Mamalicious!

Guess who’s invited to participate in a panel discussion about “The State of Black America” at Duquesne University.

Me!

“Please join the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Black Student Union on February 19, 2008 in the Duquesne Room at 7:00PM as a panel of African American leaders from the City of Pittsburgh share their diverse perspectives pertaining to issues that impact Black America. A student moderator will guide the discussion and the audience will be encouraged to participate.

Panel members will be asked to examine critical issues that influence the experiences and progress of African Americans in the local area in particular…and in the United States in general. The esteemed panel will share their opinions on the nature of the problem and offer practical solutions. Specific topics will include but not be limited to: the labor market, the educational system, the criminal justice system, the media, and housing practices.

Panelists include:

Valerie McDonald-Roberts: Manager of the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate and first African American woman elected to Pittsburgh City Council.
Sala Udin: Community Activist and former Pittsburgh City Councilman, and is currently serving as the President & CEO of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership.
Dara Ware Allen: Executive Director of YouthWorks, Inc.
Paradise Gray: Community Activist, Hip-Hop Artist/Producer, Freelance Writer, and Entrepreneur.
Deesha Philyaw: Freelance Writer for Essence Magazine, the Washington Post, & the Disney Wondertime Magazine.
Serina Griffin, a senior in the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University, will serve as the moderator.

Some general questions are:

How would you describe your experience as change agent? Please share some of your successes and challenges.

What do you perceive as the major issues facing African Americans in Pittsburgh?

What strategies do you feel that African Americans should employ to overcome these challenges?

In what ways do you feel elected officials can assist in addressing the problems that exist? How would you describe their effectiveness to this point?

What role do you think Duquesne University and other local colleges/universities can play to assist in addressing some of the critical issues that exist?

Share the top 3 actions that need to be taken to make Pittsburgh the most livable city in the United States for African Americans.”

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 10:30 pm and is filed under 32 Days of Black History, Cool Stuff, Politics, Race Matters, Toot-Toot. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.