For several decades Dee has been a pillar in the African-American community as an actress, poet and playwright known around the world. Starting her career in several appearances on Broadway, she first received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film “The Jackie Robinson Story”.

Since then, her career has touched all forms of media and spanned eight decades, including classic films such as A Raisin in the Sun. The Academy Award nominee and Grammy award winner is recognized as helping pave the way for black actors and filmmakers, but also for her activism.

During the tumultuous 1960s, she and her late husband, Ossie Davis, were directly involved in the Civil Rights Movement and became well-known as activists who fought for racial equality.

From The New York Times:

Her own perspective was shaped by her decades of work as an activist, including marching with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. “As a nation we are growing some thick skin over some basic tenets that are in danger of being lost to us,” she said in the interview. “Our democracy is getting threadbare.”

Her concerns range from a war being waged without a Congressional declaration to the David and Goliath struggles of independent merchants who are pitted against corporate giants.

“You’re not supposed to go into business with the sole purpose of putting your neighbor out of business,” she said. “This is not the United States of Corporate America.”

The forum is scheduled for March 8 and will be moderated by Mordean Taylor-Archer, U of L Vice Provost for Diversity & International Affairs inside the Chao Auditorium located on the lower level of the university library. Doors open at 10:45 am.

“We encourage everyone who can to visit the center to see this and other exhibits,” says Ken Lucas, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, which contributed some of the funding to bring the exhibit to Louisville. “The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is an inspiring one for Kentuckians and all Americans, and the Muhammad Ali Center provides the perfect showcase.”

The Ron Spriggs Exhibit of Tuskegee Airmen is the personal accomplishment of Nicholasville resident Ron Spriggs, who was inspired by the 1995 HBO movie about the first unit of African-American pilots during World War II. An eight-year Air Force veteran, Spriggs felt the small Tuskegee Airmen exhibit at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, did not portray America’s first black military airmen in a positive light.

Since then, Spriggs  started collecting Tuskegee Airmen memorabilia, photographs and historical details while learning about the unit’s connections to the commonwealth.

“I realized that Kentucky has a rich history in black aviation even before the Tuskegee airmen,” he says. “There were 12 cadets from Kentucky (among the Tuskegee Airmen.)  Even before the Tuskegee Airmen experiment, Willa Beatrice Brown Chappell from Glasgow, Kentucky, was the first African American/Native American woman to get her pilot’s license. With her husband, she formed a company to teach people how to fly.  She was instrumental in getting black pilots into the cadet program in 1941.”

In 2002, Spriggs started buying items for the exhibit, ranging from books to models of the planes the Tuskegee Airmen flew. From 2004 to 2008 he received some funding to help him purchase items, but now operates on a shoestring budget.

The exhibit includes a half-scale replica of the nose cone of a P51D Mustang whose pilot was one of the first to shoot down three German Me262 jet planes in one day. The pilot’s crew chief was a native of Henderson and Louisville, who painted his half of the nose cone to honor Miss Kentucky State University, Maggie Cathryn Clement. The replica was created and built by Steven Gray, CWO 4, USA Ret., a former helicopter pilot, of Nicholasville.

The exhibit also includes 15 replica scale-model planes flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, and a uniformed torso mannequin of Tuskegee Airmen commander Col. Benjamin O. Davis.

“We are proud to showcase this extraordinary exhibit at the center so the community can experience a part of history and connect it to our state,” says Greg Roberts, president and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center. “Everyone needs to see this. And it’s a great learning opportunity for kids.”

The exhibit will be on display at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville from Friday, Feb. 4 through Monday, Feb. 28.

The highlights kicks off with a guest lecture by Tony Bonta on the Catholic Church’s role in advocating for racial justice in the U.S, and a February 15 lecture on Trappist monk Thomas Merton’s lessons on race for the 21st century. There are also several concerts and events scheduled throughout the month.

For more information go here

From Bellarmine:

February 1: Black History Month Guest Speaker Tony Bonta (7 p.m. in Hilary’s) Tony Bonta is pursuing his doctorate in historical theology, with a specialization in American Catholic life and thought, at Marquette University. Bonta’s presentation will focus on three areas: 1) a brief discussion and summary of the history of the Catholic Church in the United States as it relates to racial justice; 2) an understanding of the shift in the 20th century and key theological teachings and formative issues that highlight the successes, limitations and efforts of these Catholic leaders; and 3) the lessons and challenges for us today, as individuals and communities, to understand and address the realities of bigotry, racism, and their implications for prejudice and discrimination.

