The Great Debate Honor Society is sponsoring a Founder’s Day Celebration of the 37th Anniversary of the Great Debate Productions and 30th Anniversary of the Great Debate Honor Society. The public policy issue for this Virtual Great Debate is “Black Colleges need Reparations and Africana Studies Departments to overcome decades of arrested development and cultural alienation.” This Virtual Great Debate will be held on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CST.
The Great Debate was founded at Tennessee State University by Dr. Amiri Yasin Al-Hadid in the fall of 1985. Historically, the “Great Debate” has served as an intellectual and cultural forum for debating current issues from the perspectives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) and a Synthesis of these two perspectives.
The “Great Debate” echoes traditional debates such as the Frederick Douglass and Henry H. Garnet debates (1840’s), Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois debates (1890’s – 1910’s), as well as the historic “Lincoln Douglass Debates” on slavery between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas in 1858.
The contestants for the Virtual Great Debate this February are Prairie View A&M University, representing the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. perspective; Tennessee State University, representing the El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz perspective; and Cheyney University, representing the Synthesis perspective, in thistimely and inportant public policy Great Debate.
Confirmed Great Debate Judges are Attorney Zulu Ali, Imam Zaid Shakir, Kenniss Henry, Yvette Moyo, Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, Diamond Stewart, John B. Wiggins, Dr. Raymond Arnold Winbush, and RaCarol Woodard. Debaters for the TSU team are Maya McClary, Sanae Chestnut, and Christian Johnson. Debaters for the Cheyney team are Harold Mitchel, Adam Hansen, and Amir Curry. The debaters from Prairie View will be named soon, as they are filling in for a team from Howard University who had to withdraw due to the impact of COVID protocols at their institution.
Moderators for the 2022 Virtual Great Debate are Jamila H. Tyrrell, Kelli X, and Rico X. Jamila H. Tyrrell is the current President of the Great Debate Honor Society; she is an alumnae of Tennessee State University (B.S. Africana Studies) and University of Phoenix (MBA Global Management). Jamila lives in East Nashville, with her husband Jamal and their 5 children, twins Hadiyah and Saidia, Aqeel, Kamaria, and Nailah. Kelli X is the Pastor of The Village Church, an African centered Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation in Madison, TN; she earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2002 from Tennessee State University and a Master of Divinity in 2012 from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Rico X is a proud graduate of Tennessee State University, with a B.S. in Africana Studies, and a Master in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. Rev. X has been happily married to Rico X for over 19 years, and together they share two amazing children, Kijani and Asatira.
The “Great Debate” is designed to develop intellectual skills and increase cultural awareness, to catapult students into leadership positions in student government associations, greek-lettered organizations, social and professional organizations and in the community at-large at universities and other institutions in order to further “connect the campus to the community and the community to the world” while promoting the highest cultural, intellectual, philosophical and spiritual principles of leadership for the entire community to enjoy.
The Great Debate has developed into a noble society with honor known as The Great Debate Honor Society, which is rooted in the cultural principles of the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles of the Traditional African Value System, and the ancient Egyptian concept of Ma’at – Truth, Balance, Order, Law, Morality, and Justice. The Nguzo Saba are celebrated annually during the seven days of Kwanzaa: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).
For further information please go to the website www.GreatDebateUniverse.com
