UNC Asheville to Hold Events in Observance of Black History Month;
Acclaimed Author bell hooks to Give Keynote Address

UNC Asheville will celebrate Black History Month throughout February with a range of special events. Among the highlights will be a keynote address by acclaimed author bell hooks and a stop of the “Mali to Memphis” tour featuring esteemed guitarist Habib Koite. Events are open to the public.

** Prolific cultural commentator and acclaimed author bell hooks will give the UNC Asheville Black History Month keynote address on “Return Migration” at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Although hooks is known mainly as a feminist thinker, her writings cover a broad range of topics on gender, race, teaching and the significance of media for contemporary culture. Her first book, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism” was named one of the “twenty most influential women’s books of the last twenty years” by Publishers Weekly in 1992. Her most recent book, “We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity,” takes a hard look at the problems black males face. hooks lives in New York and has taught at Yale, Oberlin and City University of New York.

** Some 25 pieces of traditional West African art from the private collection of Jordan Holtam will be on view from February 1-27 at UNC Asheville Blowers Gallery, located on the main floor of Ramsey Library. A gallery talk and opening reception with the collector will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, in the gallery. This event is free and open to the public.

Holtam, now a resident of Weaverville, collected a wide variety of traditional African art during the 18 years he lived in Liberia. His collection includes masks, sculptures, pottery and personal adornments from several West African countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire.        

** “Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance” will take center stage at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Now in its seventh season, this show is an exploration of the African American music and poetry of the 1920s and ‘30s. It features Akin Babatunde portraying three of the great poets of the period: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as well as the renowned painter Aaron Douglas. The Core Ensemble, featuring cello, piano and percussion, will perform the musical score, which is drawn from African American jazz and classical music.

** UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies will host a talk and slide presentation on “From Black Power to Jewish Radicalism,” by Michael Staub, author and associate professor of English at Bowling Green State University, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10, at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. He will discuss the impact of Jewish student activism of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as the adaptation of Black Pride for a Jewish context. This event is free and open to the public.

Staub is the author of two books: “Torn at the Roots: The Crisis of Jewish Liberalism in Postwar America” and “Voices of Persuasion: Politics of Representation in 1930s America.” He is also the editor of “The Jewish 1960’s: An American Sourcebook.” Articles in other publications include, “Negroes are not Jews: Race, Holocaust Consciousness, and the Rise of Jewish Neoconservatism” and “Black Panthers, New Journalism, and the Rewriting of the Sixties.”

** UNC Asheville will host Habib Koite and his band Bamada with opening blues artist Guy Davis for a stop on the “Mali to Memphis” tour at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. Named for the critically acclaimed Putamayo collection, “Mali to Memphis” is a musical journey from the heart of an ancient West African kingdom to an American city where the blues music came into its own. Tickets are $18 general admission and $15 children ages 12 and younger.

African-born singer and master guitarist Habib Koite has emerged as one of the leading figures in contemporary world music, sometimes called the African Eric Clapton. His three albums reflect ancient Malian griot tradition, while incorporating subtle Western influences.     

The headlines call Guy Davis a renaissance bluesman and an artist who defies the rural blues myth. Often touted as a member of the new generation of country blues artists, Davis is well-versed in the music’s traditions and has eight albums to his credit.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call UNC Asheville’s Special Events Box Office at 828/232‑5000.

** “Gospel Fest 2005” will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The event will feature several local gospel choirs, including the Clinton Tabernacle and Friendship Baptist Choirs from Hickory, and “God’s Anointed” Combined Choir and the Triad Stone Young Adult Choir from Asheville. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call UNC Asheville’s Multicultural Student Programs Office at 828/232-5110.

Media Contacts:

• Deirdre Wiggins, UNC Asheville Interim Director of Multicultural Student Programs,
  828/232-5110
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526