Providence, RI - Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of African American Studies and Sociology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, will be the keynote speaker at Providence College's Annual Black History Banquet on Saturday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m. in Slavin Center '64 Hall on campus.  The banquet, sponsored by the College's Balfour Center for Multicultural Affairs, will be a celebration of the history of and cultural contributions to American music by African Americans. The theme is "Making a Joyful Noise: Power and Provocation of African-American Music."

Gilkes' research, teaching, and writing have focused on the role of African-American women in generating social change and on the diverse roles of black, Christian women in the 20th century. She is the author of If It Wasn't for the Women: Black Women's Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2001). She has published in several social science and religious studies journals and is writing another book, That Blessed Book: The Bible and the African American Cultural Imagination.

An ordained Baptist minister, Gilkes has lectured and presented papers extensively at colleges, universities, and scholarly conferences in the United States, Canada, Germany, England, and South Africa.

Gilkes claims membership in numerous sociological and religious societies, including the American Sociological Association, and was the organizer and first convener of the Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Consultation, a sub-group of the American Academy of Religion. She also hosts a weekly gospel music program, "The Uncloudy Day," on Colby College's radio station.

The banquet also will feature African-American cuisine and several musical performances. Tickets, which are $12, may be purchased until Friday, February 20. For more information, call the Balfour Center at 401-865-2738.

--30--