University of New Mexico Africana Studies presents their 30th Annual Black History Month Kick-off brunch in the Student Union Building Ballroom on Saturday, Jan. 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year’s speaker is Roslyn M. Brock, who will focus on civil rights leadership and public health in the 21st century.
Brock is the current chairman of the national board of directors for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She made history in February 2010 when she was unanimously elected as its 14th chairman. Brock is also the youngest and one of only four women who have held the position.
Brock was featured in Essence magazine in September 2010 when she was listed among the 40 fierce and fabulous women who are changing the world. Praise for her continued in 2010 when the Black Entertainment Television (BET) show, “Black Girls Rock” honored her in its inaugural broadcast. She also received the 2010 National Urban League’s Women of Power Award. In 2011, Brock was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award by George Washington University. In 2012, she was the convocation speaker at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and featured as the Feb. 6 NBC Universal iVillage Woman of the Week in the same year.
Brock lives by the African proverb, “Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.”
Tickets for the brunch are $35 and are available online at unmtickets.com or by phone at (505) 925-5858. For table sales and sponsorship, contact Robert Jefferson at (505) 277-0791 or through cdavis2@unm.edu.