The Office of Multicultural Affairs is proud to present our "In My Own Words" series with guest speaker Donna Brazile. The event will take place on Monday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Emerson Suites.The Office of Multicultural Affairs is proud to present our "In My Own Words" series with guest speaker Donna Brazile. The event will take place on Monday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Emerson Suites.
One of the most influential African-American women in politics, Brazile has dedicated herself to strengthening the democratic process. Donna Brazile began her political career at the age of 9, when she worked on the campaign of a city council candidate who promised to build a playground in her New Orleans neighborhood. Four decades and innumerable local, state, and national elections later, she made history as the first African-American woman to direct a major presidential campaign.
Currently the vice chair of voter registration and participation for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), she previously led the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute. She had worked on the campaigns of every Democratic presidential candidate from 1976 to 2000, and served as chief of staff and press secretary to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.
Brazile can be seen and heard frequently as a political commentator on CNN, ABC News, and National Public Radio. She is the author of the bestselling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics and is a columnist for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call and Ms. magazine. The founder and managing director of Brazile and Associates, a political consulting and grassroots advocacy firm, she also serves on the board of directors of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the agency charged with addressing the state’s rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.
Among other honors, Washingtonian magazine has listed Brazile as one of the 100 most powerful women and Essence named her one of the top 50 women in America. The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation bestowed upon her its award for political achievement.
Earlier in her advocacy career, Brazile was instrumental in the successful campaign to make the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. birthday a federal holiday. During her campus visit, she will meet with students in Ithaca College's Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar Program.
For more information on Brazile, visit www.apbspeakers.com. For more information on her campus appearance, contact John Rawlins III, assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, at jrawlins@ithaca.edu or 607-274-1692.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20090322205904379