MESQUITE — Eastfield College students, faculty, staff and special guests will participate in a Campus Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, February 18, that addresses the issue of minority males and authority and how to move forward after the recent Mike Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. The panel discussion, which is part of the college’s Black History Month celebration, will begin at 12:30 p.m. in G-101/102.
“I hope the panel discussion will encourage students to think critically about what happened in Ferguson,” said Speech faculty member Courtney Brazile, advisor of the college’s Men’s Empowerment Club, which is hosting the Town Hall meeting. “As educators, we should encourage dialogue about these types of issues if we indeed want to help our students move forward in the most meaningful way.”
The Town Hall panel will include attorney Russell Wilson of the Law Office of Russell Wilson; Eastfield College Criminal Justice professor Patrick Patterson, whospent 10 years in the U.S. Army/Air Force Military and Security Police Criminal Investigation Division and worked for five years in federal security; Eastfield College Police Captain Timothy Ellington; motivational speaker and youth mentor Kivarris Rector; and Danielle Ayers, minister of social justice at the 12,000-member Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas and a delegate of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race. The moderator will be Brynndah Turnbo, Eastfield College’s First Year Experience Coordinator.
Eastfield is also hosting other lectures, concerts and special events throughout February. The theme for the month is “Celebrating a Century of Black Life, History and Culture. Other upcoming events that will be held on the Mesquite campus are:
· 25th Annual African American Read-In, Feb. 24: The theme for this year’s read-in is
“Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. Maya Angelou. Selections of Angelou’s works will be read by Eastfield students as well as faculty members Larissa Pierce, English; Katawna Caldwell, English; and Selena Stewart-Alexander, Developmental Reading & Writing/English at 11 a.m. in F-117. The Eastfield College Chorus will also perform.
· Historically Black Colleges and Universities Fair, Feb. 25: A transfer fair featuring representatives from HBCU institutions will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
· Recital Series, Feb. 25: The soul and jazz group “Funky Knuckles” will perform in F-117 at 12:30 p.m.
· Art Slideshow and Giraud Polite Photography Reception and Discussion: A slideshow titled “A Century of Black Artists” will be on display in the Eastfield Library from Feb. 9-March 6. Photography by Giraud Polite, Brookhaven College Visual Communications faculty, will also be on display, and there will be a reception/discussion on Feb. 26 in G-101/102 at a time to be determined.
