ROBERT A. CLIFT
Hip Hop's Remix of Race and Identity

When young whites embrace rap and hip-hop culture, is it an example of America moving toward being a colorblind society, or is it just another case of cultural theft and mockery? That's the fundamental question of Robert Clift’s provocative new documentary, Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity, which aired on PBS stations across the country in January 2010. Clift, a filmmaker from Washington, D.C. whose previous film about Cuban baseball played on PBS in 2001, interviewed a number of notable entertainers, historians and cultural critics for Blacking Up.

MICHAEL FOSBERG
A Solo Performance - Incognito

Incognito is a one-hour theatrical presentation that takes audiences on a compelling journey while covering issues of race, identity, diversity, and stereotypes. Writer/actor Michael Fosberg inhabits over a dozen characters as he masterfully tells the true story of finding his biological father.  Raised in a working-class white family, Michael discovers at age thirty-two that his long-lost father is actually African-American.  This entertaining and enlightening tale of self-discovery challenges audiences to carefully examine their assumptions about others.

NEDA SARMAST
Nobody's Enemy - The Youth Culture of Iran

Neda was born in Iran, moved to the US at the age of nine, and has traveled back and forth ever since.  She was an eye-witness to the Iran-Iraq war and her memories still haunt her as she lost her best friend to an Iraqi aerial raid.  During the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and again after 9/11, Neda found herself defending Iranians and their beliefs to Americans, and in turn defending Americans and their way of life to Iranians.

Fearing that history was about to repeat itself in 2005, Neda left New York and traveled back to Iran to film a documentary on the youth culture of Iran, called "NOBODY’S ENEMY" (2008)(2009 Revised)-(co-produced by the award winning production company Chat The Planet).

JOAN HECHT:
The Journey of the Lost Boys

Imagine you’re a young boy - maybe three or four - separated from your family by civil war and forced to walk over a 1000 miles in search of safe refuge with little food or water and no protection from wild animals and enemy soldiers. To most of us, it is unimaginable, but for "The Lost Boys of Sudan," it was reality.

Joan Hecht is the award winning author of "The Journey of the Lost Boys," founder and President of "Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan," and the Chair of Education for The Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan: The National Network, based in Washington, DC.

HAIDER HAMZA:
Iraqi journalist telling the story of his country

Twenty-four year old Iraqi journalist Haider Hamza lived through the 2003 US-led invasion of his country with his family near Babylon, south of Baghdad. Being the son of a diplomat, Haider was born in Germany and grew up in East Africa and Europe. When he turned twelve, he moved back with his family to their hometown, Baghdad. Haider finished high school in Iraq and graduated from Baghdad University in 2006. One year later, he won a Fulbright scholarship and moved to the United States to obtain a master's degree in global security and conflict resolution.

DIVERSITY MATTERS

Cherine Badawi and Arthur Romano: An Embodied Exploration Of Power, Privilege, Prejudice and Difference.

More than a lecture, Cherine Badawi and Arthur Romano offer a transformative experience that has deeply touched the lives of university students from around the world.  While talks about tolerance abound, this workshop moves beyond conversations on diversity by creating a highly participatory environment with active simulations, educational theater activities and co-counseling practices that keep people moving, mingling and engaged for the entire session.

JENNIFER L. POZNER

Women and the Media: Images of Gender,
Race and Class in News and Entertainment

With humor, razor-sharp analysis and provocative clips from shows like The Bachelor, America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Extreme Makeover and Flavor of Love, media critic Jennifer L. Pozner exposes how “reality” TV reinforces regressive stereotypes about women and men, race and class, and sex, love and marriage in America.

Students will never see dating, mating and makeover shows the same way again… and they will laugh—a lot!

ALVIN SYKES

Alvin Sykes holds none of the standard credentials to wield influence in the power corridors of Washington, D.C. He is not a lobbyist or an attorney, nor did he graduate from a prestigious college. In fact, he is a high school dropout.

Yet senators listen to him. Prosecutors return his calls. He has taken it upon himself to seek justice in several different civil rights "cold cases" and has gotten results.

BRYAN H. BARROWS, III

Bryan Barrows, master of speech and communications, will be touring his powerful one-man show this January and February. Who Was Martin Luther King? tells the story of the evolution of the civil rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s place in it. Barrows is a truly gifted storyteller who has been performing the original play since 1988.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: THE MIDDLE EAST DEBATE

A Debate on Attaining Peace in the Middle East

Anisa Mehdi, an American Arab Muslim, and Michael Lame, an American Jew, offer fresh insights and opposing perspectives. They respectfully disagree about almost everything concerning the Israeli-Palestinian dispute: who started it and when, the roles of religion, real estate, ethnicity, economics, international law, the United Nations, refugees, and Jerusalem.

JOSEPH SEBARENZI

Former head of the Rwanda Parliament, he has endured tragedy most of us cannot fathom. He lost both his parents, seven siblings, and numerous other relatives in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Yet, years later, as a senior government official in a position to exact revenge, he instead pushed for peace and reconciliation. "Revenge is like adding guilt to victim hood." says Sebarenzi. "It solves nothing. At some point, we have to ignore the past and envision the future."

