For immediate release: January 21, 2009

BLOOMSBURG — Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania will host a student forum, "Hope and Change: Fulfilling Our Greatest Possibilities," and a speaker, M.K. Asante, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, as part of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance. The events are free and open to the public.

The forum will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Center in Kehr Union. Asante's presentation is scheduled in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium, at 7 p.m. His topic is "Power, Change and Social Transformation: A New Generation of Political Thought."

Asante is a 26-year-old professor of creative writing and screenwriting at Morgan State University, Baltimore. He is an award-winning author who the Los Angeles Times labeled "one of America's best storytellers." His books include "Like Water Running Off My Back" and "It's Bigger Than Hip Hop." In addition, Asante wrote, directed and produced the movies "The Black Candle," narrated by poet Maya Angelou, and "500 Years Later," which was filmed in more than 20 countries and chronicles the path from enslavement to freedom.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Observance will feature the Frederick Douglass Learning Community, which promotes academic excellence and enhances BU students' understanding and appreciation of diversity. Event sponsors are the Office of Social Equity, the Multicultural Center, the Black Cultural Society, the Black History Committee, the Board of Governors Scholars Program and the Gospel Choir.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 8,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Professional Studies, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.