By Karen Pressley
A national movement addressing issues important to African-Americans--and all Americans--has birthed at Kennesaw State University. On Thursday, October 26, 2006, “The Covenant with Black America” program will open its doors to students and faculty at 12:15 in the Student Center Leadership Room for a discussion based a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African-Americans today.
Sponsored by the Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Character, eight KSU professors and administrators will host a panel discussion that will ring a “wake-up call” for every American regarding activism in matters from health to housing, crime to criminal justice, education to economic party.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, he could not “sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King believed that we are “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Interdisciplinary and culturally diverse faculty and staff from KSU have already been participating in “The Covenant with Black America,” based on Tavis Smiley’s bestselling book, a collection of essays that lay out the concerns of black Americans and serves as a road map toward the construction of their ideal lives. This plan is referred to as a “covenant” rather than a “contract” because it addresses the spiritual dimension for their progress in America, a commitment that will inevitably benefit all Americans.
The Oct. 26 panel of participants, facilitated by Linda Lyons, Director, Center for University Learning, will recap the focus of the discussions and reveal some of the group and personal action plans which have evolved from the discussions at KSU. Panel participants include Barbara Hammond, Character Fellow, Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics & Character; Jeremy Berggren, Administrator, Center for Student Leadership; Rosa Bobia, Professor of French and Director of African Diaspora Studies; Dorothy Graham, Ombuds and Professor of English; Catherine Odera, Assistant Director of International Student Retention; Cheryl Wayne, Director of EEO and Diversity Programs.
As witnessed since the 2004 presidential elections, Americans are deeply divided between race, class, gender, political ideology, and moral values. “The Covenant with Black America” offers an opportunity for the KSU community to not sit idly by and not be concerned about what is happening across the nation, whether on college campuses or beyond. In order to bridge that divide, students and faculty are encouraged to speak openly, freely, without judgment and work together to improve the fabric of this nation.
An excerpt from Tyrone D. Tabom’s essay in “The Covenant with Black America” is an example of the concerns expressed in the book: “Global forces in technology, research, science and telecommunications make it clear that the future will not hold much promise for generations of blacks if the trends that limit African-American participation in the global digital technology economy are not reversed. Young blacks entering an information-based, technology-driven marketplace without the necessary technological skill sets will not only be unemployable, they will be irrelevant.”
“We invite students, faculty and staff to attend,” Dr. Deborah Roebuck, Executive Director of the Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Character, said.
“It is important to understand each other, to break down stereotypes, to help each other, to look at our obstacles and shape the future by determining how to overcome them together.”
The Siegel Institute Newsroom
Kennesaw State University
The Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Character
1000 Chastain Road
MD 5500 – House 55
Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591
www.siegelinstitute.org
Phone: 678-797-2000
Fax: 678-797-2205
Karen Pressley, Institute Relations
Email: Karen_Pressley@kennesaw.edu
Phone: 678-797-2000