Feb. 8: Documentary “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” (7 p.m. in Hilary’s) “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” is a biography about one of the most controversial figures in the civil rights movement. He was a Freedom Rider, advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and an organizer of the March on Washington. However, Bayard was forced to play a background role in the civil rights movement because he was gay. This documentary sheds light on this charismatic leader and the progressive movements of the 20th century.

Feb. 15: Faculty Jazz Band Performance (11 a.m. to noon on the first floor of Horrigan Hall, by Cafe Ogle) Come enjoy the smooth sounds of Bellarmine’s Faculty Jazz Band as they perform their favorites pieces!

Feb. 15: Fifth Annual Thomas Merton Black History Month Lecture (7 p.m. in Frazier Hall) Sister Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Ph.D., will discuss “Religion and Racism: Thomas Merton’s Insights for the Twenty-First Century.” Phelps has been a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters since 1959 and is a professor of systematic theology and director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Feb. 20: Black History Month Concert (4 p.m. in Wyatt Center for the Arts, Cralle Theatre) Enjoy beautiful music performed by Bellarmine students and guest artists, featuring works by famous, classical African-American composers in celebration of Black History Month.

Feb. 22: Documentary “Uncommon Vision: The Life and Times of John Howard Griffin” (11 a.m. in Pasteur 102) John Howard Griffin is best known as a white man who in 1959 disguised himself as a black man and traveled anonymously through the heart of Dixie. From his experiences he wrote Black Like Me. This film focuses on Griffin’s social activism and examines how a spiritual commitment led him from a segregated childhood in Fort Worth to fighting with the French Underground, sustained him during 10 years of blindness incurred by war injuries, and inspired him during a prolific creative life as a writer and photographer. A short discussion will follow the film.

Feb. 25: Voice Recital (5 p.m. in Wyatt Center for the Arts, Wyatt Theatre) Baritone Phillip Morgan, winner of the Bellarmine Chorale’s 2010 Black History Month Festival of Music Vocal Competition, will be the featured performer in this event which will showcase music by African-American classical composers. Mr. Morgan will be accompanied by pianist Austin Echols.

Feb. 26: Second Annual Vocal Competition (1 p.m.; Collegiate Division is in Wyatt Center for the Arts and High School Division is in Norton Music Building 101) This unique and exciting event is co-sponsored, for the second year, by the Bellarmine University Chorale and the Kentucky Chapter of the National Association of Negro Musicians. This statewide vocal competition features both collegiate and high school divisions and requires all contestants to offer a Traditional Negro Spiritual or a classical composition by an African-American composer. This is in addition to the ‘usual’ Handel, Mozart, Puccini or Verdi that would be required in most vocal events.

Feb. 27: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Talent Hunt (4 p.m. in Wyatt Center for the Arts, Cralle Theatre) The Bellarmine Chorale is once again co-sponsoring the Annual Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Talent Hunt! Started in 1946, this yearly contest exposes young people to the arts and gives them a platform to display their talents. Winners receive monetary prizes and the winner of the top prize represents Louisville in the Omega’s national competition.

During each scheduled event, Kentucky Opera Studio Artists will perform “Oh Freedom!” and tour the rich cultural history of African-Americans from pre-slavery to modern times through song. The Frazier Museum performers will present a different first person account related to black history each night.

From the Frazier Museum:

January 20 – “The Buffalo Soldier: Cuba, 1898″ A buffalo soldier tells of the taking of San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and the role played by black soldiers.

January 27 – “Colonel Robert Gould Shaw” This story is taken from the letters of the young man who led the first combat regiment of African-American soldiers, the 54th Massachusetts, during the American Civil War.

February 3 – “Free Frank” Former slave Frank McWhorter talks about coming to Kentucky in the 1790s, his establishment of a saltpetre business and his efforts to free himself and his family from slavery.

February 10 – “Olaudah Equiano” The first ex-slave to publish his memoirs describes his trials and travails as a 10-year-old boy sold into slavery in the mid-18th century.

All performances are free and guests may also enjoy complimentary Brown-Forman wines, BBC Beer and light snacks. Access to all Frazier Museum galleries begins at 5 p.m., with performances from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m.

Later today the Urban Upgrade Educational forum will convene at St. Stephen Church to address the widening achievement gap and lack of educational attainment in the black community in relation to the city’s new education strategy.

