NEWS

Black poet, essayist, novelist Ishmael Reed to speak at UNC

CHAPEL HILL -- Ishmael Reed, a prominent figure in African-American literature, will give a free public lecture at 7 p.m. April 24 in the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

His talk will be the keynote address for "Dialogues on Race and Identity: A Tomming and Passing Symposium" April 22-26, sponsored by UNC's Institute of African American Research.

The interdisciplinary symposium will explore the concepts of "tomming" and "passing" through an interdisciplinary lens. Invited scholars will address how both topics appear in literature, film, the social sciences and the visual arts.

Reed will "situate the ironies and survival adaptations of both 'tomming' and 'passing' in the context of his literary contributions," said Dr. William A. Darity Jr., institute director and a UNC professor of economics and sociology.

"Reed's work long has explored -- through satire, parody, and absurdist realism -- issues of racial identity, ideology and activism," Darity said. "Of special note in the context of this symposium is 'Reckless Eyeballing,' Reed's controversial novel that explores lynching, both literally and metaphorically. Also relevant is his topsy-turvy historical inquest into Lincoln, the American race question and slavery in 'Flight to Canada.' "

"Tomming" is a term drawn from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," Darity said. The Tom traditionally represents a smiling, wide-eyed, dark-skinned server who is docile and non-threatening to whites.

"Passing" refers to individuals who choose to identify with a race other than their own, he said. It can be facilitated if an individual’s physical appearance precludes others from readily detecting their genetic makeup.

The symposium will begin April 22 with film showings from noon-5 p.m. and a 5-7 p.m. reception in Tate-Turner-Kuralt. April 23-26, films will be shown from noon-2 p.m. and scholars will present papers from 2-4 p.m. in Toy Lounge, on the top floor of Dey Hall. For a complete schedule and information, visit www.unc.edu/depts/iaar or call 962-6810.

Reed, a prolific poet, essayist and novelist, has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award, once in poetry and once in fiction. Since publishing his first novel, "The Free-Lance Pallbearers," in 1967, he has produced fiction, poetry and essays that satirize American political, religious and literary repression.

He has been a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, since the late 1960s. He also has held visiting appointments at Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth universities, Washington University in St. Louis and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also won one of the rare and prestigious MacArthur Fellowships, commonly called genius awards.

Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., and raised in Buffalo, Reed once hosted a local radio program in Buffalo that was canceled after he aired an interview with the late Malcolm X.

The UNC institute, a center for the study of black life, aims to promote and advance the experiences, culture and thought of people of African descent around the globe, with emphasis on black Americans.

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Contact: Alicia Williams, 962-6810, or Dr. William A. Darity Jr., 966-5392 or 966-2156.