated both at Little Rock Central High as well as by the National Park Service through its Little Rock Central High National Historic Site.

In keeping with the anniversary day of the 1957 Little Rock Central High School crisis, the National Park Service will be honoring Little Rock’s own Annie Abrams (who also celebrates a birthday today), a nationally recognized civil rights activist.  She will be lauded for her service to Little Rock and for her dedication to movements around the United States of America.

In the spirit of the work done by activists worldwide fighting for freedom and putting their lives on the line, the Park Service is presenting keynote speaker, Myrlie Evers-Williams. She is the widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers who was assassinated in the driveway of his home in Mississippi 50 years ago. Evers-Williams will address the accomplishments of her late husband and the work she continues as an agent for social justice.

Tonight at the Kendall Center on the campus of Philander Smith College, Annie Abrams, Reena Denise Evers-Everette (daughter of Medger and Myrlie Evers), and Myrlie Evers-Williams will receive the Soul of Humanity Award, given in recognition of outstanding commitment and service to social justice and lifelong action in the struggle for civil rights.

The program is free and open to the public.  It will take place at 6pm at the Kendall Center on the campus of Philander Smith College.

Six Pioneers, Other Leaders honored by National Park Service Tonight

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NPSLRCHTomorrow, September 25, marks the 56th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.  Each year the school and the National Park Service schedule a series of events to commemorate this.

This year, commemoration activities start this evening.  At 6pm at Philander Smith College, there will be a panel to discuss the Six Pioneers. These were the first six African-American students to desegregate the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (U of A) School of Law.  The descendants of the Six Pioneers will discuss the role of moral courage and the change that occurred in the hills of northern Arkansas over 65 years ago.  George Haley, the sole living pioneer will give remarks as well.

Their footsteps on the foothills of conviction cleared a path for the desegregation of Hoxie Elementary in 1955 and Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The U of A School of Law was the first southern white university to accept African-American students since Reconstruction.

The Six Pioneers, The Honorable Rodney Slater, Attorney John W. Walker, Sr., Judge Wiley A. Branton, Jr., Sanford Tollette IV, Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton and Robin Woods Loucks will all be recipients of the Soul of Humanity Award given in recognition of outstanding commitment and service to social justice and lifelong action in the struggle for civil rights.

The evening will close with remarks from Reena Denise Evers-Everette, daughter of civil rights activist and martyr Medgar Evers.

The event will take place at the Kendall Science and Health Mission Center on the Philander Smith College campus.

 

LR Look Back: Fifty Years of Desegregated Downtown Little Rock

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widget_2013commerationThe UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity is partnering with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce to mark the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of downtown Little Rock businesses from 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, at the Chamber.

This event is part of the Chamber’s 31st Annual Minority Enterprise Development Week and will include a public unveiling of the markers, reception, and the seminar, “Developing Future Leaders: How Strong Mentors Can Increase Diversity in Leadership Positions.”

Eleven  individuals from the Council on Community Affairs, Downtown Negotiating Committee, and Philander Smith College, will be honored with bronze markers placed on the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail in front of the Chamber. This will mark the third year of the Civil Rights Heritage Commemoration.

In 1963, this diverse group made up of members from COCA, DNC, and students from Philander Smith College worked together to plan a peaceful integration of downtown retail and restaurant establishments. Because of their efforts and others, by the end of 1963 most of the downtown retail businesses and restaurants had integrated.

2013 Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail Honorees
The following individuals will be honored:

    • Dr. Garman P. Freeman, COCA
    • Dr. Morris A. Jackson, COCA
    • William Starr Mitchell, DNC
    • James H. Penick, DNC
    • Arthur Phillips, DNC
    • Rev. Negail Riley, Pastor, Wesley Chapel at Philander Smith College; COCA
    • Bert Strauss, Philander Smith College student; DNC
    • Ozell Sutton, COCA
    • Dr. William H. Townsend, COCA
    • Dr. Evangeline Upshur, COCA
    • B. Finley Vinson, DNC

Public Commemoration Ceremony – 10:30 a.m.
Civil Rights Heritage Markers Unveiling

Reception – 11 a.m.

Charles S. Dutton “Bless the Mic” tonight at Philander Smith

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Charles S. Dutton kicks off the 2013-14 Bless The Mic Lecture Series at Philander Smith College tonight.

