Spring Break
Guest lecturer speaks to Civil Rights Movement, Obama
Noelle Myers
Issue date: 2/25/09 Section: News
02/25/09 - Guest lecturer Peniel Joseph discussed the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power movement in relation to President Barack Obama's 2008 win during his keynote speech at a multicultural lecture last night.
Joseph is the author of "Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama," and an associate professor of Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University.
Joseph said he was excited to deliver the University of Rhode Island's 14th Annual Lecture on Multiculturalism.
Joseph began his speech by highlighting the importance of mentorship - Joseph's "first, earliest and best mentor" was his mother - and how students need to appreciate the opportunities they are given today.
"We didn't live in this new age of Obama," Joseph said. "You're living in a truly extraordinary time period."
He said the struggle for desegregation is an issue for all ethnicities, not just African Americans. Joseph said everyone has extraordinary opportunities and students need to expand their horizons.
"Put away the iPod [and] BlackBerry. Read books. When you have access to a university, you have [the] opportunity to achieve," he said.
Joseph said the recent election has triggered tremendous energy and excitement. He compared the recent election to the Civil Rights Movement.
"Obama represents the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power era," Joseph said. He said most people today think the Civil Rights Movement started in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ruled against segregating schools, and ended in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act, outlawing discriminatory voting practices.
The correlation seemed to resonate with some of the students present.
"I like the connection he made with the Civil Rights Movement and how we perceive racism [today]," said senior Mike Reyes after the presentation.
Joseph said racism is still occurring today.
Freshman Lorissa Martins, who attended the lecture said Joseph seemed very passionate about what his book narrated. "Things that we are going through now dates back to history," Martins said.
He said a black man in the White House does not imply that racism is nonexistent, adding that polls have found that 69 percent of African Americans believe "Dr. King's dream has been delivered."
"Segregation is still alive today in the United States," Joseph said, adding that he thought the idea of racism being over is "crazy."
He compared this idea to the United States Attorney General's speech about past African American history. Joseph said the speech discussed the Brown v. Board of Education as a historical issue.
Today, people wonder why race is still being discussed, Joseph said, adding that some people disagreed with the subject matter because of the current presidency.
Joseph said it is thought that through history we are making racial progress, but "progress is never a sure thing."
Joseph is the author of "Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama," and an associate professor of Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University.
Joseph said he was excited to deliver the University of Rhode Island's 14th Annual Lecture on Multiculturalism.
Joseph began his speech by highlighting the importance of mentorship - Joseph's "first, earliest and best mentor" was his mother - and how students need to appreciate the opportunities they are given today.
"We didn't live in this new age of Obama," Joseph said. "You're living in a truly extraordinary time period."
He said the struggle for desegregation is an issue for all ethnicities, not just African Americans. Joseph said everyone has extraordinary opportunities and students need to expand their horizons.
"Put away the iPod [and] BlackBerry. Read books. When you have access to a university, you have [the] opportunity to achieve," he said.
Joseph said the recent election has triggered tremendous energy and excitement. He compared the recent election to the Civil Rights Movement.
"Obama represents the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power era," Joseph said. He said most people today think the Civil Rights Movement started in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ruled against segregating schools, and ended in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act, outlawing discriminatory voting practices.
The correlation seemed to resonate with some of the students present.
"I like the connection he made with the Civil Rights Movement and how we perceive racism [today]," said senior Mike Reyes after the presentation.
Joseph said racism is still occurring today.
Freshman Lorissa Martins, who attended the lecture said Joseph seemed very passionate about what his book narrated. "Things that we are going through now dates back to history," Martins said.
He said a black man in the White House does not imply that racism is nonexistent, adding that polls have found that 69 percent of African Americans believe "Dr. King's dream has been delivered."
"Segregation is still alive today in the United States," Joseph said, adding that he thought the idea of racism being over is "crazy."
He compared this idea to the United States Attorney General's speech about past African American history. Joseph said the speech discussed the Brown v. Board of Education as a historical issue.
Today, people wonder why race is still being discussed, Joseph said, adding that some people disagreed with the subject matter because of the current presidency.
Joseph said it is thought that through history we are making racial progress, but "progress is never a sure thing."
