During Black History Month this February, Drexel University experts are available to help news media with the following topics:
Race and the Law: Donald F. Tibbs, associate professor in the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel, focuses on the overlapping issues of race, law, civil rights and criminal procedure. He is the author of the new book, From Black Power to Prison Power: The Making of Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union.
Black Composers: Dr. Mike Moss is an associate professor in Drexel’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, music program director, and conductor of Drexel's Concert Band and Pep Band. Well known for his advocacy of music by African-American composers, he can discuss the importance of learning and performing music by these composers from both a musical and cultural perspective. Moss will conduct the Concert Band in a program of a range of works by black classical composers at the Kimmel Center on February 29 at 8 p.m.
Black Fashion Designers: Alphonso McClendon has more than 15 years of fashion industry experience, joining the fashion faculty at Drexel’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design in the fall of 2009. Most recently, McClendon was director of product design for pants, denim, swimwear, hats, bags and prints at Nautica, where he held instrumental roles in global launches and new product designs.
Race and Violence: Dr. Chuck Williams, an educational psychologist, assistant clinical professor in Drexel’s School of Education and director of the Center for Prevention of School Aged Violence, is available to comment on issues of violence in relation to race, including bullying, flash mobs, domestic violence, effects of pop culture, and foster care and adoption.
Freedom, Slavery, Caribbean Diaspora, and Race/Gender/Sexuality: Dr. Mimi Sheller, a professor of sociology and director of the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy at Drexel, can comment on the history of Haiti, Jamaica, and emancipation across the Atlantic world; understandings of racial, ethnic and color differences across the Caribbean and Americas; and questions of Black Queer identities and LGBTQ rights. Sheller held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for African and Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan, serves on the editorial board of the Journal of African and Black Diaspora, and is on the organizing committee for the Caribbean Studies Association Annual Conference in 2012.
African-American Literature: Vanessa Irvin Morris, an assistant professor in the iSchool, College of Information Science & Technology, can comment on “Street Literature” – also known as urban fiction or hip hop fiction – and its rising popularity as a genre in American and African-American literature. She can also comment on inner-city community libraries and literacy campaigns.
*** To schedule an interview, contact the Drexel Media Relations Team at 215-895-2705. ***