Project News

“Southern trees bear strange fruit/ Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.”
These are the opening lines of “Strange Fruit,” the iconic 1937 song about lynching popularized by jazz legend Billie Holiday. While Holiday’s heartfelt rendition turned the song into one of the anthems of the civil rights movement, the song was actually written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish teacher from New York.

Arizona ranked fourth in the nation, according to a new study measuring the current integration levels of blacks and whites ahead of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. “I’m leery of jumping on the bandwagon to say, ‘Wow, look how much we’ve improved,’” said Dr. Neal Lester with Project Humanities at Arizona State University.

Jackie Robinson’s big-league debut preceded the black civil rights movement. Muhammad Ali’s declarations helped shape the way the nation viewed the Vietnam War. And Michael Sam was drafted to the NFL before a Supreme Court ruling made same-sex marriage legal across the U.S.

Alonzo Jones has one of the best jobs at Arizona State University: associate athletic director for inclusion and championship life. Who doesn’t want to lead a championship life? Jones is in charge of the “life skills” programming for student-athletes at ASU, teaching them how to balance all parts of their busy lives. “It’s a wraparound for the student-athlete to ensure that for as much as they’re giving their institution, their institution is giving as much back to them,” said Jones, who graduated from ASU.

As part of a partnership with PBS, Project Humanities at ASU will screen the documentary from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tempe History Museum, 809 East Southern Avenue, on Wednesday, January 10. A discussion will follow the screening.

We are pleased to announce a collaborative effort to showcase the history and connections of African American and Jewish American Relationships through a screening of the documentary Strange Fruit followed by a meaningful dialogue about these relationships. This event will take place on Martin Luther King Day at 7 PM at the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center located at 122 E Culver St, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Arizona continues to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most impactful civil rights leaders that our world has ever seen. PhxSoul.com has organized a list of January 2018 festivals, parades and other celebrations in the Phoenix area that will recognize Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We encourage everyone to bookmark this page and make plans to not only attend but to get involved in making these events as successful as possible.

If you've been reading the Ahwatukee Foothills News the last few weeks, you won't be surprised to be told many community residents have been making Christmas merrier for young and old alike who don't exactly look at the holiday as a merry one.

If "loose lips sink ships", being fast and loose with words and language signals careless thinking, ignorance, insensitivity and blatant disrespect. 

College is meant to be a time of intellectual growth, but as students get caught up in the rigors of everyday life, it becomes harder and harder to stimulate the brain outside of the classroom. One of the best ways to do this is through reading, so The State Press took to asking ASU professors which books they thought were critical to the college experience.