HERITAGE, HISTORY, & HOPEÂ was initiated last year to acknowledge the legacy of Christine Johnson on the life of Park Hill United Methodist Church. The first session was devoted to a discussion of Beloved, the Oprah Winfrey produced film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Toni Morrison. The remaining sessions follow:
SPEAKER: BYRON JOHNSON
10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M., Saturday, January 23, 1999
Byron Johnson, husband of Christine Johnson, played baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs from 1937-1940. A teammate of the great pitcher, Satchel Paige, he will speak on his years of playing in the Negro Leagues, as well as his experiences of living in a segregated South.
A DISCUSSION OF MALCOLM X
10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M., Saturday, February 27, 1999
Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) will be honored this year with a stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service as a part of its Black Heritage Series. Prompted by this historic occasion, the lecture/series will explore the impact of this controversial leader on American life, along with a discussion of Islam.
SPEAKER: CARLOTTA LANIER
10:00 A.M.-12:00P.M., Saturday, March 27, 1999
Carlotta Lanier was one of the original students to desegregate Little Rock´s Central High School in 1957. Slated to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor this year for her efforts, she will speak on her experiences at Central High School, as well as the legacies of being one of the Little Rock Nine.
A DISCUSSION OF BELOVED: PART II
10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M., Saturday, April 24, 1999
A second session on the novel and film, Beloved, will provide an opportunity for participants of the first session to continue their dialogue and for all others interested in this work to join in. Discussion of the work will also include an examination of the Middle Passage and the slave experience.
SPEAKER: PATRICIA RAYBON
10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M., Saturday, May 22, 1999
“God help me. I stopped hating white people on purpose about a year ago,” opens Patricia Raybon´s book, My First White Friend. The work chronicles the author´s childhood years in Colorado and narrates her feelings about race, her rediscovery of her religious faith, and her friendship with her first white friend. A Professor of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Patricia Raybon will lead the discussion on her book.