Thursday, March 06, 2014

NONPROFIT THURSDAY REPORT: Black Males, "the Negro Woman", Christians and Democrats


This is the first of what may turn out to be three Nonprofit Thursday posts today. Here we want to call attention to several events taking place this evening, any of which you might want to take in on your way home from work, or to make the subject of an evening excursion in celebration of the impending heat wave.

Post two will offer some observations on the intriguing Hank Willis Thomas exhibit that closes this weekend at the Cleveland Museum of Art after a near five-month run.

And then, assuming there is time, we will offer more timely notes on some upcoming events.

For now, we just learned today of the third and final discussion in the Blueprint Roundtable discussion, a series of events thematically related to the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit. Tonight’s program will be at Friendly Inn Settlement House, 2386 Unwin Road.

The event flier describes this evening’s event as a panel discussion of established and emerging black male leaders from the Central neighborhood and the Cleveland community about what it means to be an African American male today. One goal of the conversation is to break down boundaries between generations.

A special guest panelist on tonight’s program is star actor Bill Cobb, a Central native and Karamu alumnus.

Tonight’s panelists also include Cordell Arellano, Central resident and Promise Ambassador; Jerome Baker, founder, Men of Central; East Tech student Edgar Hoyle; Tri-C student and Promise Ambassador Nathaniel Johnson; Donald Jolly, academic superintendent, Cleveland public schools; Gerald Leslie, principal of Marion-Sterling School; Prester Pickett, coordinator of the Howard A. Mims African American Student Center at Cleveland State University; Amir El Hajj Khalid Samad, CEO of Peace in the Hood; Michael L. Walker, executive director of Partnership for A Safer Cleveland; and Peter Whitt, president of Enlightenment Consulting Group.

Call the panel moderator, Neal Hodges at 216.774.9570 and let him know you are coming.
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Moving east to University Circle, a talk will be starting soon with the captivating title, “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman”: Black Women Communists of the Old Left and Critical Perspectives on Global Capitalism.

This event starts at 4:30PM on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Clark Hall, Room 309, 11130 Bellflower Rd.

Erik S. McDuffie, Ph.D., associate professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois, will be speaking about how the experiences of black women in the US Communist Party during the first half of the 20th century can provide important lessons for diagnosing current social injustices. The event is co-sponsored by Case’s Social Justice Institute.
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Still in University Circle, and probably a less intense experience, is tonight’s Network Night, a monthly gathering where seemingly whatever interests you will find an audience. This event takes place from 6-8PM on the first Thursday of the month at University Circle Methodist Church, 1919 East 107 St. on the corner of Chester Ave.
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You can also head uphill from the Circle to Shaker Square where the Cleveland Realtists Association is hosting Real Estate Night at the new Zanzibar location, 13225 Shaker Square. This event, from 6:30PM until nine, will showcase the real estate mogul, Jay “Mr. Real Estate” Morrison.
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We hate to put the Christians last, but hopefully they will forgive us, especially as they have two events. The Christian Business League is hosting a business networking reception from 6:30-8PM tonight at JumpStart, 6701 Carnegie Ave.

The League will also host its quarterly Faith and Finance breakfast tomorrow at 7:30AM at Manor Party Center, 24111 Rockwell Dr., Euclid. The speaker will be Dr. Derrick Harkins, director of outreach for the Democratic National Committee.

This is the only event with a charge: $15. All are open to the public. If you attend any of these events, tell them you read about it in The Real Deal.




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