Program details have been released for Jackson State University’s 47th Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday Convocation and the For My People Award luncheon to be held Friday.
According to Dr. Robert Luckett, director of JSU’s Margaret Walker Center for the Study of the African-American Experience, the birthday celebration will kick off the Margaret Walker Centennial year with a keynote address by renowned scholar and author Paula Giddings.
Beginning at 10 a.m. in JSU’s Rose E. McCoy Auditorium, 1400 John R. Lynch St., the event is free and open to the public, and it will be immediately followed by the For My People Awards luncheon in the JSU Student Center Ballroom.
This year’s For My People Award recipients include Giddings; Dr. John A. Peoples, Jr., President Emeritus, Jackson State University; the Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center in Jackson; and Pamela D.C. Junior, manager at Smith Robertson.
Seating at the luncheon is limited, and tickets are $10 and can be reserved through the Margaret Walker Center at 601-979-2055 or mwa@jsums.edu.
This annual award is named after Walker’s classic poem, For My People, and past recipients have included James Meredith, Unita Blackwell, Robert Clark, Lerone Bennett, Andrew Young, Jesse Mosley, Reena Evers-Everette, Charlayne Hunter-Gault and others.
Giddings, a professor of African-American studies at Smith College, attended one of earliest Black Studies conferences in the nation — the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival hosted at Jackson State by Margaret Walker in 1973.
Giddings is the author of three books on the social and political history of African-American women: When and Where I Enter: The Impact on Black Women on Race and Sex in America; In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement; and, most recently, a biography of anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells, Ida: A Sword among Lions.
Details of the events:
47th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Convocation
PROGRAM
Presiding — Dr. Robert Luckett, JSU assistant professor of history, director, Margaret Walker Center
Invocation — Rev. Elbert McGowan, chaplain, JSU
Anthem — Lift Every Voice and Sing, Mrs. Phyllis Lewis-Hale, JSU music instructor, accompanied by Dr. Karen Laubengayer, JSU music professor
Welcome –Dr. James C. Renick, JSU provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs
Greetings – Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber
Greetings — Keonte M. Turner, 2014-2015 JSU Student Government Association president
The Occasion — Anissa C. Butler, 2014-2015 Miss Jackson State University
Introduction — Dr. Preselfanie McDaniels, associate professor of English, JSU
Keynote Address – Professor Paula Giddings, E.A. Woodson 1922 Professor of Afro-American Studies, Smith College, 2015 For My People Award recipient
Remarks — Dr. Deborah H. Barnes, associate professor of English, JSU
Benediction — Pastor Barron Banks, M. Div., National Chaplain, Jackson State University Alumni Association, Advisory Board member, Margaret Walker Center
20th AnnualFor My PeopleAwards Luncheon
PROGRAM
($10 lunch catered by Jackson State University – limited seating.)
Music – The Reginald Lewis Trio, Jackson State University
Presiding — Mr. Michael Gordon, 2014-2015 JSU Student Government Association vice-president
Invocation — Rev. C.J. Rhodes, Advisory Board member, Margaret Walker Center
Greetings — Dr. Mario J. Azevedo, dean, JSU College of Liberal Arts
The Occasion — Ms. Peggy Seaton-Cain, graduate assistant, Margaret Walker Center
Presentation of the 2015 For My People Awards — Dr. Luckett
Recipients:
— Professor Giddings
— Dr. John A. Peoples, Jr., JSU president emeritus
— Ms. Pamela D.C. Junior, Museum Manager, Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center
— Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center, City of Jackson
Remarks — Mr. Reginald Thompson, Advisory Board member, Margaret Walker Center
Benediction — Rev. C.J. Rhodes