This award winning actor, director and inspirational speaker will appear at 7pm.  

pscduttonA graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Tony nominee Charles S. Dutton’s career spans theater, television and film. From 1991 to 1994 he starred in the title role and executive produced the critically-acclaimed Fox comedy/drama Roc, for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. Dutton has numerous other television credits, having won Emmy Awards for his guest starring roles in Without a Trace and The Practice.  He also won an Emmy for directing the movie The Corner for HBO.  Most recently he can be seen in guest star roles on top shows Criminal Minds and American Horror Story as well as Longmire and Zero Hour.

The Baltimore native is also a veteran of numerous feature films, including Aliens 3; Cry, The Beloved Country; A Time to Kill; Get on the Bus; and Cookie’s Fortune. On Broadway he has starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson.  He received Tony nominations for the original productions of those titles. He also won both a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.  In 2003, he starred in a revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Broadway.

Bless The Mic is a contemporary spin on the traditional President’s Lecture Series. These events, held on hundreds of campuses across the country, have been a way to stimulate the intellectual discourse on the campus. Even today, these series seek to bring in noted scholars, authors, politicians and public intellectuals to expose not only the campus community to their ideas and concepts, but the broader community in which the institution resides.

Philander Smith 2013-2014 “Bless the Mic” Series announced

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???????????Philander Smith College has announced the 2013-14 schedule for its BlessThe Mic Lecture Series, set to kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19 with award-winning actor, director and inspirational speaker Charles S. Dutton.

Bless The Mic is a contemporary spin on the traditional President’s Lecture Series. These events, held on hundreds of campuses across the country, have been a way to stimulate the intellectual discourse on the campus. Even today, these series seek to bring in noted scholars, authors, politicians and public intellectuals to expose not only the campus community to their ideas and concepts, but the broader community in which the institution resides.

pscduttonA graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Tony nominee Charles S. Dutton’s career spans theater, television and film. From 1991 to 1994 he starred in the title role and executive produced the critically-acclaimed Fox comedy/drama Roc, for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. Dutton has numerous other television credits, having won Emmy Awards for his guest starring roles in Without a Trace and The Practice. Most recently he can be seen in guest star roles on top shows Criminal Minds and American Horror Story.

The Baltimore native is also a veteran of numerous feature films, including Aliens 3; Cry, The Beloved Country; A Time to Kill; Get on the Bus; and Cookie’s Fortune. On Broadway he has starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson.

PSCjohnOn Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., Daymond John, entrepreneur, investor, author and cast member of ABC’s Shark Tank will speak. John is perhaps best known for being one of the creators of the global fashion brand FUBU. As founder and CEO, FUBU has amassed over four billion dollars in worldwide retail sales. As a consultant and business/motivational speaker, John works with products and celebrities to create awareness of marketing and entrepreneurship opportunities, and brand extension projects. In 2009, he joined the cast of Shark Tank, a show in which he and other business executives listen to the business pitches of aspiring entrepreneurs to decide whether to invest in their projects.

pschuddlestonA native of Imboden, Ark., TV producer Bryant Huddleston, will appear at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.  Huddleston began his broadcast career in Fayetteville, Ark., at KHOG-TV. In 1998, he relocated to Los Angeles and began producing news, specials and live red carpet events for the E! Network. In 2004 he joined NBC’s Access Hollywood where he spent eight years. Huddleston recently helped launch the Bravo network’s new series Property Envy. The single father of a young son, Huddleston is also an ardent advocate for equality and adoption rights for LGBT citizens and speaks frequently on those issues.

pscsmithJudy Smith, the real-life inspiration behind ABC’s hit political thriller series Scandal, will lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014.  The founder and president of Smith & Company, a strategic and crisis communications firm with offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Smith has honed her skills through experiences guiding her clients through some of the most sensational events of our time, including the Iran Contra investigation, the Los Angeles riots, President Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky and the congressional inquiry of Enron, to name a few. Celebrities she has consulted in times of crisis include actor Wesley Snipes, NFL quarterback Michael Vick, and more recently, celebrity chef Paula Deen. She has also worked with Fortune 500 companies such as BellSouth and Wal-Mart.

