Black History Month Program Scheduled at Ridgeview Branch Library

Professor and playwright Dr. Reginald Watson returns to Ridgeview Branch Library for a special Black History Month program.  His talk "The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Motherhood and Manhood in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Alice Walker's Third Life of Grange Copeland" is scheduled for Monday, February 21^st at 6:30 p.m.  Hickory Public Library's Sojourner Truth Book Club invites the public to join them for this free program. Ridgeview Branch Library is located at 706 1^st Street SW on the corner of 1^st Street and 7^th Avenue, one block west of South Center Street.

The Sojourner Truth Book Club meets to read and discuss a wide variety of books and authors that represent diverse cultures and ideas. They have invited Dr. Watson to talk about how slavery and oppression deconstruct the traditional image of motherhood and manhood for the black man and woman.  Dr. Watson will present a rationale for how these two particular books are fitting blueprints for understanding the social and historical realities of the black female/male roles and the effect that slavery and oppression had on those roles. His discussion and analysis will include audience participation.

Dr. Watson teaches undergraduate and graduate classes at East Carolina University in African-American and world literature. He is founder and director of the university's Thespians of Diversity, a board member of the Ledonia Wright African-American Cultural Center, and member of the Black Faculty and Staff Organization.  He holds a B.A. from North Carolina Central University and a M.A. from East Carolina University. He received his Ph.D. in English, Literature, and Criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  He has written and produced several plays.

This program is made possible through a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council's Humanities Forum, a Speakers Bureau of the NCHC.

For information call Ridgeview Branch Library at 345-6037.