Souljah leads off speaker series

Hip-Hop’s best selling author, activist, recording artist and film producer Sister Souljah will be the first speaker in Southern’s Chancellor’s Lecture Series Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union’s Royal Cotillion Ballroom.
The series is free and open to the public.
Souljah is best known for her books “The Coldest Winter Ever” in 2004 and the prequel “Midnight: A Gangster Love Story” in 2008. Midnight hit the New York Times Best Seller charts at No. 7 within its first week out. In 1992, Souljah’s memoir “No Disrespect” came out and in the same year she released a CD entitled “360 Degrees of Power.” The tracks sparked international debate over issues of race, culture, sexism and politics.
While attending Rutgers University and earning her degree in American history and African studies, Souljah traveled the world helping build medical centers, worked with refugee children from Mozambique and participated in the international student anti-apartheid movement.
She has been a featured speaker at the Million Woman March, appeared on “Oprah,” “Larry King Live” and the cover of “Newsweek” magazine.
The lecture series, in its third year, was created by Chancellor Kofi Lomotey and has brought speakers such Spike Lee, Iyanla Vanzant, Dr. Cornel West and former Essence Magazine Editor Susan Taylor to the SU campus.
Other scheduled speakers for the 2010-2011 series include the Rev. Al Sharpton, Bennett College for Women President Julianne Malveaux and former Spelman and Bennett president Johnetta Cole.