[234]DESCENDANT OF DOUGLASS, WASHINGTON TO SPEAK AT MTSU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 11, 2008EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

DESCENDANT OF DOUGLASS, WASHINGTON TO SPEAK AT MTSU Murfreesboro and MTSU NAACP Chapters to Sponsor Annual MLK Brunch

(MURFREESBORO) – Kenneth B. Morris, president of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, will be the honored speaker at the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Brunch at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building.
Morris is the great-great-great grandson of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, one of America’s most brilliant orators and the first African-American nominated as a candidate for Vice President, and the great-great-grandson of pioneering educator and Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington. His maternal grandparents were Dr. Frederick Douglass III and Nettie Hancock Washington Douglass.
Following a career on the concert stage and in theatre productions, Morris and a partner founded C & A Marketing in 1990. The firm develops marketing programs for cruise lines and resort hotels. Its entertainment division has served such clients as Great West Life Assurance, London Life and the Autozone chain of auto parts stores. In addition to his duties at the Douglass Foundation, Morris serves on the boards of directors for Kaleidoscope Arts Factory, a non-profit performing arts organization for children, the Booker T. Washington Family Committee and the Africa Global Partnership, Inc.
Local heroes, heroines and humanitarians also will be recognized at the brunch, which is co-hosted by the Murfreesboro branch of the NAACP and the organization’s MTSU collegiate chapter. Sponsorships of this event are available at the Ewell Willis Bronze Level ($25-$100), the William Butler Silver Level ($101-$500), and the Jerry Anderson Gold Level ($501-up). Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students under 25 years of age. For more information, contact Dr. Barbara Knox at 615-275-9974 or bknox@mtsu.edu or any NAACP member.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color jpeg photo of Kenneth B. Morris, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.