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Keynote Speakers
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This year's convention featured the following prominent keynote speakers:
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Juan Williams
National Political Correspondent/Author
Juan Williams is one of America’s leading political writers and thinkers. He is the senior correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), a political analyst for Fox Television, and a regular panelist for FoxNews Sunday. In addition to prize-winning columns and editorial writing for the Washington Post, he has also written six books. His most recent book, My Soul Looks Back in Wonder, presents stirring, eyewitness accounts of history-making movements for black, Hispanic, and women’s rights, as well as other successes with creating a better America. Previous books include the nonfiction bestseller Eyes On The Prize and the critically acclaimed biography Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, which the New York Times selected as a notable book of the year. Time magazine described American Revolutionary as a “magisterial” work of American history, and the book was reissued in 2004 with a new epilogue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education decision. Williams's other books include I’ll Find a Way or Make One, A History of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and This Far By Faith, a history of the black religious experience in America—which was accompanied by a six-part PBS series. This year, Random House will release his much anticipated sixth book, Enough—The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America—and What We Can Do About It.
As one of the nation’s most influential journalist, Williams is in constant contact with American political leaders from the president to members of Congress and the Supreme Court. His understanding of American history and his inside-access to Washington politics gives Williams a unique and informed voice as an analyst of current events. In 2000, NPR selected Williams to host their afternoon talk show, Talk of The Nation, and in two years he brought the show’s ratings to record heights. His daring perspectives on American politics, race, and culture are based on his historical understanding, political expertise, and knowledge of diversity.
Prior to writing best sellers, Williams was a political columnist and national correspondent for the Washington Post. In a 21-year career at the Post, he served as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House correspondent. Williams has won several journalism awards for his writing and investigative reporting and has also won an Emmy Award for TV documentary writing. He was given widespread, critical acclaim for a series of documentaries including Politics—The New Black Power. Williams's documentary on A. Phillip Randolph was featured on PBS.
Because of Williams’s expertise, the president’s commission chose him as the keynote speaker at the start of the Smithsonian Museum’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Williams was also selected as the first speaker for CSPAN’s 2003 nationally televised series, Students and Leaders. Williams is renowned as an expert moderator, and his evenhanded view of American politics, diversity in the workplace, and changing American demographics have made him an ideal host for debates and seminars.
As senior correspondent for NPR’s Morning Edition and host of America’s Black Forum, a nationally syndicated weekly news program, Williams is at the cutting edge of America’s culture and politics.
Monday, June 6, 2006
Hector Cantú
Journalist and Co-Creator/Writer of the comic strip Baldo
Hector Cantú is all about Latino youth. He is an award-winning journalist and co-creator/writer of the newspaper comic strip Baldo, syndicated nationally by Universal Press Syndicate. He is co-executive producer of the Baldo TV show, currently in development at Paloma Productions, and author of two Baldo books: The Lower You Ride, The Cooler You Are and Night of the Bilingual Telemarketers.
The comic strip's lead characters are quickly working their way onto the American pop culture stage, from car-crazy teen Baldo and college-obsessed sister Gracie to tradition-conscious Dad and lottery-playing Tia Carmen. Through sophisticated, gentle humor, Cantú brings a different perspective to daily comic pages, offering a peek into the daily lives of a Latino family.
The comic strip appears in 200 daily and Sunday newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Daily News, and the Houston Chronicle. Baldo is Universal Press Syndicate's fourth most-successful comic strip launch, after The Boondocks, For Better or For Worse, and Calvin and Hobbes.
In addition to his work on this successful comic, Cantú is an editor at Quick, a daily news tabloid in Dallas that targets young readers. He was managing editor of Hispanic Business magazine and previously wrote a newspaper column for Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service that examined business and marketing issues in Hispanic America. Cantú has also worked with other artists to bring various characters to life, including for a line of vending machine stickers for Cutting Edge Industries in California.
Cantú has appeared on CNN, NPR, and the nationally syndicated television special, Hispanic America: The Year in Review. Quoted by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, he is an expert on the U.S. Hispanic market.
