Political Commentator Jeff Johnson Speaks at UAlbany

ALBANY, N.Y.  (February 1, 2012) -- Television journalist and political commentator Jeff Johnson will discuss Unclaimed Legacy: Who Will Lead the Next Social Movement? at the University at Albany’s 33rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Black History Month Luncheon at noon on Wednesday, February 8, in the Campus Center Ballroom.

Jeff Johnson, an MSNBC contributor and White House correspondent for theGrio, is the keynote speaker at the University at Albany's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Black History Month Luncheon on Feb. 8.

The Black History Month Luncheon is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is sponsored by the Division of Student Success, Office of Multicultural Student Success, in cooperation with the Office of the President, Student Association and University Auxiliary Services.

Johnson is an MSNBC contributor and White House correspondent for theGrio, an African-American news web site owned by NBC. He received an exclusive post-inauguration interview with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state and Liberia’s first elected female president. Johnson Sirleaf shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.

In 2008, Johnson received the NABJ Salute to Excellence Award for BET’s "Life & Death in Darfur, Jeff Johnson Reports" series. He has regularly contributed commentary and analysis about issues related to race, politics, popular culture and socio-economics for news broadcasts and publications, such as MSNBC’s Dayside and Hardball with Chris Matthews, CNN’s Headline News, CNN’s International, the FOX News Channel, and the Huffington Post.

Johnson will also speak at UAlbany’s inaugural Nia Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on February 8, in the Campus Center Ballroom, in support of the Seth Spellman “Nia” scholarship.

Also in honor of Black History Month, UAlbany’s Department of Africana Studies will host the Black History Month Cultural Extravaganza on Thursday, February 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Lecture Center 7.  Other events related to Black History Month include:

• Feb. 3 -- Slavery by Another Name discussion with author Douglas Blackmon 4:15 p.m. Science Library. New York State Writers Institute.
• Feb. 9 -- The Help film and discussion, 6:30 p.m., Social Sciences 256.
• Feb. 16 -- Two Towns of  Jasper film and workshop 12-3 p.m. Campus Center 375. National Coalition Building Institute.

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