McCoy Center for the Arts welcomes award-winning journalist, Michele Norris, Thursday, March 8

Feb. 22, 2012 - PRLog -- Michele Norris:
The Grace of Silence and the Power of Words

Part of the McCoy Center Lecture Series, Misconceptions and Realities of Race
Thursday, March 8, 7PM

New Albany, OH – The Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts (100 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., New Albany) is pleased to welcome award-winning journalist and co-host of NPR’s longest running national program, All Things Considered, Michele Norris, on Thursday, March 8 at 7PM. Michele Norris will appear as part of the McCoy Center’s Lecture Series, Misconceptions and Realities of Race which features dynamic speakers whose life experiences and research have given them their own viewpoints on the realities of racism.

Michele Norris will present “The Grace of Silence and the Power of Words.” Norris's 2010 book, The Grace of Silence, started out as a quest to uncover how America talked about race in the wake of the Obama presidential election. What resulted was what Norris calls an "accidental memoir." Named one of the year's best books by The Christian Science Monitor, the book became an eye-opening family history lesson revealing her own family's racial legacy and the larger conversation surrounding race in America. The book has also led to the spinoff blog, "The Race Card Project," and a deeper look at our attitudes and beliefs about race.

Before coming to NPR, Norris was a correspondent for ABC News, a post she held from 1993 - 2002. As a contributing correspondent for the “Closer Look” segments on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Norris reported extensively on education, inner city issues, the nation's drug problem, and poverty. A four-time Pulitzer Prize entrant, Norris has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2010 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for she and co-host Steve Inskeep’s program, “The York Project: Race and the 2008 Vote”; the 2009 Journalist of the Year award from the National Association of Black Journalists; the National Association of Black Journalists' 2006 Salute to Excellence Award, for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina; the University of Minnesota's Outstanding Achievement Award; and the 1990 Livingston Award.

Misconceptions and Realities of Race is presented in collaboration with the COSI limited-engagement exhibition RACE: Are We So Different?, showing January 28-May 6.

Looking through the lens of history, science and personal experience, the RACE Exhibit at COSI explores the similarities and differences among people and explains the realities of race. Told through interactive exhibit components, historical artifacts, iconic objects, compelling photographs, and multimedia presentations, RACE offers visitors a revealing look at this important subject. See this groundbreaking limited-engagement exhibit at COSI and add your voice to the conversation that will bring our community closer together. Free with COSI admission. Visit cosi.org for hours of operation.

Michele Norris will appear at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, located at 100 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. in New Albany, on Thursday, March 8 at 7PM. Tickets are $7 for adults. Students may attend the lectures for free, but must reserve a ticket in advance. For tickets or additional information, please visit the McCoy Center Website at www.mccoycenter.org or call 614.245.4701 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).

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