Marc Lamont Hill, journalist and advocate for social justice, will speak at the third annual George McLaurin Men’s Leadership Conference and Sylvia A. Lewis Women’s Leadership Conference combined keynote event at the University of Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 14, in Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Hall. The event is open to the public at no cost.
Under the leadership of Jabar Shumate, OU Vice President for the University Community, the university offers an annual three-day leadership conference for young men and young women to discuss effective strategies for finding success in college. Both conferences are scheduled from April 14 to April 16 with a special address by OU President David L. Boren on the last day.
Hill, selected as one of America’s top 100 most influential Black leaders by Ebony magazine, is a founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization devoted to educating youths about their legal rights and responsibilities. Also, he is a board member for the Philadelphia Student Union. He works closely with the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy. Hill has also served on numerous campaigns to end the death penalty and to release political prisoners.
He is the author of three books, including award-winning "Beats, Rhymes and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity." His books also include "The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black Life in America" and "The Barbershop Notebooks: Reflections on Culture, Politics and Education." Also, he has two manuscript works in progress, "10 Right Wing Myths about Education" and "Written by Himself: Race, Masculinity and the Politics of Literacy."
He currently serves as host for HuffPost Live, as correspondent for BET News and as political commentator for CNN. He has previously appeared as host of nationally syndicated television show "Our World with Black Enterprise" and as a political analyst on Fox News Channel.
Hill is a Distinguished Professor of African-American studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining the faculty at Morehouse College, he taught at Columbia University and Temple University.
For more information about the leadership conferences and for accommodations on the basis of disability, please call the office of University Community at (405) 325-7314 or email university.community@ou.edu.
