Syracuse University’s African American Male Congress to host Nov. 17 public appearance by Jesse Jackson

Syracuse University’s African American Male Congress to host Nov. 17 public appearance by Jesse JacksonNovember 17, 2006SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

The African American Male Congress (AAMC) at Syracuse University will celebrate its fourth annual baccalaureate ceremony with a free, public lecture by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson will speak in Hendricks Chapel on Friday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Paid event parking will be available at discounted rates in the University’s Irving Garage. A limited number of free tickets, which are required, will be available, in person only, starting Friday, Nov. 10, at noon at the box office in SU’s Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center. There will be a limit of three tickets apiece on a first-come, first-served basis for all members of the University and Central New York communities.

For more than three decades, Jackson has played a major role in virtually every movement for civil rights, gender equality, economic and social justice, and peace in America. A candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, Jackson gained fame as one of the most effective orators in American politics. During each of those campaigns, Jackson led efforts to register African American voters and to increase representation of minority groups in the Democratic Party. In 1971, Jackson founded People United to Save Humanity (PUSH), an organization devoted to gaining economic power for African Americans. In 1976, he began a project called PUSH for Excellence, a program designed to help African American students get a better education. In 1986, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a national social justice organization devoted to empowerment, education and mobilization.

The African American Male Congress was founded in 1998. The vision for the honor society is to be the premier student organization for African American male emergent leaders. Its mission is to discuss the social, economic and political issues that affect African American men; serve as a support system for African American men; promote the growth and development of African American male student leaders; and build coalitions among leaders of student organizations.