WASHINGTON – The 2021-2022 Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy Lecture Series, chaired by political strategist and author Donna Brazile, returned Wednesday, November 10 at 5 p.m. EDT online via YouTube. This year's series is themed “Make the Future Your Own: Building Forward Together.” 

The third virtual event, entitled “Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America,” will host approximately 20 students for the discussion recorded live in WHUT studios. Brazile will be joined by Keith Boykin, a New York Times bestselling author and CNN political commentator, along with Ravi Perry, Ph.D., chair of Howard University's Department of Political Science.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Boykin has taught at the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University in New York and at American University in Washington, D.C. He is co-founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition and a Lambda Literary Award-winning author of four books.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Boykin has lived in 12 cities, visited 48 states and traveled the world. Boykin co-hosted the BET Networks talk show “My Two Cents,” starred on the Showtime reality television series “American Candidate,” worked as an associate producer of the film “Dirty Laundry,” and appeared on numerous TV shows, including BET’s “Being Mary Jane.”

Ravi K. Perry, Ph.D., joined the Department of Political Science at Howard University in August 2019 as chair and professor. Perry holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Brown University, each in political science. An expert on Black politics, minority representation, and LGBT candidates of color, Perry is the editor of 21st Century Urban Race Politics: Representing Minorities as Universal Interests, a book that discusses the efforts of African American, Latino and Asian mayors to represent the interests of minorities in historically White cities in the United States.

Perry is past president of the Association for Ethnic Studies and a member of the Executive Council for the Urban Politics Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. Perry is a former member of the Executive Council for the Sexuality and Politics Organized Section of the American Political Science Association and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Previously, Perry was also a member of the Board of Directors and Affiliate Equity Officer for the ACLU of Mississippi and was also one of the first openly gay branch presidents of color in the history of the NAACP in Worcester, Massachusetts.  

In his limited spare time in the District, Perry, a Ward 7 resident and member of the Metropolitan AME Church, enjoys playing tennis and volunteering. Perry is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Perry is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including being recognized as one of the Andrew Goodman Foundation's 50 “Hero Citizens,” Out Magazine’s “Hidden 105” and The Advocate's “193 Reasons to Have Pride,” and “40 under 40.”

To register for the King Lecture Series on November 10, click here.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Aaliyah Butler; aaliyah.butler@howard.edu