February 17, 2016
 

Black History Month Panel Recognizes Diversity in North Dakota
 

BISMARCK - The public is invited to “Living Black History in Bismarck and Beyond,” a Sensational Sunday event in observance of Black History Month, at 2 p.m. Feb. 21 at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, Bismarck.
 
A panel of three North Dakota residents, Henry Blakes, Bobby Harper, and Rochelle Williams, will join us for a candid conversation about race with the moderator and the audience. The presentation will include a slideshow of historical photographs. Refreshments will be provided following the event, along with an opportunity to speak with the panelists.
 
Blakes is a meteorologist at KFYR-TV and a Bismarck resident. Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he holds degrees in physics from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge and in meteorology from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.

Bobby Harper is a resident of Leith, North Dakota. He will discuss his experience following an attempted takeover by white supremacists of his rural town in 2012.
 
Rochelle Williams, a Los Angeles native, moved to Bismarck in 2006. She is an employment training coordinator at Experience Works and sits on the board of directors of the North Dakota Women's Network. A member of Bismarck Toastmasters since 2007, Williams has been married to Grassy Butte native Dana Orf since 2000.
 
“Living Black History in Bismarck and Beyond” is co-hosted by the Bismarck Human Relations Committee and the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and is part of the State Historical Society’s Sensational Sundays programs. Sensational Sundays are free programs sponsored by the State Historical Society that include a variety of lectures, concerts, movies, and tours that provide engaging, educational, historic, and cultural information.

For more information contact Erik Holland, State Historical Society curator of education, at 701.328.2792, or contact the Bismarck Human Relations Committee at 701.355.1306. Find a calendar of upcoming State Historical Society events at history.nd.gov.

-30-

CONTACT
Erik Holland, 701.328.2792

See More News Releases