In celebration of Black History Month, the African American Student Union is holding a celebratory lecture addressing "The Criminal Justice System, #BlackLivesMatter, and College Student Activism Today".
When: Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Where: Georgia Tech Student Center Ballroom
Benjamin Lloyd Crump, Esquire

The popularity of the social media hashtag #BlackLivesMatter can be traced to 2012, when George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin, a verdict many viewed as an example of the country’s divisive social inequity. The impact of #BlackLivesMatter was felt again last fall, when institutions for higher education received public demands from their students aimed at addressing culture and climate on college campuses and renewing a conversation about the ways society is falling short in its pledge of “liberty and justice for all.”

Benjamin Crump, partner of Parks & Crump Law Firm and known for his cases with civil rights implications, was representing Martin’s family at the start of this national social movement. More recently, he has served as an advocate for the families of Michael Brown.

To view Mr. Crump's full bio, click HERE.

PBS (WPBA) will screen Bridging The Divide: Tom Bradley And The Politics Of Race in Atlanta tomorrow night (Feb. 4) at 9:30 p.m

Bridging The Divide received overwhelming positive press coverage in more than 30 newspaper and online articles, reviews, radio and television programs, including three articles in the Los Angeles Times, and articles in Los Angeles Magazine, LA Observed, Jewish Journal, Los Angeles Sentinel, Capital and Main, Variety, LA Weekly, Documentary, and Humanities.

Inside Higher Ed featured a story on Willie Pearson, Jr., who co-edited Changing the Face of Engineering: The African American Experience along with HSTS alum Yu Tao, now assistant professor of sociology and director of gender and cultural studies at Stevens Institute of Technology, and John Slaughter, professor of education and engineering at the University of Southern California and a former director of the National Science Foundation.

The book is a comprehensive history of African-Americans working in the field of engineering and an argument that their continued underrepresentation puts the country at a severe disadvantage. It comprises 15 chapters by a variety of scholars writing from their own unique perspectives.

From the article in Inside Higher Ed:

The annual lecture in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be held on Wednesday, January 13th at 3.00 PM in the Student Center Ballroom.  The speaker is Jeff Johnson, who will ask the audience to take a bit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and speak the truth, enter nontraditional partnerships, maybe become a little uncomfortable. “Ask yourself, ‘What will I leave on this earth?’” A D.C.-based, award-winning journalist, social activist, and political commentator, Johnson has spent the last decade merging the worlds of politics and popular culture.

Celebration events will continue in the Student Center Ballroom the following evening (January 14th) at 7.00 PM.  Featured will be student speeches, cultural performance, a candle lighting ceremony, and a reception.

“Holmes v. Atlanta: Changing the Game” was curated by a team of HSOC students (HTS majors Anna Arnau, Ericka Brundage, Hayden Gregg, plus doctoral student Renee Shelby) working under direction of Mary McDonald and Jennifer Sterling. The exhibit documents the life of Alfred “Tup” Holmes, a Black golfer whose successful Supreme Court suit compelled integration of the Bobby Jones Golf Course and other public recreational facilities in Atlanta and throughout the U.S.

In a matter of roughly ten weeks, the HSOC team pulled together an extensive series of panels that fill the walls of a large reception space at the course’s clubhouse. One highlight for me was a map showing locales where forty-some subsequent civil rights cases were won based on citations to Holmes v. Atlanta.

The exhibit will remain on permanent display at the club, so be sure to check it out when you get a chance! Here is an awesome panorama photo taken of the students' careful curation. 

Join the School of History and Sociology for a talk on Monday, November 30th in the Old CE Building 104. Dr. Todd Michney, a Visiting Assistant Professor of History, will speak on "African American Access to New Deal Housing Programs and Early Civil Rights Activism."

“Holmes v. Atlanta: Changing the Game”
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7 11am-2pm

Monday, March 23rd, Dr. Ronald Johnson of Texas State University will present in the HTS Spring Speaker Series. His talk will be on "Revolutionary Immigration: Being Haitian and Black in Early America" at 4:00PM in the Old CE Building, Room 104. All are welcome.

Monday, March 9th, Dr. Gavin Wright of Stanford University will present in the HTS Spring Speaker Series. His talk will be on "Desegregating Southern Labor Markets" at 4:00PM in the Old CE Building, Room 104. All are welcome.

As the Oscar race comes to a head and the buzz around the civil rights film Selma continues, the Student Center and African American Student Union (AASU) are bringing the conversation about Selma and its issues of race and equality to campus.

As part of Black History Month, AASU and the Student Center have teamed up to bring Tech students a free screening and discussion of the Oscar-nominated movie in one of the very buildings where it was filmed: the Historic Academy of Medicine.The event is open to the first 200 students with their valid BuzzCard. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the screening beginning at 6 p.m. The discussion will follow at approximately 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.calendar.gatech.edu/event/372371.
Aren't able to make be there at 6pm? Join the Campus Conversation afterwards at 8:00pm! Seating, refreshments, and giveaways are first come, first served. Also please note that there is NO PARKING available for this event. Attendants are encouraged to use the Tech Trolley. 

