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Spike Lee set to give lecture at University

Filmmaker's talk will be telecast at UC

By Bridget Brown
The Daily Cougar

The History Department will kick off its Black History Month events with a lecture by filmmaker Spike Lee on Monday at the Cullen Performance Hall.

The lecture follows a 28-year nationwide tradition of educating the community about black history.

"It's important to acknowledge the heritage of black people in this country and in this world. It helps to educate everyone about the contributions and history of the African people," African-American Studies Program Manager Paul Easterling said.

Lee's visit is an appropriate way to begin programs of cultural awareness, event coordinator Steven Mintz said.

"(Lee) is the founder of new black cinema. He is pivotal in raising people's historical consciousness and racial awareness," Mintz, a history professor, said.

"We are particularly interested in how history is presented to the public by the people who are not historians. I'm hoping that this is one of those exciting intellectual, provocative events people remember after they leave UH," Mintz said.

Tickets to the lecture are free for students and can be picked up beginning at 8 a.m. today at the Campus Activities front desk, Room 51, University Center Underground. Although 2,700 tickets are available only 900 will be for seats in the performance hall; the others are for seats in the UC's Houston Room, where the lecture will be telecast on large screens.

The Black History Month events will continue Tuesday with a lecture by Paul Matthews, the founder of Houston's Buffalo Soldiers Museum, who will discuss black military history from 1770-2000. The lecture, sponsored by the African-American Studies Program, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Room 628, Agnes Arnold Hall.

On Feb. 23, Le'Salle's Art Gallery will present the 23rd annual African-American Art show in Room 101, Agnes Arnold Hall.

A spoken-word performance from 20 Poets and a Mic, focusing on racial awareness, will round out the events Feb. 26. More details for the show will be available closer to the date.

The Student Program Board is planning more Black History Month events, although a schedule hasn't yet been established, SPB President Melanie Calhoun said.
 

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