GODFREY – Basketball legend and humanitarian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar headlined the 2017 Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities Foundation Annual Fundraising Dinner, Thursday, March 30, with a message about cooperation and understanding.
“We’d like to see some changes made that affect how Americans talk to each other and solve problems,” Abdul-Jabbar said, aligning with the tenets of the center, which encourage respect, dignity, understanding and forgiveness.
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Abdul-Jabbar and Channel 4 News’ Steve Savard were special guests at the second annual event, which raised funds to support Lewis and Clark Community College’s Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities.
Savard interviewed Abdul-Jabbar on stage about his life, basketball career, and much more.
The dinner program also featured speakers including MJCHF Executive Director Ed Hightower, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor and L&C alumnus Randy Pembrook, L&C President Dale Chapman and MJCHF President Mannie Jackson.
Jackson lauded the leadership and vision of Hightower and Chapman as catalysts to solving the country’s humanities crisis.
“We see the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities as a hub for programming and research that can affect positive social and environmental change on a local and global scale,” Chapman said. “We are in a unique position to tie our sense of place to our mission of empowering people toward overcoming human and environmental inequities.”
A former resident of Edwardsville, Jackson said the humanities crisis facing the nation will not be solved at the federal level, but locally, and that Edwardsville, through the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities, is uniquely positioned to create a model for how the entire country can move forward.
Prior to the main event, Abdul-Jabbar participated in a short question and answer session with local student athletes, where he stressed the importance of an education when following one’s dreams.
“Getting a complete education and being able to follow through on a career path is really a key for anybody to be successful,” he said. “For people who are disadvantaged, especially minorities, that’s a way out.”
“This year’s fundraiser focused on our youth – encouraging them to make good decisions regarding their education and to get involved with discussions around social issues that impact them now more than ever,” Hightower said. “Kareem addressed many of the issues confronting our youth today, from justice to education and career selection. We could not have been happier with this year’s program, and I want to thank our donors and guests for making it possible.”
The MJCHF is a 501 (c)(3) organization, which supports the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities, a division of Lewis and Clark. To learn more, visit www.mjchf.org orwww.lc.edu/manniejackson.
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