About Misty CopelandThe Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Librar y is excited to host a conversation with trailblazing and award-winning le aders in the performing arts\, entertainment\, and tech\, featuring baller ina and New York Times Best-selling author Misty Copeland\, with her lates t book \;The Wind at My Back\; Melonie D. Parker\, Chief Diversity Off icer at Google\; and Phylicia Rashad\, renowned actress and Dean of the Ch adwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. This conversa tion will explore the importance of mentorship as you build your career no matter what field you choose\, as well as what it means to use your exper iences and platform to bring about change for future generations. \;Le arn more \;from these esteemed speakers\, and have a chance to buy Mis ty's newest book. Register to reserve your seat.
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About Misty Copeland
Misty Copeland is a Principal Dancer with Amer ican Ballet Theatre\, the first Black woman to be promoted to the position \;in the company's 75-year history in 2015. She has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles\, including Odette/Odile in \; Swan Lake\; Juliet in \;Romeo &\; Juliet\; Giselle\; Manon\; Coppel ia\; Kitri in \;Don Quixote\; and \;Firebird\, to name a few.
\ nShe is the \;New York Times \;bestselling author of several bo oks\, including \;Life In Motion\, \;Ballerina Body\, \;Black Ballerinas\, \;The Wind At My Back\, and picture books titled \;Bu nheads \;and \;Firebird.
\nMisty \;is an avid philanthro pist and in 2022\, she launched The Misty Copeland Foundation\, with its f irst signature program BE BOLD\, which aims to bring greater diversity\, e quity and inclusion to dance\, especially ballet.
\nMisty's producti on company\, Life In Motion Productions\, \;is focused on \;offeri ng representative stories of a wide range of artists. Her first \;inde pendently produced project\, \;Flower\, is a silent arts activism film using dance to help raise awareness about \;intergenerational equity and the homelessness crisis. \;
\n\;Misty has been awarded Glamour Women of the Year\, Time 100 and Black Girls Rock! awards. In 2021 \, Misty received the Spingarn Medal\, the NAACP&rsquo\;s highest honor.\n
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About Melonie D. Parker \;
\nAs Vice P resident and Chief Diversity Office at Google\, Melonie D. Parker is respo nsible for leading strategies\, practices and approaches for a more equita ble\, inclusive and accessible company where everyone belongs. She is an i nnovative C-suite thought leader and DEI strategist who is passionate abou t people and organizations that make substantive and sustainable impact. A s the driver of Google&rsquo\;s racial equity commitments\, Parker works w ith academic institutions that build pathways to tech and also partners wi th institutions and organizations to spearhead trailblazing research. \;
\nPrior to Google\, Parker served as the Vice President of Human Resources &\; Communication at Sandia National Laboratories\, the first Black woman to have the role\, and as Human Resources Director at Lockhee d Martin where she graduated from its Executive Assessment and Development program&mdash\;a rare achievement for women of color and human resources professionals. \;
\nNamed to Savoy Magazine&rsquo\;s 2023 Most I nfluential Executives in Diversity &\; Inclusion\, recognized by the Ha mpton University Alumni Association\, and presented with a Sisters with Su perpowers award presented by Rolling Out UrbanStyle Weekly\, Parker holds a B.A. in Mass Communications from Hampton University and an M.A. in Human Resources from Villanova University.
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About Phylicia Rashad
An accomplished actor and st age director\, Phylicia Rashad became a household name when she portrayed Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show\, a character whose enduring appeal has earned her numerous honors and awards. She has appeared in NBC&rsquo\;s Th is Is Us\, in the popular Fox TV series Empire\, and in Tarrell Alvin McCr aney's Peabody Award-winning series David Makes Man\, on the OWN Network.< /p>\n
While television was a catalyst in the rise of Ms. Rashad's career \, she has also been a force on the stage\, appearing both on and Off Broa dway\, often in projects that showcase her musical talent such as Jelly's Last Jam\, Into the Woods\, Dreamgirls and The Wiz.
\nIn 2016\, Ms. Rashad was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and received the 2016 Lu cille
\nLortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for h er performance as Shelah in Tarell
\nAlvin McCraney's Head of Passes at the Public Theater. Ms. Rashad performed the role of the Duchess of Gl oucester in Richard II\, the 2020 Shakespeare on the Radio collaboration b etween The Public Theater and the New York public radio station\, WNYC.
