Media Advisory: MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry to speak at Wake Forest

Melissa Harris-Perry, host of MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry,” and a 1994 graduate of Wake Forest University, will speak on campus Sept. 10. Her speech, “Only Youthful Folly Can Make Democracy Real,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Wait Chapel.

The event is open to the Wake Forest community only and is not open to the public. Media are invited to attend, but photography is limited to the first five minutes of her talk. Cameras can set up on the stairway on the right side of the chapel.

First-year students and their academic advisors will attend the event as the culmination of the summer academic project focused on civic engagement among emerging adults.

Harris-Perry is a professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South.  She was also on the faculty at the University of Chicago and Princeton University.  Her MSNBC show airs on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to noon.

Harris-Perry will sign copies of her new book, “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America,” from 4-5:30 p.m.in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library atrium on the Wake Forest campus.  The book argues that stereotypes affect black women, shape their politics, contribute to policies that treat them unfairly, and make it difficult for black women to assert their rights in the political arena. Her monthly column for The Nation magazine is also called “Sister Citizen.”

About Wake Forest University:

Wake Forest University combines the best traditions of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a large research university. Founded in 1834, the school is located in Winston-Salem, N.C. The University’s graduate school of arts and sciences, divinity school, and nationally ranked schools of law, medicine and business enrich our intellectual environment. Learn more about Wake Forest University at www.wfu.edu.

Categories: Media Advisory