Tyler Junior College will hold two informational events next week, in honor of Black History Month.
Both events will be held in Room 1109 of Jenkins Hall, on the TJC main campus. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend.
TJC Dialogues set Feb. 18
A TJC Dialogues event, set from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, will feature a showing of the award-winning documentary, “The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306,” a first-hand account of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968, and the events leading up to that moment.
After the 40-minute film, TJC professor Dr. Bridget Moore will moderate a discussion. Refreshments will be served. The event is sponsored by Red Rock Historical Association and TJC.
TJC Dialogues is an occasional discussion series planned by a committee of TJC faculty and staff. It promotes tolerance, respect and understanding through civil discussion about socially pertinent topics.
TJC Distinguished Lecture Series set Feb. 20
As part of its Distinguished Lecture Series, TJC will host “African American Voices: A Writers’ Forum” will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. A reception will follow the event.
The event will feature three authors:
The Rev. Rodney L. Atkins
The Rev. Rodney L. Atkins
The Rev. Rodney L. Atkins is founder and pastor of Victory Temple Church of God in Christ in Tyler and serves as library director of Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins. He was the first African American to be hired as a librarian for the City of Tyler and worked in that capacity for 25 years.
Throughout his life in East Texas, he has mentored youth, authored books, established observances of black culture, established Christian education institutes and celebrated U.S. military, among other projects.
A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Atkins is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, Atlanta University and the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
Dr. Sharon Hill Cranford
Dr. Sharon Hill Cranford
A Texas-to-Kansas transplant, Dr. Sharon Hill Cranford comes with a diverse background. After a career in mental health, diversity training and education, interspersed with singing and writing music, Cranford co-authored “Kinship Concealed: Amish-Mennonite-African-American Family Connections.”
The book came on the heels of the unexpected discovery of her Amish ancestry. She later followed up with a children’s book on the childhood of her great-great-grandfather, Charley Mast, who, as a baby, was taken from his mother and sold into slavery.
Cranford is a widowed mother of two sons and grandmother of four grandsons.
She is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University in Denton and resides in Wichita, Kansas.
Deedee Cummings
Deedee Cummings
As a therapist, attorney, author and CEO of Make A Way Media, Deedee Cummings has a passion for making the world a better place.
All 11 of her diverse picture, poetry and workbooks for kids reflect her professional knowledge and love of life.
Colorful and vibrant, her children’s books are not only fun for kids and adults to read, they also work to teach coping skills, reinforce the universal message of love, encourage mindfulness and facilitate inclusion for all.
Cummings has spent more than two decades working within the family therapy and support field, and much of her writing shares her experiences of working with kids in therapeutic foster care.
Using therapeutic techniques in her stories to teach coping skills, she also strives to lessen the stigma that some people feel in seeking mental health assistance.
Cummings resides in Louisville, Kentucky.