Purdue News
Purdue News
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August 24, 2001 NAACP president to address racial issuesWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Kweisi Mfume (Kwah-EE-see Oom-Foo-may) president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will speak at Purdue on Thursday, Sept. 6.
His address, "Race: Exploring America's Agenda," will begin at 7 p.m. in Fowler Hall. The talk will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Mfume, whose West African name means "conquering son of kings," has served as NAACP president since 1996. His organization's five-point action agenda addresses civil rights, political empowerment, educational excellence, economic development and youth outreach. Before his election to his present post, Mfume represented Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years. While on Capitol Hill he served for two years as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. In his third term, he chaired the joint economics committee of the House and Senate and served on the ethics committee. During his final term he served as vice chairman for communications of the House Democratic Caucus. As a congressman, Mfume was an advocate of minority business and civil rights legislation. He co-sponsored the American with Disabilities Act and authorized the minority contracting and employment amendments to the Financial Institutions Reform and Recovery Act, among other initiatives. He also co-authored and amended the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to apply the act to U.S. citizens working for American-based companies abroad. Born and raised in Baltimore, Mfume became politically active as a freshman at Morgan State University, where he served as editor of the school's newspaper and head of the black student union. He graduated magna cum laude and later taught political science and communications courses there. In 1979, he won a seat on the Baltimore City Council by a margin of three votes. During his seven years as a city councilman, Mfume led efforts to diversify city government, improve community safety, enhance minority business development and divest city funds from the apartheid government of South Africa. In 1984, Mfume earned a master's degree in liberal arts with a concentration in international studies from John Hopkins University, where he holds a seat on the board of trustees. Mfume also is a member of the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the Meyerhoff National Advisory Board of the University of Maryland, the board of trustees for the Enterprise Foundation, the Gamma Boule Sigma PiPhi Fraternity, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Masons and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. His autobiography is entitled "No Free Ride." Mfume's address, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Black Cultural Center and the Office of Human Relations. Sources: Renee Thomas, (765) 494-3091, rathomas@hfs.purdue.edu Olteju Omolodun, (765) 494-3095, osomolodun@purdue.edu Dick Williams, Kweisi Mfume's agent, (914) 422-0084 Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The media may ask questions during the question-and-answer session after the speech. The use of lights and flash photography by the media is also permitted. Also, a publication-quality photograph of Kweisi Mfume is available at https://news.uns.purdue.edu or at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/. It is called Mfume.Kweisi
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