Earlier this year, the program was launched in an effort to increase the number of residents with college degrees. The new public-private partnership’s goal is to increase the number of people with bachelor’s degrees by 40,000 and the number with associate degrees by 15,000.

In terms of college education, the city is falling behind when compared to its competitive peers.

Recent data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, for instance, ranked Louisville as the 6th dumbest city in the country. Based upon the percentage of our population who hold college degrees the census showed only 25 percent of Louisvillians are college educated. The data also showed that the percentage of adults 25 and older who hold a four-year degree or higher remains below 30 percent.

The numbers are even more woeful when viewed through racial lenses.

According to the Greater Louisville Project, only 14 percent of African-Americans who live in the city have a bachelor’s degree or higher, which puts Louisville in the lower end among its peer cities. For the initiative to work, the non-profit group pointed to reducing the racial achievement gap as key to reaching the 55,000 degrees goal.

The forum starts at 5:30 p.m. tonight and will be hosted at St. Stephen Church (1008 S. 15th Street). The discussion will be moderated by Courier-Journal columnist Betty Baye’ and features:

Ben Richmond, president of the Louisville Urban League
Diane Porter, District 1 member of the Jefferson County Board of Education
Professor J. Blaine Hudson, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Louisville
Audwin Helton, President/CEO of Spatial Data Integrations
Rev. Kevin Cosby, Sr. Pastor at St. Stephen Church and President Simmons College

On Election Night, three of the four African-American judges in Jefferson County retained their seats and two of those races were decided by razor-thin margins. Initial results showed Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards beating Louisville attorney John VanderToll by about 300 votes and District Judge Erica Lee Williams besting former prosecutor A. Christine Ward with a 200 vote margin.

Since then, both incumbents have increased their margins of victory. The unofficial results posted by the secretary of state’s office show Edwards winning by 670 and Williams by 601. Still, VanderToll and Ward have asked the county clerk to re-examine the vote totals beginning tomorrow morning.

“I had so much response from my supporters, and it is an opportunity available that I didn’t want to let go by and think later I should have done this,” says Ward. “I really don’t expect it to change anything, but I want to be absolutely sure there was no human error and make that request. When it’s that close you want to make sure.”

The recanvass is important in part because of the racial implications of this year’s judicial campaigns. For a brief in 2009, Jefferson County had no African-Americans among its 40 judges in circuit, district or family court.

Last summer, Gov. Steve Beshear heeded the call from civil rights advocates who were concerned about the lack of racial diversity and filled four vacancies with black judges, appointing Olu Stevens and Brian Edwards to the circuit court bench, along with Sadiqa Reynolds and Erica Lee Williams to district court.

All four appointees faced white opponents in the general eleciton, with Stevens easily winning re-election and Reynolds losing to attorney Gina Kay Calvert.

In the race for the 30th district judge seat, Ward resigned from her job as a prosecutor in the county attorney’s office after a new rule prohibited employees from running for office. After quitting her job and running a year long race, Ward says she had  to double check the results, but Williams remains confident that she has retained the seat.

“There aren’t 601 errors,” says Williams, adding that Ward conceded via e-mail the day after the election. “I’m confident the votes will be the same. And I’m confident that I will remain in the seat I was appointed to by the governor. It didn’t surprise me that it was challenged though. ”

Once the county clerk’s office have re- examine the vote totals they will be tallied by the secretary of state’s office and certified by the state board of elections.

UPDATE:

The recanvass results for the two judicial races are in (h/t The ‘Ville Voice):

Circuit Judge – 30th Circuit, Division 11

• Vandertoll Certified: 97,071
• Vandertoll Recanvass: 97,071
• Edwards Certified: 97,739
• Edwards Recanvass: 97,741

30th District, Division 17

• Williams Certified: 92,058
• Williams Recanvass: 92,058
• Ward Certified: 91,457
• Ward Recanvass: 91,457

Does any of this sound familiar?

From The Kansas City Star:

A group of four African-American men has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging discrimination in the dress code at the Power & Light downtown entertainment district.

The lawsuit, which seeks at least $20 million in punitive damages, was filed on behalf of the class of African-American males subjected to the district’s dress code enforcement.

(SNIP)

They are suing the Cordish Companies; Entertainment Concepts Investors, a Cordish affiliate; and the Maker’s Mark bar and lounge.

Maker’s Mark officials referred calls to Cordish representatives, who could not be reached Tuesday night for comment. In the past, Cordish officials have denied any racial discrimination in the enforcement of the district’s dress code.