In 1991, Smith joined the White House with her appointment as special assistant and deputy press secretary to President George H. W. Bush. During her tenure she provided the president and his cabinet with communications advice on a wide range of foreign and domestic issues.  Smith earned her B.S. in public relations from Boston University and graduated from the American University Washington College of Law where she was the first African American woman to serve as executive editor of the Law Review. The author of Good Self, Bad Self: Transforming Your Worse Qualities into Your Biggest Assets, Smith’s writing her been featured in numerous publications and she frequently appears on major TV networks offering commentary on topical issues of the day.

pscdelvalleThe series continues at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 with poet and spoken word artist Mayda del Valle.  Chosen by O Magazine as one of 20 women on the first “O Power List,” the Chicago native is the youngest poet and first Latino to win the 2001 National Poetry Slam Individual Championship. Soon after she was chosen to perform on the first season of the HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, followed by a stint as an original cast member and contributing writer of the critically acclaimed Tony award winning production of Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Del Valle, who has been featured in numerous publications including Urban Latino, Latina magazine and the New York Time, holds a B.A. in Art from Williams College.

pscwhiteTeacher, pastor and international evangelist Paula White will visit Philander Smith College at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20.  White is senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fl., “a non-traditional church with a multicultural mission” whose membership ranges in the thousands. Through her Paula White Ministries, she works to support hundreds of local, international and global outreaches, and presently is focused on building orphanages, schools, churches, clean-water wells and feeding stations around the world; providing medical care and ministerial training internationally; and organizing crusades in areas such as Haiti, Africa and India.  Host of the nationally-syndicated television program Paula Today, White is the former senior pastor of Without Walls International Church of Tampa, Fl., a ministry she co-founded with her former husband, Randy White.

Free and open to the public, all lectures are held in the M.L. Harris Auditorium. Tickets are not required; seating is first-come, first-serve. For more information, call 370-5354.

Toure at Bless the Mic

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e1363269264.57As part of the Philander Smith College “Bless the Mic” lecture series, the Clinton School of Public Service will co-sponsor a lecture by Touré, co-host of “The Cycle” on MSNBC and author of Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness? What It Means To Be Black Now.

Toure’s book was named one of the Most Notable Books of 2011 by The New York Times and the Washington Post. It was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work of Non-Fiction. He has published three previous books and is currently at work on a book about Prince that will be published in 2013.

The event will take place at 7pm at the ML Harris auditorium on the Philander Smith campus.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor Pat L. Robinson

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IMG_4517On this date in 1900, future Little Rock Mayor Pat L. Robinson was born.  While I cannot verify that he was indeed named after St. Patrick, it would be fairly reasonable to assume there might be a connection, especially given the fact that he was Catholic.

Robinson was a rising star of Little Rock Democratic politics.  In April 1929, just weeks after his 29th birthday, he was elected Mayor.  He had twice been elected as City Attorney (1926 and 1928) and was one of the youngest to serve in that position.

During Mayor Robinson’s tenure, he announced plans to construct a new airport.  That project led to the creation of what is now the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.  Mayor Robinson was also involved in helping Philander Smith College secure the property where it is now located.  In addition, during his tenure, what is now the Museum of Discovery was folded into the City of Little Rock.

Single at the time he was in office and generally considered good looking, Mayor Robinson was sometimes referred to as the “Jimmy Walker of the Southwest.” Walker was the handsome and charming Mayor of New York City at the time.

Mayor Robinson ran afoul of some of the Democratic party leaders. Records don’t seem to indicate exactly what actions he took or did not take.  One thing that is brought up is that the City went into financial distress during his tenure.  Considering the Wall Street crash happened shortly after he took office, that financial state was not unique to Little Rock.

IMG_4532During this era in Little Rock, it was customary for an incumbent mayor to be given a second term. But City Clerk Horace Knowlton challenged Robinson in the primary.  It was a bitter campaign with Robinson linking Knowlton to disreputable denizens and Knowlton charging Robinson with “an orgy of spending.”  Robinson initially came out 17 votes ahead. But after a review and a lawsuit, it was found that Knowlton ended up with 10 more votes and became the nominee.  At the time, being the Democratic nominee was tantamount to election.

After he left office, Robinson practiced law for a few years in Little Rock and then left the city.  Records do not indicate where he went but he no longer appeared in the City of Little Rock directory by the early 1940s.