Ilyasah Shabazz
September 19

Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, kicks off the series September 19. Ilyasah Shabazz is a humanitarian, author, and lecturer. Her work is dedicated to four passions: The continued growth and understanding of her family legacy; developing educational programs which foster self-empowerment regardless of life experience; expanding the role of government to teach individual responsibility for improving society; and capitalizing on the arts and entertainment to encourage the understanding of history, culture, and self-expression. She is presently implementing The Wake-Up Tour, her exclusive program for empowering our nation's youth. She is corporation president and board member of The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center, Inc., at the Audubon, the place of her father's martyrdom in 1965.

James J. Yee 
October 16

On October 16, James J. Yee, also known by the Arabic name Yusuf Lee, will appear. Yee is a former chaplain and captain in the United States Army. In his role as chaplain, Yee ministered to Muslim detainees held in Guantanamo Bay naval base purportedly related to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. When returning from duty at the naval base, he was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida when U.S. Customs agents found a list of Guantanamo detainees and interrogators among his belongs. He faced several charges, including spying and espionage. All charges were later reduced to mishandling of classified information. In October 2005, Yee published his book, For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire. In it he writes that he was kept in solitary confinement for seventy-six days, and that he was forced to undergo sensory deprivation. He also alleges serious mistreatment of prisoners.

William "Bill" Rhoden
November 13

New York Times sports columnist William "Bill" Rhoden will appear on November 13. He has been in his current role since March 1983. Previously, he was a copy editor in the Sunday Week in Review section since October 1981 when he joined the newspaper. Before joining the Times, Mr. Rhoden spent more than three years with The Baltimore Sun as a columnist. Before that, he was associate editor of Ebony magazine from 1974 to 1978. Rhoden is also the author of the controversial book Forty Million Dollar Slaves, published in 2006. This book compares the relationship of black athletes to team owners and agents to white plantation owners and slaves of the antebellum period. It also deals with the complexities of societal implications on black athletes. In 2007, Rhoden's next book Third and a Mile: The Trials and Triumph of the Black Quarterback was published. This book continues the work of Forty Million Dollar Slaves by discussing the struggles that many black quarterbacks have endured, by being labeled as "athletic" and not smart enough to play the position. Rhoden is a frequent guest on ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, and while there, acted as assistant sports information director.

John Quinones
December 5

Appearing December 5 is ABC news correspondence John Quinones. Quinones is a correspondent for "20/20." He had previously been a correspondent for "PrimeTime Live," since November, 1991. In addition to his duties as a correspondent, Quinones serves as a host of "20/20 Downtown," covering unique stories for the newsmagazine, which premiered in October, 1999. His reports for "20/20" have included an in-depth look at the unprecedented lawsuit against the Cuban government by a woman who claimed she unknowingly married a spy; an exclusive interview with a Florida teenager who brutally killed her adoptive mother, claiming insanity; a look at sex abuse in schools, uncovering the story of an educator who continued to teach and allegedly molest students in different school districts, despite a history of misconduct; and the story of a controversial small-town apostle whom some consider a disciple of God, while others say he is a deceiver of the masses. Quinones joined ABC News in June, 1982, as a general assignment correspondent based in Miami, providing reports for "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" and other ABC News broadcasts. He was one of the few American journalists reporting from Panama City during the U.S. invasion in December, 1989.

Ben Ferguson
January 16

Nationally syndicated talk-radio show host Ben Ferguson kicks off the 2008 lineup on January 16. He hosts The Ben Ferguson Show. A local talk-radio host throughout his teen years, Ferguson graduated from the University of Mississippi and lives in Memphis, Tennessee. He remains the youngest nationally syndicated radio personality in the country. Ferguson addressed the 2004 Republican National Convention. His speech was widely quoted coast to coast by many news outlets including the Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, and Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  

Earl Graves Jr.
January 23
Time: 6 p.m.