\nOn Broadway\, Ms. Rashad has performed in Dominique Morriseau&rsquo\ ;s Skeleton Crew ( Tony and Drama Desk Awards)\, August Osage County\, Ten nessee Williams&rsquo\; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role that she reprised on the London stage)\, August Wilson&rsquo\;s Gem of The Ocean (Tony Award n omination) and in Shakespeare&rsquo\;s Cymbeline at Lincoln Center.
\n< p>Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actr ess in a Play for her riveting performance as Lena Younger in the 2004 Bro adway revival of Lorraine Hansberry&rsquo\;s A Raisin in The Sun.\nAmong Ms. Rashad&rsquo\;s film credits are Creed and Creed II\, Just Wrigh t\, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds\, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suici de When The Rainbow Is Enuf\, and the 2020 release\, A Fall From Grace. Re cent film projects include Black Box\, Soul\, and the Netflix holiday musi cal\, Jingle Jangle.
\nMs. Rashad made her critically acclaimed dire ctorial debut at the Seattle Repertory Theater with August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. She has also directed Stephen Adly Guirgis&rsquo\; Our Lady of 121st Street\, The Roommate\, Blues for an Alabama Sky\, Ma Rainey&rsquo\ ;s Black Bottom\, Joe Turner&rsquo\;s Come and Gone (2014 NAACP Theatre Aw ard for Best Director)\, Immediate Family\, Fences\, A Raisin in the Sun\, and Four Little Girls.
\nRespected in the academic world\, Ms. Rash ad was appointed Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at H oward University in May of 2021. She has conducted Master Classes at many colleges\, universities\, and arts organizations\, including Howard Univer sity\, New York University\, Carnegie Mellon\, The Black Arts Institute of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting\, and the prestigious Ten Chimneys Foun dation. Ms. Rashad is also the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Ch air in Theatre at Fordham University.
\nMs. Rashad&rsquo\;s commitme nt to excellence in the performing arts has been recognized by the numerou s colleges and universities that have presented her with Honorary Doctorat es.
\nMs. Rashad has also received countless esteemed awards\, inclu ding the BET Honors Theatrical Arts Award\, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's Spirit of Shakespeare Award\, and the Inaugural Legacy Award of the Ruben Santiago Hudson Fine Arts Learning Center.
\nShe also serves on seve ral important boards\, including Brainerd Institute Heritage (steering the restoration of Kumler Hall at the historic site of Brainerd Institute in Chester\, South Carolina) and DADA\, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.
\nSince 2017\, Ms. Rashad has been the Brand Ambassador of the National T rust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action F und.
\nPhylicia Rashad graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard Univers ity and is the mother of two adult children.
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About the Book
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From celebrated ballerina and New York Times bestselling author Misty Cop eland\, a heartfelt memoir about her friendship with trailblazer Raven Wil kinson which captures the importance of mentorship\, shared history\, and honoring the past to ensure a stronger future.
\nMisty Copeland made history as the first African-American principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre. Her talent\, passion\, and perseverance enabled her to ma ke strides no one had accomplished before. But as she will tell you\, achi evement never happens in a void. Behind her\, supporting her rise was her mentor Raven Wilkinson. Raven had been virtually alone in her quest to bre ach the all-white ballet world when she fought to be taken seriously as a Black ballerina in the 1950s and 60s. A trailblazer in the world of ballet decades before Misty&rsquo\;s time\, Raven faced overt and casual racism\ , hostile crowds\, and death threats for having the audacity to dance ball et.
\nThe Wind at My Back tells the story of two unapologetically Bl ack ballerinas\, their friendship\, and how they changed each other&mdash\ ;and the dance world&mdash\;forever. Misty Copeland shares her own struggl es with racism and exclusion in her pursuit of this dream career and honor s the women like Raven who paved the way for her but whose contributions h ave gone unheralded. She celebrates the connection she made with her mento r\, the only teacher who could truly understand the obstacles she faced\, beyond the technical or artistic demands.
\nA beautiful and wise mem oir of intergenerational friendship and the impressive journeys of two rem arkable women\, The Wind at My Back captures the importance of mentorship\ , of shared history\, and of respecting the past to ensure a stronger futu re.
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