FAYETTE CAMPUS
Cedric Sparks will be the guest speaker for Bevill State Community College-Fayette's Black History program on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 10:00 a.m. in the Earl McDonald Auditorium of the Tom Bevill Center.
Sparks serves as the Executive Director of the City of Birmingham Mayor's Office Division of Youth Services. He is a native of Birmingham and has served in the Division of Youth Services since May 1998. Under his leadership, Birmingham was named as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in America in 2008.
Sparks is involved in various civic and community organizations, including Big Brothers and Sisters, Western Area YMCA, 100 Black Men-Birmingham Chapter, and Youth Leadership Forum. For his leadership in the community, Sparks was named as a recipient of the 2006 Birmingham Business Journal "Top 40 Under 40" and one of the Top 30 Young Leaders by Ebony Magazine in 2005.
His most recent accolades include: General Mills "Feeding Dreams" award recipient; graduate of Leadership UAB and Leadership Birmingham; "Mentor of the Year" for 100 Black Men-Birmingham Chapter, the A.G. Gaston Conference's Arthur D. Shores "Young Trailblazer" award; and the Birmingham Emancipation Association's Service award.
The Black History program at Bevill State is open to the public. For more details, please contact Mr. Sam Sullivan, Bevill State Director of Student Services, at 205-932-3221, ext. 5103.
HAMILTON CAMPUS
Laura Caldwell Anderson will be the guest speaker for Bevill State Community College-Hamilton's Black History program on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 12:15 p.m. in the Bear's Den.
Anderson's presentation, "fill in correct title," is part of the Alabama Humanities Foundation 2007-2008 Road Scholars' speaker program. The Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The AHF brings scholars and the public together to explore human values and meaning through the study of history, literature, religion, philosophy, and other humanities disciplines.
Anderson, a native of Rome, Georgia, has lived in Alabama since 1989 when she left home to attend the University of Montevallo. After graduation in 1993, Anderson moved to Tuscaloosa to obtain a master's degree in American Studies.
While there, she became involved in rural community school and development work with the PACERS Small Schools Cooperative. As Community Celebration and Documentation Coordinator for PACERS for four years, Anderson traveled the state's two-lane roads and learned about the labor, social and political history of Alabama.
She also found a husband--a coworker who supported her when she decided to obtain another degree and research the civil rights movement in her hometown.
In 2002, Anderson completed a master's degree in history/public history at the University of West Georgia. Throughout that year, she also worked full-time as a volunteer on attorney Stephen Black's campaign to become Alabama State Treasurer.
Married to Opp native Will Anderson since 1998, Laura resides with Will, their dog and two cats in Birmingham's Crestwood South neighborhood.
Her current full-time position is that of assistant archivist at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute where since 2003 she has engaged in collections development and research, reference work with scholars and students, public outreach, exhibition development, and maintenance of the BCRI website.
JASPER CAMPUS
The Alabama A&M University Gospel Choir will perform for Bevill State-Jasper’s Black History Program on Tuesday, February 24 at noon in Rowland Auditorium on the Jasper campus. The Choir has performed nationwide and has been invited to participate in a music tour of Germany in May 2009. The program is free and open to the public.
