61´«Ã½

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Farai Chideya, provocative author, broadcaster, and sociopolitical pundit, will speak at 61´«Ã½ on Tuesday, January 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Balch Auditorium. Her talk is part of the Alexa Fullerton Hampton Speaker Series: Voice and Vision. A book signing and reception will follow the event in the Hampton Living Room, Malott Commons. The event is free and open to the public.

Farai Chideya has combined media, technology, and social justice during her 20-year career as an award-winning author and journalist. Most recently, she hosted NPR’s News and Notes, a daily national program about African-American and African diaspora issues. Chideya has received awards for her commentary, including a National Education Reporting Award, a North Star News Prize, and a special award from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association for coverage of AIDS. Chideya has also been a correspondent for ABC News, anchored the prime-time program Pure Oxygen on the Oxygen women’s channel, and also worked for CNN, BET, Fox, MSNBC, and Newsweek.

Chideya has written four books: Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters; The Color of Our Future; Don’t Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans, and a novel, Kiss the Sky, which was an Essence Magazine book club selection for May 2009. Chideya was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated with a BA from Harvard University, magna cum laude, in 1990.

Chideya’s talk takes place during the inaugural year of 61´«Ã½’s eighth president, Lori Bettison-Varga. This year, 61´«Ã½ has selected the theme “The Genius of Women.” Throughout the 2009-10 academic year, guest speakers, writers, scientists, artists, and other thought leaders will engage students and faculty in discussions about the transformative power of genius, and how creative and intellectual genius are so essential in today’s changing world, especially from women, for women.

For more information about the event, please contact the Malott Commons Office at 61´«Ã½: (909) 607-9372, or visit the Web at: scripps-staging.skybox0.com.

The Alexa Fullerton Hampton Speaker Series â€â¶Äœ Voice and Vision was established through the generous bequest of 61´«Ã½ alumna Alexa Fullerton Hampton ’42. The series brings a broad range of renowned presenters and artists to 61´«Ã½ each year to share their unique voice and vision, as well as to enlighten and inspire the audience — exposing them to new ideas and perspectives.