As part of Unity through Diversity week, C.T. Vivian, chairman of Black Action Strategies and Information, Inc. (BASIC), will speak on ethnicity.

The speech is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28 in Cole Hall 100.

Vivian’s presentation is sponsored by the African Student Union. The talk is co-sponsored by the Black Student Union, B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S., the Center for Black Studies and the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Vivian is the board chairman for BASIC, which is located in Atlanta, Ga. It is the parent organization for many human rights movements.

BASIC funds, or helps to fund, organizations which are involved in the development of religious, cultural, educational and human rights movements.

The organization was designed to solve sociological problems and better conditions between the races.

Vivian was a member of the civil rights movement since its inception. He served on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s executive staff and was directly supervised by him. Vivian was involved in six non-violent movements while serving with King.

Vivian also started the prototype for Alabama’s Upward Bound program. In Vivian’s program, he found scholarships for 700 previously unqualified Blacks and placed them in colleges across the country.

In 1984, Vivian became the National Director for Clergy for Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid. Jackson chose him to organize, teach and motivate ministers in every state.

The lecturer has spoken in Africa, Japan, Israel, Holland and the Phillippines.

Besides being the chairman for BASIC, Vivian heads several units of the organization. Two of these units are Urban Potential and Basic Attitudes. Urban Potential holds workshops and seminars on how to effectively deal with individual and institutional racism. Basic Attitudes provides motivational materials and courses for the poor.

Vivian is the author of Black Power and the American Myth. The book tries to explain the human and social dynamics involved in the human rights movement. It also explains the effects of strategy, history and group pressures on Black/White interaction.

In the film, “From Montgomery to Memphis,” Vivian was given the key supporting role where he was asked to illustrate non-violent direct action.

Vivian was recently awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, from the New School for Social Research. The school cited him for his past involvement with the human rights movement.

He also has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, where he gave a two-part seminar on race and ethnicity.

Vivian is married to Octavia Geans Vivian. She is the author of Coretta, the only biography of Mrs. King. It has been translated into two other languages.