OSU Speaker to Address Impact of Black Women in America
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
(Feb. 3, 2009, STILLWATER, Okla.) – An author whose work has been deemed a “landmark study” by Publisher’s Weekly will lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Student Union Theater at Oklahoma State University.
Paula Giddings, the author of “When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America” will address the social and political history of African-American women as part of black history month on the Stillwater campus.
Giddings is a former book editor and journalist who has tackled political issues in both the popular press and scholarly journals. Her most recent book is “Ida: A Sword Among Lions,” which examines the anti-lynching campaign of journalist and activist Ida B. Wells. The Washington Post has called the book the “definitive biography.”
“Anybody who is interested in American history and black heritage should know the story of Ida B. Wells,” said Carol Mason, director of gender and women’s studies at OSU. “If you want to make an impact in the world, look at Wells’ life. It’s especially fitting to bring Professor Giddings to discuss issues of gender, race and journalism on the heels of the presidential election.”
Giddings is a professor of Afro-American studies at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and has had editorial stints at Random House Inc. and Howard University Press, as well as Encore – American and Worldwide News, and Essence magazines.
Co-sponsored by OSU Gender and Women’s Studies and the OSU Center for Africana Studies, the presentation is made possible by the Social Sciences Lecture Series in the OSU College of Arts and Sciences, the political science department, the offices of institutional diversity, and the provost and senior vice president at OSU. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, phone (405) 744-2127.