January 10, 2009

In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, the Westphal College and Drexel's Office of Multicultural Programs will screen To Kill a Mockingbird, followed by the panel discussion, Yes We Can: American Civil Rights from Martin Luther King Jr. to President Obama, on Sunday, January 18th. The free event begins at 5 PM with a reception featuring complimentary cheese steaks and gyros from the Philly Steak and Gyro Company. The screening is at 6 PM in Bossone Auditorium (3128 Market St.).

Our notable panel includes Dr. Reverend Thomas Lane Butts, Minister Emeritus of First United Methodist Church in Monroeville, AL and author of Tigers in the Dark; Donald F. Tibbs (moderator), Professor from the Earle Mack School of Law and author of Black Power, Prison Power: Race and Legal Consciousness in the Making and Unmaking of the Jones Case ; Carl Singley, Dean Emeritus, Temple University Beasley School of Law and an attorney at WolfBlock LLP; and Dr. Sheldon Hackney, President Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The panelists will be introduced by Drexel Trustee Dr. Donna Gentile O'Donnell who was instrumental in organizing this event.

To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, is a beloved film and book that tells a story of racial inequality, injustice and the destruction of innocence. Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his performance and Horton Foote for his adaptation of Lee's novel.