The dress code in Kansas City was instituted in June 2008, and puts a ban on bandanas, work boots, long white t-shirts, chains and athletic jerseys.  It is similar to the dress code that has come under fire in Louisville on several occasions. Since 2004, Fourth Street Live has been the subject of protests, complaints and lawsuits by African-Americans, many who still believe they are unfairly targeted at the entertainment district.

In October 2009, for instance, a former employee at Maker’s Mark inside Fourth Street Live sued the bar, claiming she was told to discriminate against black patrons by management. The suit alleged she was told that it wanted a “predominantly white crowd” and to “keep out the darker element.”

A few years earlier, a judge had ordered two now-defunct nightclubs — Red Cheetah and Parrot Beach — to publish the dress code and apply it to “blacks and whites equally.” That ruling was made after two African Americans filed a lawsuit claiming they were denied entrance to the clubs.

Unlike Louisville, where Metro government has had a more than cozy relationship with the real estate company and handed out a $950,000 loan to refurbish a downtown club, city leaders in Kansas City questioned Cordish about the dress code and its inconsistent enforcement.

From The Pitch:

What looks like bad publicity on the surface might, in Cordish’s dark way of doing business, be an inexpensive means of letting white suburbanites know that the Power & Light District is sensitive to their fears. Not a fan of hip-hop style? Neither are we. So come on down and take a ride on our mechanical bull.

It’s dangerous to interpret letters to the editor as a barometer of public sentiment. For one thing, cranky people are more likely to put pen to paper. Still, it was interesting to read the letters supporting the ban in the Star last week. A few correspondents evoked Bannister Mall, which is perceived to have failed because it became too “urban.” Some of the letters came from Overland Park, Shawnee and Independence — a reminder that the metropolitan area is 80 percent white.

In addition to the experience in Louisville, which appears to have chastened company officials not a bit, Cordish is establishing a record of dishonesty that leads one to think the worst of its actions.

At the socio-economic level, for instance, the white per capita income is nearly double that of African-Americans and there are twice as many blacks compared to whites living below the poverty line.

“The state’s largest minority must have an equal opportunity to live with the same quality as everyone,” John J. Johnson, executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights said in a statement. “It is our hope that a hard look at statistics like these can help Kentucky plan for continued progress in wiping out remaining vestiges of discrimination.”

There are some areas that reflects improvements, however. In education, for instance, African-American students maintain gradual increases each year at the post-secondary undergraduate level. The increase in enrollment has exceeded its representation in the Kentucky population. And a higher percentage of blacks in Kentucky owned their own homes than in any other state.

Here are the report’s highlights:

The graduation rate of African-American students is 11 percent lower than the white rate and the dropout rate in 2008 was 2.9% for white students, 6.1% for African Americans and 6% for Hispanic students.

Approximately 92 percent of racially motivated hate crimes are perpetrated against African Americans.

There is a severe shortage of minority teachers in Kentucky public schools. Kentucky has only 3.7 percent African American teachers in proportion to 13 percent minority students.

70 percent of African-American children are brought up in a single-parent family.

The unemployment rate for African-Americans was 14.5 percent in July 2009 while it was 8.6 percent for whites.

African-Americans make up 7.7 percent of the population, but 31.7 percent of the total Kentucky prison population.

The commission’s depressing numbers also accentuates a troubling study recently released by the the Greater Louisville Project, which has been overlooked in the local media. The study found that among its 15 peer cities, Louisville ranks dead last in terms of education attainment for blacks.

From GLP:

More alarming: Based on three years of data from the American Community Survey, 30% of white adults held a bachelor’s degree or higher, but only 13% of African Americans did – the lowest among Louisville’s 15 peer cities. The racial gap in college attainment has widened since 1990 …

In Kentucky, nearly 50 percent of black population lives in the city of Louisville. And west end resident Haven Harrington, who operates a blog focusing on the Russell neighborhood, wrote in a recent post that these statistics indicate the city isn’t doing much to help develop, retain or attract a vibrant black middle-class.

“I would argue the main reason is that African-Americans that have college degrees leave Louisville, or if they graduate from a local school they leave,” Harrington wrote, adding there aren’t enough high paying jobs for blacks with higher levels of education. “Let’s be honest. Louisville isn’t Atlanta. We just don’t offer the same, or any really, opportunities for young black professionals. Most of the people I grew up with left and will never come back.”