Black History Month activities and events slated at SUNO

Gus Bennett Jr.

Southern University, New Orleans (SUNO) has set a schedule of Black History Month events that will start on Monday, February 4 on the Lake Campus at 6801 Press Drive. The month will consist of a month-long photography display, visits from a literary legend, a film series, and a reception in New Orleans East.

The month's theme is "No Longer out of Sight: Confronting the Mirror on Blackness." All events are free and open to the public.

The month will begin with a display by Gus Bennett Jr. In addition to being the electronic digital specialist for SUNO, Bennett is also a well-known photographer throughout New Orleans and a student in the university's Museum Studies master's program. The New Orleans native has shot for Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine and the Al Gore Presidential campaign. His works will be on display throughout the month in SUNO's dining hall (Knights' Café), starting on Monday, February 4.

Two prominent African-American literary figures - Amiri Baraka and M.K. Asante Jr. -- will make visits to SUNO. Baraka (www.amiribaraka.com), poet, playwright and activist, will speak at the official opening ceremony Tuesday, February 12. He has written more than 40 books of essays, poems, drama and music history and criticism. Baraka's credentials also include having recited poetry and lectured on cultural and political issues extensively in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. He has been honored with an Obie Award, the American Academy of Arts & Letters Award, Rockerfeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts grants, the James Weldon Johnson Medal, and professor emeritus status at the State University of New York - Stony Brook.

Asante (www.mkasante.com) is a 25-year-old educator, award-winning author and filmmaker. His first book, Like Water Running off My Back, won the Academy Poets Jean Corrie Prize for its title piece. Asante's latest book, It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop, is in production from St. Martin's Press.

For more information call (504) 286-5006.