MLK keynote speaker to discuss book at Sunday afternoon event

MLK keynote speaker to discuss book at Sunday afternoon eventJanuary 16, 2008Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

“An Open Conversation with Barbara Ransby,” an event featuring a discussion with the keynote speaker for Syracuse University’s 23rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, will be held Sunday, Jan. 20, at 3 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

There, Ransby will discuss her book “Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision” (University of North Carolina Press, 2003), an award-winning biography of civil rights activist Ella Baker. A free copy of Ransby’s book will be given to each of the first five students who arrive at the event.

This event is free and open to the public; a reception and book signing will also follow. Parking will be available in the Quad 1 and Quad 3 lots.

Ransby, a historian, writer and political activist, is an associate professor of African American studies and history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the recipient of a national Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (2000-01) and numerous other recognitions and awards, most notably the prestigious Catherine Prelinger Scholarship Award for her overall contributions to women’s history and her unconventional scholarly career.