Dr. Timothy B. Tyson

“Blood Done Sign My Name”

N.C. native author to give special lecture

SANFORD – On Wednesday, September 21, Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) will host a special lecture event featuring author Dr. Timothy B. Tyson, who has penned three books and is working on his fourth.

His most recent title, “Blood Done Sign My Name,” was published in May 2004 by Crown Publishers and selected by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the 2005-2006 Summer Reading Program.

In the book Tyson recounts a racial murder committed in his hometown of Oxford, North Carolina in 1970 by the father of a childhood friend and the uprising that followed in the black community.

“ Blood Done Sign My Name” won a Christopher Award, the North Caroliniana Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will begin seating at 7:15 p.m. September 21 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. The lecture will run from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a book signing to follow.

The lecture will be preceded by music from gospel singer and recording artist Mary D. Williams. Awarded the 2004 Female Vocalist Prestige Award by the N.C. Gospel Announcers Guild, Williams’ voice has been described as reminiscent of Mahalia Jackson.

Tyson is professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, visiting professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture at the Duke Divinity School and senior scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. From 2004 through 2005, he served as the John Hope Franklin senior fellow at the National Humanities Center.

Tyson, married with two children, has a bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a master’s degree and doctorate from Duke University.

CCCC Foundation raffle tickets will also be on sale at the event for $5 apiece.  The raffle winner will receive the use of a two-bedroom luxury condo at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, N.C. November 19 through 26.  The drawing for the vacation package will be held at the conclusion of the Foundation Golf Classic at Quail Ridge Golf Course Wednesday, September 28.  Raffle tickets will also be on sale at CCCC libraries.  Call (919) 718-7332 for more details.

For more information on the lecture, contact CCCC Staff Development coordinator Karen H. Brown at (919) 718-7319.


Media Contact:
Benton Smith
Central Carolina Community College
(919) 718-7265
bsmith@cccc.edu