A week later, on January 23, Earl Graves Jr. will appear. Graves is president and chief operating officer for Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine. Graves joined Black Enterprise Magazine in 1988, after earning his MBA from Harvard University. His first position at the company was as vice-president of advertising and marketing. In 1991, he was promoted to senior vice president of advertising and marketing; and in 1995, he was named the executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was appointed to his current position in 1998. Under his guidance, the magazine has grown rapidly, including more than 10 consecutive years of advertising page revenue growth; establishing the strong niche marketing position of Black Enterprise among national business publications; and award-winning marketing programs boosting circulation growth as well as ad page revenues. Since 1997, the magazine has been a three-time recipient of the FOLIO: Editorial Excellence Award for Business/Finance. Black Enterprise has a guaranteed circulation of over 450,000 with a readership of more than 4 million. Graves received his bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University in 1984, distinguishing himself both academically and in athletics. As a four-year starter and captain of the Yale basketball team, Graves became the school's all-time leading scorer, and finished his college basketball career as the second leading scorer in Ivy League history. He was drafted in the third round by the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, and enjoyed a brief professional basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rev. Joseph Lowery
February 5
Time: 6 p.m.

In celebration of Black History Month, Rev. Joseph Lowery appears as a guest speaker February 5. Lowery is a minister and leader in the American civil rights movement. Lowery was pastor of the Warren Street United Methodist Church, in Mobile, Alabama from 1952 until 1961. After Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955, Lowery helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott. In 1957, with Martin Luther King, Jr., Lowery founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and subsequently led the organization as its president from 1977 to 1997. His property was seized in 1959 along with that of other civil rights leaders by the State of Alabama as part of a libel suit. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the suit reversed. At the request of Martin Luther King Jr., Lowery led the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. Lowery served as pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta from (1986-92). He is now retired but remains active in the civil rights movement. To honor Reverend Lowery, the City of Atlanta renamed Ashby Street for him. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard is just west of downtown Atlanta and runs north-south beginning at West Marietta Street near the campus of Georgia Tech and stretching to White Street in the West End neighborhood. The street intersects both Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Ralph David Abernathy Freeway.

Wilma Mankiller
March 19
Due to illness, this event has been cancelled.

Wilma Mankiller will speak March 19. In 1985, Mankiller became the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, winning the election with 56 percent of the vote. She grew up in Mankiller Flats near Tahlequah, Okla., and her last name is a term of respect for Indian warriors who protected villages. In her book Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, Mankiller tells her family's story of leaving Oklahoma for California in 1956 as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation Program. The program was set up to urbanize poor rural Native Americans. In 1969, she watched the American Indian Movement (AIM) protest on Alcatraz Island on television. This led to her initial involvement in the struggle for Native American rights. Her book also details her social and political involvement in American Indian and women's issues and her return to her northeast Oklahoma roots. Since then, Mankiller worked on many community development programs designed to provide jobs and/or homes to Native American people. In 1991, she was re-elected as chief. In 1994, Oklahoma's Institute of Indian Heritage honored Chief Wilma Mankiller during their annual "Spirit of the People" fall festival. She left her position as chief in 1995 because of poor health. During her tenure as chief, she was an effective spokesperson in Washington, worked for health care programs, and fought for the rights of children. Mankiller holds an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Yale University.

Clark Diggs

Rounding out the season is Joetta Clark Diggs. For more than three decades, Diggs reigned as America's queen of middle distance running. With ambition, determination, and commitment to achieving her goals, she became track and field's most proliferate 800-meter runner. A four-time Olympian, she competed in every United States Championship or Olympic trial from 1979 until 2000, winning over nine championship titles and tenaciously defending her top ten American ranking for over 20 years. The daughter of immortalized educator, Joe Clark-the inspiration for the hit movie Lean on Me, Clark is a moving personality that motivates audiences to battle against all odds and remain committed to the singular goal of success.

For more information about the Distinguished Speaker Series, please call (910) 672-1474.