Brown, Feist-Price and Harley

On the next Connections with Renee Shaw, Renee welcomes a panel of guests from the University of Kentucky to discuss the upcoming annual Black Women's Conference and current issues affecting African-American women. Panel members are Tamara Brown, associate professor of clinical psychology; Sonja Feist-Price, director of the university's African American Studies and Research Program and Debra Harley, chair of the Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling department.

The program airs Friday, March 20 at 4/3 p.m. CT on KET2 and Sunday, March 22 at 1:30/12:30 p .m. CT on KET1.

First, the group talks about the theme of this year's conference, "Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Black Women in Correctional Settings." They argue that black women are disproportionately represented in the correctional system and often receive much harsher sentences than white offenders. The panel members also contend that black women behind bars are an underserved group, often suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues, who need assistance and treatment in order to successfully return to their communities.

Then, the professors discuss the current status of black women's wages; health, including a growing AIDS epidemic; and roles in academia. They also talk about their own work at UK, stressing the importance of finding practical community applications for their academic research.

Connections with Renee Shaw is a KET production, produced by Shaw and Carolyn Gwinn. More information about Connections, including streaming video, is available at www.ket.org/connections.