Rapper, Activist to Discuss Justice System for MLK Day: Your Week

Author, educator and activist Angela Davis and hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco will visit Lehigh at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Baker Hall at the Zoellner Arts Center, in celebration of the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Doors will open at 6:15 p.m.

The conversation will focus on current civil rights challenges, especially the criminal justice system. Their visit will be moderated by James Peterson, director of Africana Studies at Lehigh, professor of English and a frequent contributor to MSNBC.

Davis first achieved fame in the 1960s as a prominent, outspoken activist on issues related to social justice and equality. The author of eight books and a sought-after lecturer, she has spent the past 15 years at the University of California Santa Cruz, where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of history of consciousness, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, and feminist studies. 

A Grammy-nominated artist, Lupe Fiasco has been praised for philosophical, sharp and dynamic lyrics. Once named one of GQ Magazine’s “Man of the Year” and Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Artist to Watch,” his work has received critical and commercial acclaim. 

Here’s what else is going on in Bethlehem this week:

• Bethlehem Township commissioners meet in a regular session at 7 p.m. Monday in the municipal building.

• Navigate health care insurance reforms under Obamacare with a qualified guide at the Bethlehem Area Public Library. Health insurance marketplace, timelines for implementation, Medicaid expansion, and essential health benefits packages will be presented at a program at the Main Library, 11 W. Church Street, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. My Lien Nguyen, a certified trainer from the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, is the speaker.

• Warm up at a Winter Luau at the Bethlehem Area Public Library’s first Family Fun Night of the new year at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. All ages. Enjoy Hawaiian crafts and island stories and games. No registration is required.

• Bethlehem City Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Town Hall.

• The Bethlehem Area Public Library has received an astonishing amount of donations for its first book sale of 2014. The book sale will be open to the public from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Classics to bestsellers, along with movies and music will be available. This sale features the American West, gardening books, and guides and journals for writers. Most credit cards are accepted. Parking is available in the garage after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and all day Saturday. All proceeds benefit the Library.

• The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, 675 E. Broad St., will hold an Open House at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The program begins at 6:30 p.m.  Reservations are not required. In the case of inclement weather, visit the school's website for cancellation or postponement information, www.CharterArts.org.  The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, opened in 2003, is an audition-based, free, public charter high school where students major in theater, dance, vocal music, instrumental music, visual art or figure skating. 

• The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Town Hall.

• The Associated Mess, the Lehigh Valley’s premiere short-form improv comedy troupe makes one of its regular appearances at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Fowler Blast Furnace Room in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Tickets are $8, less for students, seniors and ArtsQuest members.