COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 17, 2005) – Tennessee Tech University will celebrate the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth this month by presenting a free public performance by renowned African-American storyteller Shindana Cooper.

A Center Stage event co-sponsored by TTU’s Minority Affairs Office, Cooper’s presentation, titled “Martin’s Story,” is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the Multipurpose Room of the Roaden University Center.

The performance will highlight King’s childhood in Atlanta, giving audience members a glimpse of the pivotal, formative events that shaped the man he would become.

As a storyteller and poet, Cooper is dedicated to raising awareness of African and African-American community through her presentations, which perpetuate the centuries-old tradition of oral history.

Some of her other characterizations include Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod and Harriet Tubman.

Cooper has been a featured performer at Baltimore’s Afram Expo, Baltimore’s Artscape Celebration and the National Catholic’s Conference for Interracial Justice in Washington, D.C.

She recently produced her own radio program, “Keepers of the Culture,” for Baltimore’s WCCN and is hosting a television special, “Stories from ‘Round the World.”

--Tracey LeFevre
This information posted 19 January 2006