Bennett to Keynote Savannah State’s MLK Observance


Lerone Bennett, Jr.
Lerone Bennett, Jr.

Lerone Bennett Jr., prolific writer and social historian, will be the guest speaker at Savannah State University’s (SSU) annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. in the ballroom of the King-Frazier Student Center.

At 8 p.m., the SSU Delta Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., will honor the life of one of the fraternity’s most distinguished members during the annual candlelight vigil on the front steps of the student center. Both events are free and open to the public.

Born in 1928 in Clarksdale, Miss., and raised in Jackson, Miss., Bennett earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 from Morehouse College and began working as a journalist for the Atlanta Daily World. In 1952, he joined Jet Magazine as city editor and one year later became associate editor of the monthly sis- ter publication, Ebony Magazine, where he was on the editorial staff for over 50 years. Bennett’s steady stream of articles on African-American history became one of the magazine’ s literary hallmarks as well as the basis for this first book, a seminal work, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, 1619-1962. With its comprehensive examination of the history of African Americans in the United States, the book gave Bennett a reputation as a first-rate popular historian. In his eight subsequent books, Bennett continued to document the historical forces that shaped the black experience in the United States.

Bennett’s numerous honors include the 2003 Carter G. Woodson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History.

Established in 1890, Savannah State University is on the move to become the best value-added university in the nation. Approximately 3,800 students are enrolled in 23 undergraduate degree majors and five graduate programs in three colleges: Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Business Administration and Sciences and Technology.

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