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FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT: Mary Anthony
Dec. 11, 2007
Poet and Author Nikki Giovanni to Present Martin Luther King Commemorative Lecture
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Nikki Giovanni |
SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University will honor the late Martin Luther King Jr. with a public lecture and participation in a San Antonio march commemorating the slain civil rights leader. The University’s annual MLK Commemorative Lecture will feature Nikki Giovanni, one of America’s most widely read poets, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, in Laurie Auditorium on the Trinity University campus. The title of Giovanni’s lecture is “Words for Change.” The event is free and is open to the public.
Despite dramatic changes in American society since the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni has remained determined and committed to the fight for civil rights and equality in education. Always insistent on presenting the truth, Giovanni maintains her prominent place as a strong voice of the black community through her poetry and prose. Since 1968, she has inspired readers and critics and has established herself as a best-selling poet, author, and essayist.
Her works include The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni, The Sun Is So Quiet, and Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: A Look At the Harlem Renaissance Through Poems. Racism 101 includes bold, controversial essays about the situation of Americans on all sides of the race issue. Rosa, a children’s book about civil rights leader Rosa Parks, spent time on The New York Times best-seller list. Blues: For All the Changes, marked the first time a poet made the Los Angeles Times best-seller list.
Since 1987, she has been teaching writing, poetry, and literature at Virginia Tech, where she has been named University Distinguished Professor. As a devoted and passionate writer, teacher, and speaker, she inspires not only her students, but also readers and audiences nationwide.
Trinity has honored the memory of Dr. King, a slain civil rights leader, for decades and launched a speaker series in 1994. Students affiliated with the Trinity Multi-Cultural Network and members of the Black Student Union, as well as Trinity faculty and staff members, plan to join other residents of San Antonio in the annual MLK March through the community’s East Side on Monday, Jan. 21.
Any requests for special accommodations should be directed to Laurie Auditorium at 210-999-8119 at least 48 hours before the event. For more information, contact Trinity’s Office of University Communications at
210-999-8406.
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© 2007 Trinity University