Author Anne Bailey to Address 23rd Annual Unity Breakfast Jan. 18

Anne Bailey

Anne Bailey PHOTO CREDIT: BU Magazine/Casey Staff

Dr. Anne Bailey, author of The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History, will address the 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:30 a.m. in Muskegon Community College’s Collegiate Hall.

A limited number of tickets for the general public are on sale for $25 per person at MCC Bookstore on the main campus. Reserved tables of eight can be purchased by calling (231) 777-0569. The annual event celebrates the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and seeks to build understanding in the community.

Bailey’s book demonstrates the resilience of African American families by showing how the memories of slavery have shaped people’s lives today. Using the auction event as the focal point, The Weeping Time is a compelling and nuanced narrative of one of the most pivotal eras in American history and how its legacy persists today.

Bailey is a writer, historian, and a professor of History and Africana Studies at SUNY Binghamton. In her work, she combines the elements of travel, adventure, history, and an understanding of contemporary issues with an accessible style. Her works range from adult non-fiction to children’s historical fiction, and include African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame, (Beacon Press, 2005) and You Can Make A Difference: The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. (Bantam/Doubleday/Dell) Her newest book, The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History, was published by Cambridge University Press in October, 2017.

Copies of her book are available at the MCC Bookstore ahead of the event and the author will do a book signing immediately following the keynote address.

At 10 a.m., following the breakfast, the next installment of the Community Gathering Initiative will be held in MCC’s Stevenson center Room 1200. The event is free and open to the public. Community Gatherings have been held throughout 2018 to allow community conversation to create shared learning and meaning, exploring issues of diversity and inclusion in a new way. Facilitators will be reflecting on Bailey’s thoughts on the legacy of slavery and their impact locally today.

Bailey earned a Ph.D. and a M.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. degree from Harvard University.

Internationally, Bailey was invited to speak at the United Nations on the occasion of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. She shared her research, writing and other professional experiences with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are affiliated with the United Nations. In so doing, she was able to honor the lives and contributions of enslaved black Americans and others in the African Diaspora.

For more information on the Unity Breakfast, call (231) 777-0569 or visit www.muskegoncc.edu/unity.