National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to Host Speak & Sign Series with Rochelle Riley
MEDIA CONTACT:
Will Jones
(513) 333-7558
(513) 288-4834
wjones@nurfc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CINCINNATI, OH (May 25, 2018) – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will host acclaimed columnist, Rochelle Riley, at the next Speak & Sign Series on Thursday, June 7 at 6:00 p.m. The program is in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Association of Black Journalists and Smith & Hannon Bookstore. The Speak & Sign Series gives authors the opportunity to engage with the public and have conversations about their work that include topics pertaining to social issues. The program is free and open to the public. RSVPs are requested.
Rochelle Riley is an award-winning columnist for the Detroit Free Press and also hosts a radio program on 910AM Superstation. She offers commentary and has been featured on multiple television outlets, Michigan NPR and Essence and Ebony magazines. Riley is the editor of The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery and also wrote the book’s opening essay. The Burden is a plea to America to understand what life post-slavery remains like for many African Americans, who are descended from people whose unpaid labor built this land, but have had to spend the last century and a half carrying the dual burden of fighting racial injustice and rising above the lowered expectations and hateful bigotry that attempt to keep them shackled to that past.
“The Burden is an incredibly powerful collection of insightful essays examining the legacy of slavery in the United States and its impact on everyday American life,” says Christopher Miller, Director of Education at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “We are honored to partner with the Greater Cincinnati Association of Black Journalists on our Speak & Sign Series and welcome Ms. Riley to Cincinnati for what is sure to be a thought-provoking community conversation.”
The Speak & Sign Series with acclaimed columnist Rochelle Riley is Thursday, June 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery from the Smith & Hannon Bookstore. This program is free and open to the public. RSVPs are requested. For more information and to RSVP, visit freedomcenter.org.
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, more than 1.3 million people have visited its permanent and changing exhibits and public programs, inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom. Two million people have utilized educational resources online at freedomcenter.org, working to connect the lessons of the Underground Railroad to inform and inspire today’s global and local fight for freedom. Partnerships include Historians Against Slavery, Polaris Project, Free the Slaves, US Department of State and International Justice Mission. In 2014, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center launched a new online resource in the fight against modern slavery, endslaverynow.org.