Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Taye Diggs ’93 and Shane Evans ’92 to promote youth literacy, self-esteem at Say Yes to Education community event Nov. 13

Wednesday, November 9, 2011, By News Staff
Share

On Sunday, Nov. 13, television, film and stage actor—and now author—Taye Diggs ’93, a drama alumnus of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), along with illustration alumnus Shane W. Evans ’92 will join the Syracuse community in promoting literacy, education and just being yourself. 

As collaborators for the children’s book “Chocolate Me!” (Feiwel & Friends, 2011), Diggs and Evans will host a book signing, reading and Q-and-A for Syracuse children at the Greater Evangelical Church (4325 S. Salina St., Syracuse) at 2 p.m. The event is open to the public and is sponsored by Say Yes to Education, VPA, SU’s Office of Alumni Relations, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) and the Syracuse City School District (SCSD). Participating in the event will be Say Yes to Education Executive Director Rachael Gazdick, IMA President Kenneth Reed and community faith-based leaders. 

“Chocolate Me,” which Diggs wrote and Evans illustrated, carries an important message for children who may feel a little different from their peers. “Chocolate Me!” encourages kids to “appreciate their differences and celebrate them with a healthy sense of self-esteem.” 

At the event, Diggs will read “Chocolate Me!” and Evans will accompany on the guitar. 

In “Chocolate Me!” a young boy is teased for looking different. His skin is darker, his hair is curlier, his nose is bigger than everyone else’s. The boy is chocolate. He tells his mother that he wishes he looked like the other kids. She teaches him to appreciate his differences. According to the book: “Chocolate is sweet. Chocolate is smooth. Chocolate is beautiful and delicious. Chocolate is—Me!”

“Taye and I want to share with our children that no matter what your obstacles in life, the sweet inside will prevail,” says Evans, Diggs’ longtime best friend and an NAACP Image Award winner.

Evans is the illustrator of numerous award-winning books for children, including “Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson,” and “Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper’s Daughter,” winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. 

Diggs is an actor whose credits include the motion pictures “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Chicago”; stage performances in “Rent” and “Wicked”; and a current television role in ABC’s “Private Practice.”  

“Chocolate Me!” will be available for purchase at the event. The event is also part of SU’s Orange Central 2011, taking place Nov.10-13 on the SU campus. Orange Central includes reunions, special events and Homecoming, all rolled into one exciting weekend. 

For more information, contact Vincent Cobb at Say Yes to Education at (315) 807-8635, or Syracuse University’s Office Alumni Relations/Orange Central at 1-800-SUALUMS (782-5867).

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • School of Education Faculty Publish ‘Lesson Study With Mathematics and Science Preservice Teachers’
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By Martin Walls
  • Water Main Break Near Bird Library to Be Repaired Monday
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By News Staff
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Hope Alvarez

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Fall 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Phillips Appointed Interim Director at Lender Center for Social Justice; Director Search Committee Named

The Lender Center for Social Justice has familiar leadership for the 2023-24 academic year while a renewed search for a permanent director is conducted. Kendall Phillips, founding co-director of the Lender Center and professor in the Department of Communication and…

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.