Archive for March, 2011
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Dr. Freddie L. Parker, professor, former chair and current interim chair of the History Department at North Carolina Central University, has been appointed chairman of the state’s African-American Heritage Commission by Governor Bev Perdue.
Parker joined the commission when it was created two years ago. Established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2008, the commission advises and assists the state Secretary of Cultural Resources in the preservation, interpretation and promotion of African-American history, arts and culture. Parker replaces Harry Harrison of Asheville.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Parker take on this important leadership role for the commission and for the people of North Carolina, as we are in a critical and exciting stage of development,” said Michelle Lanier, acting director of the commission.
It is the first panel in North Carolina dedicated to African-American heritage and history. The commission’s duties, established in the legislation, include:
- Promoting public awareness of historic buildings, sites, structures, artwork and culture associated with African-American heritage through special programs, exhibits and publications;
- Supporting African-American heritage education in elementary and secondary schools in coordination with state’s public schools;
- Building a statewide network of individuals and groups interested in the preservation of African-American history, arts and culture; and
- Developing a program to catalog, preserve, assess and interpret all aspects of African-American history, arts and culture.
An NCCU alumnus, Parker has lent his time to a number of organizations related to history. He is past chairman of the North Carolina Historical Highway Marker Commission and currently is chairman of the African American History Project Advisory Board at Tryon Palace in New Bern. Last fall, he was elected vice-president of the Historical Society of North Carolina and will become its president this year.
In January, Parker won entry into the North Caroliniana Society, a nonprofit group that selects as members North Carolinians who meet the strict criterion of “adjudged performance” in service to the state’s heritage.
Parker received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from NCCU in 1975 and 1977 respectively, and the Ph.D. in American History from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1987. He is the author of “Running for Freedom: Slave Runaways in NC, 1775-1840,” and “Stealing a Little Freedom: Advertisements for Slave Runaways in NC, 1791-1840.”
The Department of Cultural Resources is the state agency that protects and promotes North Carolina’s arts, heritage and culture.
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Thursday, March 10th, 2011
 North Carolina Central University will once again compete in the Home Depot 2011 “Retool Your School” competition, which awards grants to historically black colleges and universities. NCCU submitted two projects for consideration: $50,000 to beautify and install an ADA-approved wheelchair ramp in front of the McDougald – McLendon Gymnasium and $10,000 to update one of the campus bowls used by Greek-letter organizations.
The Retool Your School grant program will award $150,000 in grants, distributed as one $50,000 grand prize and 10 other grants of $10,000 each. The grant supports evergreen campus improvement efforts. Online voting will take place until April 22, and participants can cast a vote for NCCU daily. To vote for NCCU, visit www.homedepot.com/retoolyourschool.
During the online voting period, individuals can view descriptions of major and minor projects and cast one vote per day for their favorite HBCU. After the online vote, a panel of judges will evaluate each school’s proposal. Schools must highlight how each project will have a lasting, positive impact on its campus, and special attention will be given to schools that pitch eco-friendly tasks. The winning schools will be determined based on a combination of online votes and the judges’ evaluations. The Home Depot will announce the top finalists on May 16.
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Thursday, March 10th, 2011
 Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, education consultant and author, will be the keynote speaker at the North Carolina Central University School of Education Symposium on Saturday, March 26, in the H.M. Michaux Jr. School of Education building. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Reigniting the Passion…Redefining Education for Our Children.”
A reception and live auction, hosted by Rep. and Mrs. H.M. “Mickey” Michaux, will take place on Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m., with WTVD news reporter Anthony Wilson as the master of ceremonies.
Kunjufu has dedicated his career to addressing the ills afflicting black culture in the United States. The main thrust of his work has been directed toward improving the education and socialization of black youths. He is the founder and president of African American Images, a Chicago-based publishing company that sponsors workshops designed to help educators and parents develop practical solutions to the problems of child-rearing in what he perceives to be a racist society.
Kunjufu has written more than 33 books, including Black Students: Middle Class Teachers; Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education; An African-Centered Response to Ruby Payne’s Poverty Theory; Raising Black Boys and 200-Plus Educational Strategies to Teach Children of Color. His latest title, Understanding Black Male Learning Styles, is a resource guide for teachers on the challenges minority males face in the classroom.
Since 1974 he has delivered lectures and workshops targeting the problems facing black educators. Recently, he expanded his work to include video and film production. His work has been featured in Ebony and Essence magazines, and he has been a guest on BET and Oprah. He is also a frequent guest on the Michael Baisden show.
Kunjufu attended Illinois State University at Normal and received his bachelor’s degree in economics. He earned a doctorate in business administration at Union Graduate College.
Additional panelists and speakers at the symposium include Kamau Ptah, program coordinator, Sankofa Passages Project, The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color; Alexandra Zagbayou, director of operations, Student U; Dr. Eric Becoats, superintendent, Durham Public Schools; Kristy Moore, president, Durham Association of Educators; Maria Rosa Rangel, senior administrator, LEP (Limited English Proficiency) Family Outreach Services in Wake County, and Leonardo Williams, N.C. Foundation for Public Schools Children.
Cost of the event is $50 for the auction and reception ($25 for students) and $50 for the symposium ($25 for students) or $75 for both the reception and symposium. For more information, call (919) 560-6466. Proceeds from the auction support the Cecelia Steppe-Jones Scholarship. Proceeds from the Education Symposium benefit the SOE Professional Development Fund.
Founded in 1910, North Carolina Central University was the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans. Today, this dynamic campus has a diverse student body of 8,600 enrolled in academic programs including law, biotechnology, library science, business, nursing, education and the arts. For two years in a row, U.S. News & World Report has ranked NCCU as the best public historically black college or university in the nation.
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Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
 Andrew W. Bey was born October 28, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey. He is a jazz singer and pianist. He worked on a television show, Startime, with Connie Francis and sang for Louis Jordan. He also did notable work with Horace Silver and Gary Bartz. Later he had an album named Experience And Judgment, which had Indian influences. After that period he returned to hard bop and also did covers of music by non-jazz musicians like Nick Drake.
One of the great unsung heroes of jazz singing, Andy Bey is a commanding interpreter of lyrics who has a wide vocal range and a big, rich, full voice. Bey was exposed to jazz as a child and started singing in front of local audiences as early as eight. At some gigs, an eight-year-old Bey was accompanied by tenor sax great Hank Mobley. Bey was 13 when, in 1952, he recorded his first solo album, Mama’s Little Boy’s Got the Blues; and he was 17 when he formed Andy & the Bey Sisters with his siblings Salome and Geraldine in 1956. The group did a 16-month tour of Europe and recorded three albums (one for RCA Victor in 1961, two for Prestige in 1964 and 1965) before breaking up in 1967.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Bey’s  vocals were featured by Max Roach, Duke Pearson, and Gary Bartz . The 1970s also found Bey recording Experience and Judgment for Atlantic and beginning a long association with pianist Horace Silver, who featured him prominently on many of the religious-themed albums he put out own his own Silveto label in the 1970s and 1980s. The LPs contained what Silver termed “metaphysical self-help music” and preached a sort of religious self-help philosophy that wasn’t unlike Reverend Ike’s message — unfortunately for Silver and Bey, this approach meant limited distribution and little commercial appeal.
Bey continued to work with Silver into the 1990s, when he was featured on Silver’s 1993 Columbia date It’s Got to Be Funky (which marked a return to hard bop’s mainstream and did much better commercially than his “self-help music”). Labels Bey recorded for as a leader in the 1980s and 1990s included Jazzette, Zagreb, and Evidence, which, in 1996, released the superb Ballads, Blues and Bey.
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