Fifty years ago this June, Ronald Yancey took an important step — well, several — in Georgia Tech’s history as he donned his regalia and walked across the stage as the only black man among 300 graduates and the first African-American student to receive a degree from the Institute.

His proud achievement did not come easily but was earned through years of perseverance, trials, tribulations, and loneliness.

Yancey was born in Atlanta and grew up next door to Porto Rico Whitehead, who worked for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association under coaches William Alexander and Bobby Dodd. Whitehead regularly brought home gameday programs for young Ron, who knew he wanted to go to Tech and become an engineer.

You are invited to Celebrate with Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council

We invite you to experience the love for our community as local residents share their unique and rich histories.

We invite you to embrace your heritage and ancestral powers through Libations, remembering those that paved the way for us to arrive in this moment of history.

We invite you to explore what's new with HWCAC, programs, projects and partnerships.

We invite you to enjoy a soulful dinner and fellowship.

Our goal is to have you explode with excitement and join the fun of the Historic Westside Cultural Arts Council. RSVP 

Black History Month Lecture with Keynote Speaker Susan L. Taylor, Founder and CEO of National CARES Mentoring Movement and Editor Emerita of Essence Magazine.  It will be held from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. TODAY in the Student Center Ballroom. HTS is Co-sponsoring this event.

Former NAACP Chair to Give MLK Lecture

Each January, the Georgia Tech community comes together to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and rededicate itself to his vision.

Georgia Tech Martin Luther King Celebration: Campuswide Student Celebration

2015 will mark the fifth annual Student Celebration, and the celebration attracts a diverse group of students. Students will gather to hear four energized student speakers who will participate in a highly selective application process; last year’s speakers received a $250 book award from Buzzfunds. In addition, several student organizations will provide entertainment e.g. spoken word, stepping, singing, dance, and various cultural celebrations. The event culminates with over 40 student organizations lighting a candle on behalf of Dr. King. At the reception, students stayed around for hours to congratulate the speakers and talk about the meaning of the holiday. Last year, the student committee provided an opportunity for students to reflect by posting their thoughts on white boards. The Student Celebration is hosted by Mr. & Ms. Georgia Tech.

The Center for Civil and Human Rights Tour
The Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta is an engaging cultural attraction that connects the American Civil Rights Movement to today’s Global Human Rights Movements. Their purpose is to create a safe space for visitors to explore the fundamental rights of all human beings so that they leave inspired and empowered to join the ongoing dialogue about human rights in their communities. Exhibits Include: “Voice to the Voiceless: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection,” “Rolls Down Like Water: The American Civil Rights Movement,” and “Spark of Conviction: The Global Human Rights Movement.”

500 tickets have been purchased for GT students, faculty, staff and their families. There will be 100 tickets available each day: January 17, January 18, January 19 and January 24. Participants can take a tour of the museum on their own time between the hours of 10 AM and 5PM Monday – Saturday. The Center is open on Sunday from Noon – 5. In addition, the Museum will be open on the MLK Holiday 10 AM – 5 PM. There will be another 100 tickets available for use at any time January 17-24. Most tour goers spend between 2-3 hours at the museum due to the fact exhibits are highly interactive and engaging. Tickets are free, but tour goers will be encouraged to give a reflection.

Looking for an interesting class in history or sociology? Options are still available! These classes all have seats and HTS 3024 and 3082 both fulfill a social science requirement.

HTS 2803, Minorities in Science and Engineering (Pearson), CRN#28358
HTS 3024, African-American History to 1865 (Williams), CRN#29950
HTS 3048, Modern Russian History (Smith), CRN#28355
HTS 3082, Sociology of Science (Pearson), CRN#28360
HTS 3813- A, Witness to a Changing Conscience (Knoespel), CRN#24381 **note that this is cross-listed with LMC 3833- TH

The last class may be of particular interest, as students who have taken it say it's amazing. For the past ten years, the McEver Seminars (H. Bruce McEver is the chairman of Berkshire Capital) have represented the clearest, most focused expression of Georgia Tech's dialogue between technology and the humanities to date, and it aspires to extend that conversation into learning opportunities and contexts beyond the walls of Georgia Tech. The seminars are comprised of approximately 20 students, half from IAC and half from the College of Engineering. Designed around a particular theme or issues the seminars serve several learning objectives:

• To expose students to the energetic interplay of ideas—technical and humanistic—that is at the heart of academic culture
• To develop students' confidence in their own intellectual abilities
• To engage students in a seminar with close interaction with faculty
• To inspire lifetime learning by requiring intellectual engagement in events and interaction beyond the classroom

You are cordially invited to the Georgia Tech Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture

Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Georgia Tech Student Center Ballroom
3:00 PM 
Keynote Speaker:
Julian Bond 
Civil Rights Activist, Author, and Educator 

Sponsored By:
Office of Institute Diversity
Division of Student Affairs
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
Office of Government and Community Relations
The Student Center
Student Government Association
Office of Student Diversity Programs~RSVP HERE~
For more information on Georgia Tech's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Celebrations visit;http://www.diversity.gatech.edu/mlk-celebration