WRITER KEVIN POWELL HEADLINES BLACK HISTORY MONTH

The profound contributions of the African Diaspora to American arts and culture will be the focus of this year's Black History Month celebration at Bryn Mawr, with a Harlem Renaissance theme and a keynote address by hip-hop poet, journalist and activist Kevin Powell. Sisterhood Black History Month co-chairs Rachel Francois '07 and Alice Goldsberry '07 have organized a slate of film lectures, discussions and performances around the theme "Talking All That Jazz, But You Have Yet to Hear Me Speak: Expression of Black Life Through the Arts & Literature." A few highlights:

Associate Director of Transportation Steve Green and his jazz band The Elevators will kick off the month's events with a concert in Thomas Great Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Dining Services' annual Black History Month Dinner will take place on Thursday, Feb. 10, in Erdman and Rhoads dining halls. More fabulous chow will be available at a Food Demonstration co-sponsored by Sisterhood and Mujeres at Perry House on Sunday, Feb. 13, from 2 to 4 p.m.

"Express Yourself," an evening of performances by members of the Tri-Co community, will be a benefit for South Asian tsunami-relief efforts. The show will take place in the Lusty Cup on the A floor of Canaday Library on Saturday, Feb. 12, from 8 to 10 p.m.

Kevin Powell, this year's keynote speaker, has been hailed by University of Pennsylvania scholar Michael Eric Dyson as "one of America 's most brilliant young cultural critics." Powell first reached a national audience as a participant in the first season of MTV's The Real World. Since then, his work has appeared in such publications as Newsweek, Code, Essence, The Washington Post and Vibe, where he worked as a senior writer for several years. He has published five books, including volumes of his own poetry and essays as well as anthologies of black writers. His most recent book, Who's Gonna Take the Weight? Manhood, Race, and Power in America, is a mediation on issues ranging from manhood, violence and gender oppression to celebrity culture and hip-hop. Powell will speak in Thomas Great Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 16, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Associate Professor of English Linda-Susan Beard will give a talk titled "Significant Simultaneities or Psychic Syncretism: Celebrating Synchronized Notions of Blackness" on Wednesday, Feb. 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the living room of the Multicultural Center.

Sisterhood's annual culture show, focusing on the Harlem Renaissance, will round out the month of Saturday, Feb. 26, in Thomas Great Hall (time to be announced).

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