Conference to spotlight the African American story -- then and now

That will be evident Saturday, when everything from the Underground Railroad in the 19th-century American West to the potential of hip-hop culture in the new millennium will be discussed at a Seattle conference.

The experience of African Americans is "a history that remained dormant and untold by design for too many centuries," said Tim Pinnick, an Illinois researcher who has studied black coal miners, including those who went to Roslyn in Kittitas County more than a century ago.

He will be among more than 40 scholars, archivists and history buffs from across the nation who will speak at the annual conference of the Association for African American Historical Research and Preservation. The gathering at Seattle University, held during Black History Month since 2004, is open to the public.

This year's theme is "Re-examining the History Books: Uncovering and Discovering the Black Experience."

"Some of the people who should be brought to light include groundbreaking African American classical scholars," said Ed Diaz, president of the Seattle-based association.

They include names most people have never heard of, such as William Sanders Scarborough, the first black member of the Modern Language Association and author of a Greek textbook in 1881, he said.

More recently, "with the passing of Rosa Parks, it shouldn't be forgotten that there were other ordinary men and women involved in the fight for civil rights," Diaz said.

Some of those women will be discussed at the conference by Mary-Antoinette Smith, associate professor of English at Seattle University.

"With the death of Coretta Scott King (last) week, my (presentation) will now be a tribute to both Rosa and Coretta," Smith said.

She is writing a book that will center on Parks and include documents reflecting a lineage of woman activists, from Sojourner Truth in the mid-19th century to Oprah Winfrey in the late 20th century. Also among them are Lillian Smith, Anne Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle, whom Martin Luther King Jr. thanked in 1963 in his influential "Letter from Birmingham Jail" for having "written of our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms."

Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg, another conference speaker, researched a new digital archive at California State University-Sacramento for her presentation on the "Underground Railroad in the American West."

"A significant number of Southerners who joined the gold rush brought their slaves with them to California," using them for mining, clerking in stores and in other ways, she said.

An Underground Railroad route that ran from Northern California to Victoria, B.C., was not the only one in the West, a fact not known to many who live in this region, said Eulenberg, a visiting scholar in Jewish studies at the University of Washington.

While most presentations deal with topics from decades or centuries ago, one will cover a more recent development.

Solomon Comissiong, who runs an educational consulting business in Washington, D.C., believes that hip-hop culture can be used to teach black history and create more enthusiasm for academics.

Hip-hop music and lifestyles are "still egregiously misunderstood," he said, adding that positive, socially conscious rap music exists along with the mainstream kind that can perpetuate negative stereotypes.

Black History Month leads people of all races to "consider the special burden that one group of Americans carry out of the past and into the present," Eulenberg said.

"Having acknowledged that much, we then have the opportunity to learn about all the contributions blacks have made to American society, as well as beyond our borders."

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS

"America Without Walls," black film festival, Friday at Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities, 4209 West Marginal Way S.W.; Feb. 17 at Yesler Community Center, 835 E. Yesler Way; and Feb. 24 at 8061 Densmore Ave. N., 11:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. each day. Free. Information: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/blackhistory/2006/events.htm.

Annual conference of Association for African American Historical Research and Preservation, Saturday, Seattle University, 901 12th Ave. Registration starts at 7:45 a.m. Opening session is at 8:30 a.m., with final session at 6 p.m. Cost: $50 ($25 for students and seniors). Information: 206-547-5394 or www.aaahrp.org.

"Eyes on the Prize," documentary on the civil rights movement, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Feb. 21-23, and from 10:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Feb. 16, Bellevue Community College cafeteria, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E. Information: 425-564-3081.

The Rev. Samuel B. McKinney, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Seattle, speaks on race relations, noon Wednesday, Everett Community College's Parks Student Union Multipurpose Room, 2000 Tower St. Information: 425-388-9282.

Tribute to African American classical composers, noon Feb. 16, Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave. Presented by Seattle Choral Company. Free. Information: 206-365-8765.

Black history month film festival, 10:30 a.m. and noon Feb. 16-17 and Feb. 23-24, Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St., Seattle. Tickets: $4-$5. Information: 206-984-7754 or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3312.

Festival Sundiata, noon to 8 p.m. Feb. 18-19, and noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 20, the Seattle Center, Center House and Fisher Pavilion. Art, crafts, music, dance and workshops. Information: www.festivalsundiata.org.

Alfoster Garrett Jr., former NAACP president of Seattle-King County, speaks 10:30 a.m. Feb. 22, Building C, Room 120, Bellevue Community College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E. Information: 425-564-3081.

Race and social justice panel discussion, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 22, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave., Room 1610. Free. Information: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/blackhistory/2006/events.htm.

Celebration of the life of Tyree Scott, Seattle civil rights activist, 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 23, Yesler Community Center, 917 E. Yesler Way. Information: 206-250-5412.

Race Films Marathon, part of the Underground Railroad Film Series, noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 25, Seattle Public Library's Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. Free. Information: 206-386-4636.

Celebration in solidarity with Gulf Coast residents, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25, New Freedom Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle. Cost: $2 and $8.50 for dinner served at 6 p.m. 206-722-2453.

"Don't Be Weary, Traveler," tribute to African American classical composers, 8 p.m. Feb. 25, and 3 p.m. Feb. 26, Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle. Presented by Seattle Choral Company. Tickets: $22 ($17 for seniors and $10 for under 25). Information: 206-365-8765 or www.seattlechoralcompany.org.

Celebration of Rosa Parks, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 28, Jackson Federal Building, South Auditorium, 915 Second Ave., Seattle. Free.

"Civil Rights, Liberation and Music: An Evening with Bernice Johnson Reagon," scholar and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, 6:30 p.m. March 2, Schneebeck Concert Hall, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma. Free. Information: 253-879-3374.

P-I reporter John Iwasaki can be reached at 206-448-8096 or johniwasaki@seattlepi.com.

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