Lincoln (Neb.) - March 8, 2001 - "The African American Experience in Nebraska: Issues and Solutions" is the subject of a panel discussion and town hall meeting aimed at identifying issues facing African Americans in Nebraska. The public forum begins at 6 p.m. March 22 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law in Ross McCollum Hall on East Campus.
Ben Gray, host of KETV's "Kaleidoscope" program, will moderate a panel which includes Edna R. Atkins, Douglas County Court judge; Rev. John Carter of St. John Baptist Church; Rev. Don Coleman, president of MADD DADS; T.J. McDowell, director of The Lighthouse; Velda Ford, assistant professor of nursing at Creighton University; Leroy Stokes, president NAACP-Lincoln; Rev. Dr. Michael Combs, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and UNL political science professor; and William Thompkins, president and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska.
"African Americans in the state of Nebraska, like African Americans in other parts of the country, face grave challenges in a host of areas - health care, law enforcement policies, education, political and economic empowerment, among numerous other issues," said Earl Key, Midlands Black Law Students Association president. "What we aim to do in this forum is not merely to begin the process of seriously exploring issues that must be addressed. We are also hoping to stimulate a dialogue that will lead to broad-based cooperation and concrete and effective action within the African American community in this state."
The program is sponsored by the Midlands Black Law Students
Association, as part of the John S. Rock and Charlotte E. Ray Symposia on
Law and Public Policy. The symposia were created in 2000 to explore law
and public policy from an African American perspective.
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825