Donna Brazile, veteran political strategist, will speak about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. as this year’s featured speaker for Case Western Reserve University’s Annual MLK Celebration Week, January 15-22.
Brazile will give the 2010 MLK Convocation, which begins at 12:30 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 22, in Amasa Stone Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.
The New Orleans native has risen to national prominence as an author of the bestselling memoir “Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics”; syndicated columnist for United Media; an on-air political contributor to CNN, National Public Radio and ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”; vice chair of voter registration at the Democratic National Committee; and former chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute.
At the age of nine, Brazile’s lifelong passion for political process and campaigns began with her first public battle to fight for a neighborhood playground. It fueled her involvement, including work on every presidential campaign from 1976 to 2000. She became the first African-American woman to manage a run for the White House as former Vice President Al Gore’s campaign manager.
She has taken that same campaign drive to return to her hometown to rebuild New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. She has served on the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
Last August, “O, The Oprah Magazine” hailed Brazile as one of its 20 “remarkable visionaries.” She also has made “Essence” magazine’s Top 50 Women in America list and has been honored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation with its highest award for political achievement.
Go online for information or call 368-2229.