JOHN TRUDELL

On the subject of his extraordinary and acclaimed work as a recording artist, poet and champion of indigenous issues, John Trudell is as direct and plain spoken as the words he puts to music. A people's poet in the truest sense of the term, John Trudell's potent imagery and passionate convictions have established his reputation as a spoken word artist whose international following reflects the universal language of his music...and his message. Simply put, John Trudell is the real deal.

CASTRO'S DAUGHTER : ALINA FERNANDEZ

As a little girl in Cuba, Alina Fernandez found nothing strange about the many visits Fidel Castro made to her home. During these visits, Castro would pay special attention to Alina, many times even bringing her gifts. At age ten, Alina's mother finally divulged the reason for Castro's attention: Fidel Castro was her father.

MAXINE MAXWELL

Maxine Maxwell weaves in and out of history to explore the turning points in the lives of five African women of remarkable strength and courage. Each character comes complete with a concise background narrative along with subtle costume pieces to set the stage. This dramatic performance takes a look at what it has been like to be black and female over the past 150 years.

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER

Visit our new LGBT page for speakers, debates, and other programs...

MARY LIGHTFINE: NURSE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Macedonia - Mary Lightfine has spent over ten years living and working in countries ravaged by war and disaster. In 1999 she was among those distinguished members of Doctors Without Borders to have been honored with the Nobel Peace prize. Her stories will amaze and (hopefully) inspire you.

JOHNNIE TUITEL

Johnnie Tuitel (pronounced title like a book) was born with cerebral palsy, and has used a wheelchair his entire life. But his disability has never kept him down. Johnnie is a motivational speaker and has made presentations for conventions, colleges and universities, corporations and businesses, schools and sports teams throughout America. He was the State of Michigan United Way “Speaker of the Year” for 5 years in a row.

DARYL DAVIS

He is not white. He's not even light-skinned. Make no mistake about it; he is black. Yet, Klan-Destine Relationships author Daryl Davis has come in closer contact with members of the Ku Klux Klan than most white non-members and certainly most blacks short of being on the wrong end of a rope. What's more? He continues to do so; making him one of the most unique lecturers on the college speaking circuit today.

DR. JACK LEVIN

Gay Hate Crimes

Jack Levin, Ph.D., directs the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University. In addressing hate crimes directed against gays and lesbians, Levin tells his audiences that, as a straight American male, he is a member of the perpetrators' group and must speak from that perspective. He is very careful not to single out homophobic hate as an isolated phenomenon, but to imbed it in an analysis of hate crimes generally. Learn what the ordinary person can do to make things better.

DR. JAWANZA KUNJUFU

Dr.. Jawanza Kunjufu (Swahili for dependable and cheerful) is a renowned educator and former Consultant to the U.S. Department of Education. He is a prolific writer and among his work is the best selling Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys (Vols. 1-4). As president of African American Images (a communications company based in Chicago, Illinois), he is constantly on the lecture circuit conducting over thirty different workshops, addressing students, parents, teachers, community residents and churches.

LORNA TYCHOSTUP

IRAQ: A PHOENIX RISING FROM THE ASHES

Lorna Tychostup Senior Editor of Chronogram magazine, freelance writer, photographer, editor and Iraq consultant, Lorna Tychostup has visited Iraq repeatedly since February 2003, collectively spending almost a year working in the country. At present, Tychostup is finishing her masters at NYU's Center for Global Affairs (concentration: International Relations); acting as consultant to Nature Iraq (natureiraq.org) an Iraqi environmental non-government organization (NGO) currently working to base-line the environmental conditions within Iraq in support of socio-economic development and reconstruction efforts; and working on a proposal for her first book.

PHOEBE ENG

Cultural Fluency: Creating Dialogues that Lead to Change

Join award-winning author and strategist Phoebe Eng as she describes the phenomenon of "cultural fluency," the ability to understand, and be understood, across perceived boundaries and among many communities. Eng will demonstrate how the ability to be "fluent" will be critically important to leaders in a world where borders of all kinds are disappearing. She will show you how policy, program goals, and definitions of leadership change when we truly embrace the fundamentals of "fluency.

THE HUMAN RACE MACHINE

The Human Race Machine allows participants to see themselves with the facial characteristics of six different races mapped onto their own visage. The Age Machine allows viewers to age his or her face. The Couples Machine combines photographs of men and women in varying percentages to allow couples to view their offspring, or simply to envision layered "maleness" and "femaleness" in one face. You can bring this highly interactive technology to your campus and challenge your perception of race, age, and other outward human features.

JACK G. SHAHEEN, PH.D.

Internationally acclaimed professor, author and Middle East media consultant Dr. Jack Shaheen joined Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Host Robert Osborne for Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film. This month-long movie event, which focused on the diverse portrayals of Arabs in cinema, ran every Tuesday and Thursday night in July. 

NESSE GODIN

Nesse Godin was 13 years old when the Nazis invaded her home. Shortly after the Nazi takeover, she was interned in the Shauliai Ghetto. During the war she survived the Stutthof Concentration Camp, four labor camps and a death march before liberation in 1945. Since escaping to the United States, Nesse has devoted her life to teaching the horrors of the Holocaust.

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