KSI English Speaking Community Itón Blog Column…

THE KSI JEWISH LITERATURE BOOK CLUB IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE ITS MAY 12, 2016 MEETING WITH RENOWN PANAMANIAN AUTHOR AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST

Melva Lowe De Goodin

The Book Club: Living as a Jew in the Caribbean and Latin America will be having a discussion with this distinguished and highly respected Panamanian author and community activist who will share with us insights on her book:

People of African Ancestry in Panama 1501-2012

The evening of Thursday, May 12, 2016.

Accompanying Melva will be members of the Society of Friends of the West Indian Museum (SAMAAP) of which she is a co-founder.

This evening will be an opportunity for dialogue and sharing between Jewish and Afro-Caribbean community members.

About our guest:

“Melva Lowe De Goodin is a professor and playwright who has almost single-handedly begun the most recent movement for Afro-Panamanian cultural awareness in her native Panama. After an extensive education in the United States, and years spent living in the U.S., Africa, and elsewhere, Lowe de Goodin returned to the isthmus and founded several important community organizations, such as the Panama chapter of TESOL (Organization of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and SAMAAP, an organization dedicated to saving the Afro-Antillano Museum of Panama as well as to community education about Afro-Panamanians’ rich heritage and invaluable social contributions to Panamanian society at large. 

Melva’s message to the youth that “language empowers the people who speak it” is important because of its call for the celebration of one’s native tongue, as well as for its encouragement of young people’s speaking out against injustice and for human rights. Indeed, as both a community leader and a role model, Melva Lowe de Goodin’s story provides a wonderful example of the joys of a life dedicated to social change.” (Voices of America, Vanderbilt University: http://www.voicesamerica.org/content/melva-lowe-de-goodin)

 A Link to a brief self-introduction by Melva)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEI8Jym-kA0 

Limited numbers of her book are still available at the cost of $15.00.

If you wish to RSVP to attend, purchase a book and/or receive the time and place of the meeting, please contact Robert Jacobvitz at Robert.jacobvitz@sbcglobal.net