EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT Twenty-five years later:   the “Black English case”

ANN ARBOR—A two-day event will be held Oct. 1-2 to discuss a 25-year-old case in which African American students successfully sued Ann Arbor schools for discrimination, a lawsuit known as the “Black English case.” Participants will discuss their experiences during the trial and how it has affected them and their work since

EVENT: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Oct. 1, Auditorium 3, Modern Languages Building

812 E. Washington on U-M’s Central Campus. Map: http://www.umich.edu/news/ccamp.html. Free and open to the public.

TOPIC: “Revisiting the Ann Arbor King Trial,” a panel discussion including several key participants from the 1979 court case when the African American students at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School sued the Ann Arbor School District for unfairly discriminating against them in preparing curriculums. The judge ruled in the students’ favor.

PARTICIPANTS: Panel members include:

• Robin Thomas, teacher at Dicken Elementary in Ann Arbor. Her experiences during the trial led to her decision to become a teacher.

• William Labov, professor of linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Labov served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the King trial.

• Ken Lewis, partner at Plunkett & Cooney law firm. Lewis served as counsel for the plaintiffs in the King Trial.

• Geneva Smitherman, Michigan State University English professor. Smitherman was chief advocate and expert witness for the plaintiffs in the King trial.

• Ruth Zweifler, founder of the Ann Arbor Student Advocacy Center. Sweifler was an advocate for the plaintiffs in the King trial

• Nancy Francis, judge of the Washtenaw County Circuit Court will moderate.

EVENT:   5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 2, Auditorium 3, Modern Languages Building, 812 E. Washington on U-M’s Central Campus. Map: http://www.umich.edu/news/ccamp.html. Free and open to the public.

TOPIC: “Considering the Effects of the Ann Arbor King Trial for Sociolinguistics in Education” is a panel discussion to share thoughts on the effects of the King trial on their work today.

PARTICIPANTS: Panel members include:

• Richard W. Bailey, U-M professor of English. Bailey was an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the King trial.

• John Baugh and John Rickford, both of Stanford University. Both are prominent researchers on the role of language and ethnicity in education and both were involved in the 1997 Oakland controversy.

• Jerrie Scott, University of Memphis professor of instruction and curriculum. Scott was an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the King trial.

• Orlando Taylor, Howard University professor of communications and dean of Howard’s graduate school. Taylor is a prominent scholar in the field of language and education.

• Lesley Milroy, U-M professor of linguistics will moderate.

SPONSOR: U-M Department of Linguistics.