ASU reading project features panel, discussion of African-American leadership in 21st century civil rights movement

May 29, 2007

A work by critically acclaimed author and leading American journalist Juan Williams has been selected by the Office of Student Life at Arizona State University’s West campus to serve as the focus for its April 26 Spring 2007 Campus Reading project.<separator></separator>The Campus Reading Project is co-sponsored by ASU’s School of Global Management and Leadership and the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.<separator></separator>Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure that are Undermining Black America – and What we Can Do About It, is William’s most recent book and makes the case that while there is still racism, it is past time for black Americans to open their eyes to the “culture of failure” that exists within their community. He raises the banner of proud black traditional values—self-help, strong families, and belief in God—that sustained black people through generations of oppression and flowered in the promise of the modern civil rights movement. The book is a bold, perceptive, solution-based look at African-American life, culture, and politics today and has been hailed by fellow-author and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Thomas Sowell as, “A courageous and much-needed primer on race relations in America today.”<separator></separator>“The Campus Reading Project is designed to help students see college as a ‘discourse community’ where people get together and talk about texts,” said Michael A. Johnson, senior coordinator for leadership programs in the Office of Student Life. “This provides a common intellectual experience with members of the ASU community.<separator></separator>“Our goal is to promote cross-disciplinary thinking and a dialogue about ‘real-life’ issues that are relevant to our students.”<separator></separator>ASU faculty and staff, students and their guests are invited to join in a campus-wide discussion of the book, followed by a panel discussion of “African-American Leadership in the 21st Century Civil Rights. The discussion and panel take place on the West campus, Kiva Lecture Hall, on April 26 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.<separator></separator>Panelists include City of Phoenix District 8 Councilman Michael Johnson (no relation), ASU Student Success Coordinator/Multicultural Student Services Lasana Hotep, ASU Assistant Professor/Social Work and President of the Islamic Social Services Association Pamela Aneesah Nadir, Clinical Social Work therapist Christian Johnson (no relation), ASU Assistant Professor of Quantitative Analysis/School of Global Management and Leadership Adegoke Oke, and interdisciplinary studies major Elliott Farmer.

New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences