The University of Tennessee at Martin 21<sup>st</sup> annual Civil Rights Conference, themed “Power, Protest and Privilege: Examining the Fractured State of America,” begins Feb. 2 with guest speaker Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni, an internationally known poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator, will present her lecture “Tennessean by Birth; Poet by Choice” at 7 p.m.

The speech will be livestreamed on the UT Martin Facebook (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/utmartin">facebook.com/utmartin</a>) and YouTube (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/utmartin">youtube.com/utmartin</a>) accounts.

Giovanni has taught as a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech since 1987 and is the author of more than two dozen books, including volumes of poetry, illustrated children’s books and three collections of essays. Giovanni was voted No. 1 poet for the spring of 2007 by the Academy of American Poets and prides herself on being “a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.”

The 21<sup>st</sup> annual Civil Rights Conference will also feature livestreamed presentations by Jarrod Benjamin, Feb. 16; Van Jones; Feb. 18; and Dr. Robin DiAngelo and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Feb. 23.

For more information about the Civil Rights Conference, contact Anthony Prewitt, co-interim director of student life and multicultural affairs, at <a href="mailto:aprewitt@utm.edu">aprewitt@utm.edu</a> or visit the conference website at <a href="http://www.utm.edu/civilrights">utm.edu/civilrights</a>.
<p style="text-align: center;">###</p>