Purdue News

October 30, 1998 Editor-in-chief of 'Emerge' to speak at Purdue WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- George Curry, editor-in-chief of Emerge: Black America's Newsmagazine, will present a lecture on "What African Americans Must Do to Help Ourselves" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Purdue University. Curry's free talk in Fowler Hall is part of the Black Cultural Center's 1998 Cultural Arts Series and is co-sponsored by the Historically Black Institution Visitation Program. Curry is a regular panelist on "Lead Story," a news analysis program that airs each Sunday on the BET (Black Entertainment Television) network. He is also vice president of the American Society of Magazine Editors. In the year 2000, Curry will become president of ASME, the first African-American and the first non-New York-based editor to hold the association's top office. Under Curry's leadership, Emerge has won more than 25 national journalism awards in five years. As editor, Curry has not shirked from controversy, publishing a story about secret medical experiments conducted on African-Americans and running a cover story asking "Is Jesus Black?" Curry also commissioned a 1993 cover that depicted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with an Aunt Jemima-like handkerchief on his head, in November 1996 ran an illustration of Thomas as a lawn jockey, and in April 1998 portrayed affirmative action foe Ward Connerly as a puppet. Before taking over as editor of Emerge in 1993, Curry was New York bureau chief and a Washington correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in 1983, Curry worked for 11 years as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and for two years as a reporter for Sports Illustrated. CONTACT: Renee Thomas, BCC director (765) 494-3091; e-mail, rathomas@hfs.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page