Historians, journalists will discuss President Obama, civil rights

February 12, 2009

Historians, journalists will discuss President Obama, civil rights

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A panel, including an independent journalist and former Newsweek national correspondent, will discuss President Barack Obama, civil rights and black voting history on Feb. 26 at Purdue University.

"Electing the Dream: Barack Obama, Civil Rights and African Americans' Voting Past," which is free and open to the public, is 7 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 206. The event is sponsored by the Department of History and is in recognition of Black History Month.

The panelists are Vernon E. Smith, a former Atlanta bureau chief for Newsweek; Neil Bynum, an assistant professor of history; and Niambi Carter, an assistant professor of political science.

Smith served as bureau chief from 1979 to 2002, and his work also has appeared in Emerge, The London Sunday Times, Ebony, GEO, The Crisis and Merian Magazine. He has served as a guest essayist for PBS' "NewsHour," and as a commentator for CNN, CNBS, C-SPAN, "Good Morning America" and BET-Tonight. Smith also is author of "The Jones Men," a New York Times Recommended Book. The Mystery Writers of America also nominated the novel for an Edgar Award.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Neil Bynum, (765) 494-4152, bynum@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

To the News Service home page