The venue for the “Race Matters Continuing Conversation” for the Greenbrier Valley and the Alleghany Highlands has been moved to the Kyle and Ann Fort Arts and Science Building on the Greenbrier Valley Campus of New River Community and Technical College, still slated for Nov. 10-11. Seating is still available at $25 for the two-day event with the registration fee including the cost of the reception on Nov. 10 and the lunch on Nov. 11. The Rev. Nelson Staples, current senior pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Beckley, has been selected as the additional keynote speaker for the program which is open to the public. Rev. Staples has been involved in various civil rights issues and has lectured at a variety of colleges on the Civil Rights and the plight of African Americans and the plight of women in the history of America. He has served on panels with Attorney Generals Janet Reno and Eric Holder and noted Civil Rights activist, Harry Belafonte. He has served on boards of directors statewide for Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Public Broadcasting Service, and in Raleigh County for the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA; the WV Fellowship Home, a refuge for the homeless and substance abusers; Raleigh County Women’s Resource Center, a shelter for battered women and victims of domestic abuse; the Beckley Med-Surg group and the WV advisory group for the US Commission on Civil Rights. In addition to Rev. Staples, the speakers will include Crystal Good, a writer and poet who considers her work to be “Affrilatchian” as she searches for “good ideas to move WV forward” and Michelle Foster of Charleston, a leader with the Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action. To reserve a seat, telephone 304-645-5620, the office of the Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation Inc., an organization that has joined the New River Community and Technical College as major sponsors for this continuation of the “conversation started at the “Race Matters Conference” held earlier in Charleston. The program includes an opening reception 5-6 p.m. Nov. 10 and discussion 6-8 p.m. and discussion and luncheon Nov. 11, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
