UA Announces Realizing the Dream 2015 Schedule of Events
- December 20th, 2014
- by admin
- in Uncategorized
(Contact: Carol Agomo, 205-348-7405; Ed Mullins, 205-246-3334)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — American gospel singer CeCe Winans will be the featured artist for the 2015 Realizing the Dream Concert on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Moody Music Concert Hall on the UA campus beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sponsors are Shelton State Community College, Stillman College, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the University of Alabama.
On Friday the 16th, Fox News political analyst Juan Williams will deliver the annual Legacy Banquet lecture at the Hotel Capstone beginning at 6:30 p.m.
This will be the Tuscaloosa area’s 26th annual celebration in honor of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As in previous years, a full slate of special events and memorial activities have been scheduled.
Winans, the best-selling female gospel artist in history, is a native of Detroit. She comes from a large family of singers that include her brother, BeBe, with whom she has recorded many songs. She has won 10 Grammy Awards and sold more than 12 million records. Among her best-known hits are “More Than What I Wanted,” “His Strength is Perfect,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” “Heaven,” and “Well, Alright.”
She will be welcomed and introduced by students from UA, Stillman and Shelton State.
Williams is a Panamanian-born American journalist whose career spreads across many platforms, including 23 years with The Washington Post before joining Fox News in 1997. On Fox he is also co-host of “The Five,” where he is one of seven rotating Fox personalities. Williams has also served as a senior national correspondent and news analyst for National Public Radio. He has received many awards, including an Emmy and acclaim for numerous projects, including “Politics: The New Black Power” and “A. Phillip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom.” He is the author of the non-fiction bestseller, “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965.”
At the Legacy Banquet artist and activist Dr. Arthur L. Bacon will receive the Mountaintop Award; former Tuscaloosa police chief Ken W. Swindle will receive the Call to Conscience Award; and the Horizon Award will be presented to UA student Tyler Merriweather.
Bacon is Talladega College professor emeritus of the natural sciences and humanities. After 40 years as a member of the faculty, staff and administration, the West Palm Beach, Fla. native is enjoying his second career as an artist. He received his bachelor’s degree from Talladega College in 1961, his M.S. in zoology from Howard University in 1963, and his Ph.D. in protozoology, also from Howard, in 1967. Bacon joined Talladega College as biology department chair. During his 40-year tenure his positions also included dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and faculty representative on the Board of Trustees. His many awards include awards for teaching, creativity and research and for securing the college’s accreditation. His artwork was recognized in 2013 in the Artists Showcase of the Palm Beaches, Inc.
Swindle, a resident of Tuscaloosa and 1974 graduate of the UA Law Enforcement Academy, served on the Tuscaloosa Police Department for 34 years and was chief for 20 years. He currently works for Prince, Glover, and Hayes Law Firm where he is chief investigator. Among the many organizations in which he has held office are the State Board of Alabama Special Olympics, Tuscaloosa Police Athletic League, Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police, and FOCUS on Senior Citizens. He is currently president of the Shelton State Foundation Board and the Salvation Army Board. His honors include the Tuscaloosa Exchange Club Police Officer of the Year, the Liberty Bell Award from the Tuscaloosa County Bar Association, Alabama Crime Prevention Network Award and Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. A member of Northridge Baptist Church, he serves as a trustee and deacon.
Holt native Merriweather is a junior in elementary education and a staff member at the Boys & Girls Club of West Alabama, Inc. Merriweather’s passion is in encouraging youth not to be victims of their circumstances but to discover victories within those circumstances. His community involvement includes working with Holt Community Partnership and Holt in Action. He is active in the campaign for Holt to become a city and to get a new school, the latter recently approved by the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. One of Merriweather’s most memorable moments occurred when he was in high school when the April 27 tornado hit. With his community devastated, he joined other students and faculty in providing clothes, toiletries, food, and other necessities for what became one of the largest recovery centers in Tuscaloosa. Merriweather serves as an ambassador for the College of Education and as parliamentarian for the UA Black Student Union. His goals include becoming an elementary school teacher in inner city Tuscaloosa and to launch a black male achievement program.
The annual Realizing the Dream Distinguished Lecture will take place on March 10 at 7 p.m. on the Stillman College campus. Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, will be lecturer. The Equal Justice Initiative is a private, non-profit organization in Montgomery. Stevenson, a professor at New York University School of Law, is nationally known for his work challenging criminal justice system bias against the poor and minorities. He is the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, published by Spiegel and Grau in 2014.
Realizing the Dream partner Southern Christian Leadership Conference will once again sponsor Unity Day activities, beginning at 7 a.m., Monday, Jan, 19 with Unity Breakfast at Hay College Center Dining Hall on the Stillman College campus. The Rev. Tyshawn Gardner, pastor of Plum Grove Baptist Church, will be the speaker. Unity Day march will begin at noon at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, and the annual Mass Rally begins at the First African Baptist Church, 2621 Stillman Rd. The speaker will be the Rev. Jeffrey Cammon, pastor of St. Peter AME Zion Church.
The University of Alabama was one of the first academic institutions to join with community partners in holding annual King birthday celebrations. Previous concerts have featured such headliners as John Legend (2014), Take 6 and the Aeolians (2013), the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (2011), Stillman, Shelton State and UA choirs (2008), opera singer and UA graduate Everett McCorvey (2005), civil rights pioneer and UA graduate Vivian Malone Jones (1999), poet Maya Angelou (1997), actor Sidney Poitier (1996), singer Harry Belafonte (1995), opera singer William Warfield (1991), and actor James Earl Jones (1990). Legacy Lecturers have included journalists John Cochran (2014) and Cynthia Tucker (2013), Rep. Terri Sewell (2012), and author Trudier Harris (2010).
Legacy Banquet tickets are $25 for individuals or $200 for a table of 10. Dress is semiformal. Concert tickets are $15. Tickets for both events will go on sale through the Moody Music Box Office on January 8.For more information about Realizing the Dream activities and events call 205-348-7111 or email community.affairs@ua.edu
