Spotlight - Issue 36, February 2007


February; 2007 Issue 36 In This Issue: * Black History Month * Movies * Educational Fair * Partnership for Democracy * Thurgood Marshall Previous issues	Black History Month Each February, Black History Month honors the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles - slavery, prejudice, poverty - as well as their contributions to the nation's cultural and political life. Carter G. Woodson, a noted scholar and historian, instituted Negro History Week in 1926. He chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation's bicentennial. The theme for 2007 is "From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas." Each year, the U.S. president honors Black History Month, or African American History Month, as it is also called, with a proclamation and a celebration at the White House. States and cities hold their own events around the country, and media feature topics related to black history. "African Americans have been an integral part of America for generations, and our nation is stronger because of their contributions," Bush said in this year's proclamation, issued on January 26. "All Americans can be proud of the progress we have made, yet the work ... is not done." More information on African-American life and history is available at: The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH).	Carter G. Woodson (National Park Service)
	Movies on African-American Issues The American Information Resource Center in Krakow would like to recommend several movies on African American Issues that are in its collection. If you are interested in organizing a showing for a group, please contact The American Information Resource Center at tel: 12 424 5143 or e-mail: Krakowairc@state.gov MIGHTY TIMES: THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS (42 minutes) On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sparked a revolution by refusing to give up her seat in the section of the bus reserved for whites only. Her simple act of defiance against racial segregation on city buses inspired the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama, to unite against the segregationists who ran City Hall. Nominated for a 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. ALICE WALKER: EVERYDAY USE (26 minutes) This is a filmed adaptation of Alice Walkers short story Everyday Use. It is the story of Maggie, who has not ventured outside her rural community, who sees the old family quilt an heirloom already promised to her as something with practical utility as well as tradition. Her more worldly, educated sister wants to hang it on the wall as art. With whom will their mother agree? AMERICAN PASSAGES: A LITERARY SURVEY - SLAVERY AND FREEDOM (30 minutes) How has slavery shaped the American literary imagination and American identity? This program turns to the classic slave narratives of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass, as well as the fiction of Harriet Beecher Stowe. SCOTTSBORO: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (90 minutes) In 1931, two white women make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. The trial of the nine falsely accused teens would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the Civil Rights Movement. The Scottsboro story is a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for their lives and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes. CITIZEN KING (120 minutes) The film explores the last five years in Martin Luther King Jr.'s life by drawing on the personal recollections and eyewitness accounts of friends, movement associates, journalists, law enforcement officers, and historians.	Alice Walker "Everyday Use" cover
	Educational Fair The 9th Educational Fair "Edu.pl" will be held on February 22-24 at Centralna 41 A in Krakow. Thousands of high school students and hundreds of educators will attend various meetings and information sessions about education issues in Poland and abroad. On February 22 at 11:00, the US Consulate General will organize a session on Study in the US, which will discuss US education system, application procedures for the American universities, financial issues and visas. Program: 11:00 - US Education System - Susan Parker Burns, Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate General Krakow, 11:20 - How to Apply to a US university - Aleksandra Augustyniak, Educational Adviser, Fulbright Commission, Warsaw 11:45 - Guide to Financial Aid for Students - Maria Brzostek, Educational Adviser, US Consulate General, Krakow 12:10 - Student visas - Visa Officer, US Consulate General, Krakow More information about the Educational Fair at: http://www.targi.krakow.pl
	Partnership for Democracy Study Tour Within the framework of "Partnership for Democracy", the US Consulate sponsored project for Ukrainian journalists, another monthly study tour will take place on February 27 - March 1. The three day long program will be held in various cities of the Podkarpackie province and this time it will focus on functioning of hospitals and prevention of diseases. The numerous workshop activities were put together by the PfD Foundation in close cooperation with hospitals and local governments of the region. The group of 20 journalists from across Ukraine will have an opportunity to see the results of the health reforms, talk to doctors, patients and health service officials. They will get to know what is being done in Poland within the diseases prevention policy and will confront the Polish experience with some of the American models and ways of preventing the most widespread diseases. The study tour will enable Ukrainian journalists to gather information necessary for their press articles, films and radio programs.
	New publication: Justice for All: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall The electronic publication "Justice for All: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall," tells the story of Marshall's life and the achievements -- capped by his victory in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education - that made him the 20th century's great architect of American race relations. The publication is available at: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/tmarshall/index.html

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