Jackson, Mississippi – Black History 2017 is a cooperative project between the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO, The Institute for Social Justice and Race Relations, Gallery1, The College of Liberal Arts, Departments of English and Modern Foreign Languages, and History and Philosophy, that will celebrate history, culture and artistic engagement during this Black History series.
Thursday, February 9, 2017, 6:00 pm –Panel Discussion- Fences: African Americans in Major League Baseball Featuring Curtis Granderson, Outfielder for the New York Mets
Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO
1017 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, MS 39204
The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO, The Institute for Social Justice and Race Relations, The Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages, and The Department of History and Philosophy present: Fences: African Americans in Major League Baseball.
Before Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in 1947, African-Americans had no choice but to play in the Negro Leagues. Because of this integration, one would think that African-Americans would naturally gravitate to baseball. That has not been the case. As of now, the percentage of African-Americans playing baseball is just below eight percent. The numbers did rise during the 1970s and 1980s. Since that time, the numbers have been on a steady decline. Curtis Granderson, outfielder for the New York Mets and poet laureate C. Liegh McInnis, will discuss this trend and other issues related to African American baseball players.
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Monday, February 13, 2017, 6:00 pm – The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO and Gallery 1 Pay Tribute to Nelson Mandela Through Art and Scholarship
4:30 pm – Book Talk – The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO, 1017 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, MS, 39204;
JSU Reading Community Book Talk: In this session of the 2016-2017 academic year, The JSU Campus Reading Community will discuss the book, Student Resistance to Apartheid at the University of Fort Hare: Freedom Now, a Degree Tomorrow (Lexington Books, 2016) featuring the author, Dr. Rico D. Chapman.
The exhibition of photographs titled “Nelson Mandela: His Life in the Struggle” chronicles the life and times of Nelson Mandela and were purchased by Dr. Chapman from the Robben Island Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Chapman was an exchange student at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, where Mandela was also a student in 1939. He states that “students at JSU will be fascinated by the history of the freedom struggle in South Africa as it has many commonalities to the civil rights movement in the United States.”
6:00 pm – Exhibition – Gallery 1, 1100 John R. Lynch Street, Suite 4, Jackson, MS 39203
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Thursday, February 16, 2017, 6:00 pm – Panel Discussion – A Commemoration of The Life and Legacy of Benjamin Brown: 50 Years Later
Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO, 1017 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, MS 39204
On May 11, 1967, a civil disturbance erupted into violence following a confrontation between a crowd of more than 200 people and Mississippi law enforcement resulting in the untimely death of Benjamin Brown, a young Mississippi Civil Rights activist. Today, nearly 50 years later, we pay tribute to Brown’s life and legacy. Special guests include: Arthur Brown, Benjamin Brown’s brother, Jan Hillegas, COFO Worker and friend, and others.
For more information regarding this Black History series, visit: www.jsums.edu/HamerInstitute
