Purdue News

November 24, 1998 BCC to honor civil rights leader with memorial service WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The life and work of civil rights leader Kwame Ture will be honored during events next week at Purdue's Black Cultural Center. Floyd Hayes III, associate professor of political science, will deliver a eulogy during a memorial service at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday (12/1), in the Black Cultural Center Multipurpose Room. Following the eulogy, a CSPAN interview with Ture will be shown. The American Profile video, "The Life and Career of Kwame Ture," originally aired in April 1998. Formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, Ture rose to prominence in the 1960s during the civil rights and Black Power movements. As head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a member of the Black Panther Party, Ture joined with other civil rights organizations in demanding economic justice and political power for African-Americans. He is credited with coining the phrase "Black Power." Ture would later develop a more global perspective and redirected his efforts toward improving life conditions for African people worldwide. He was a member of the central committee of the All African People's Revolutionary Party. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, and he died Nov. 15 in Conkary, Guinea. Video presentations from the CSPAN archives will be shown in the formal lounge of the Black Cultural Center from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 2-4. A tribute that originally aired in June 1996 will be shown throughout the day on Dec. 2. A tribute from April 1998 will be shown Dec. 3, and "The Life and Career of Kwame Ture" will be shown Dec. 4. For more information about the events, contact Dorothy Washington, Black Cultural Center librarian, (765) 494-3093. Source: Dorothy Washington, (765) 494-3093 Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page