Project News

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wore blackface 35 years ago. As did his attorney general, Mark Herring. And a review of 900 college yearbooks showed that the practice was not rare. Among those caught up in the review was Nicole Carroll, who later became the editor of The Arizona Republic and is now editor-in-chief of USA TODAY.

Jefferson native Neal Lester recently received two special awards named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lester was awarded the MLK “Living the Dream” Award by the City of Phoenix, Ariz., and the Paradise Valley (Ariz.) MLK 2019 Diversity Award. Lester had also received an award named after MLK in 2017 from the City of Tempe, Ariz.

Many of us wish we could change something about our bodies. Some of us might want to be thinner, taller, or more muscular. “Many people base their sense of self-worth on their physical appearance, and how they perceive themselves to be in comparison to others,” said Benny LeMaster, assistant professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. “We too often internalize cultural hierarchies that tell us there is only one type of healthy body, only one shade of beautiful skin, and only two rigid gender identities, for instance.”

Every time junior Lauren McGinnis hears what she believes is “the most powerful word in the English language” — the n-word — being used, waves of discomfort and frustration wash over her. She did not think that asking her white peers in an Instagram post to remove the word from their vocabulary was an unreasonable request, but the derogatory replies that she received from her followers hurt deeply.

For many people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech is his landmark speech.But for ASU english professor Neal Lester, a more telling moment came in the speech King gave at a visit to Stanford University in 1967 in a speech called “The Other America.” “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long and it bends towards justice," King said in the speech. The speech shows a complex, little-known side to the famed civil rights activist, Lester said. “I facilitated a program back in the summer that was on the anniversary of King’s death,” Lester said. “That was an opportunity for me to try to move people, and myself, away from these sugar-coated images that idolize King.”

Do. The. Work. It was that idea conveyed by Dr. Neal Lester during a celebration honoring the sacrifice and service by those who made the dream of racial equality a perception of reality in the United States of America.

Countless deplorable acts against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his family, his followers and his perspective did not stop the man whose legacy is honored and observed by all American communities on the third Monday of January.

The Town of Paradise Valley hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Monday, Jan. 21 at Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive, which featured a speaker, music and the announcement of the essay contest winners.

Do. The. Work.

It was that idea conveyed by Dr. Neal Lester during a celebration honoring the sacrifice and service by those who made the dream of racial equality a perception of reality in the United States of America.

Countless deplorable acts against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his family, his followers and his perspective did not stop the man whose legacy is honored and observed by all American communities on the third Monday of January.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only National Day of Service named after an American civil rights pioneer and the namesake of an award bestowed upon Dr. Lester, an Arizona State University professor.

HACKS FOR HUMANITY The annual event, sponsored by ASU’s Project Humanities, provides “a burst of creative disruption,” says Neal A. Lester, Project Humanities director. In 2018, the 36-hour entrepreneurial marathon brought together developers, artists, humanists, futurists, designers and visionaries to create technical solutions to global issues.

Talking, listening and connecting: They’re the three pillars of Arizona State University’s Project Humanities, and there were plenty of each to be found Monday night at the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in downtown Phoenix, where roughly 100 community members gathered to celebrate the life of the late black feminist poet, novelist and playwright Ntozake Shange, who passed away in October 2018.