By Mike Manzoni
The University hosted a civil rights attorney who has won a University Peace Award for its kick-off event commemorating Black History month.
Frederick K. Brewington, a Hempstead civil rights attorney and advocate, spoke to a crowd of about 60 students and professors Monday night at an event that featured both discussion and student performances meant to educate attendees about the continuing struggle for civil rights.
“Tomorrow all of you will make a ‘momentous decision,’ Brewington said, referring to the primaries held on Super Tuesday, when 24 states held contests for the major parties to nominate a president.
Sponsored by the University’s Center for Civic Engagement, the appearance by Brewington at the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater was the first of 18 events that the University plans to host to mark the 32nd celebration of Black History Month.
“It’s not black history, it is not African-American history or Jewish history…it is American history,” Brewington said of the Civil Rights Movement. He added that by voting, students are able to “strike strongly at the weapons of racism, sexism and those who would talk about division.”
While Brewington’s speech placed emphasis on the civic involvement and the importance of voting, he also took time to address a high-profile court case in which he is the defense attorney.
Brewington spoke about John White, a Long Island man who was convicted for the manslaughter of a 17-year-old on the grounds of his Miller Place home in August 2006.
White, who is being defended by Brewington, was convicted on Dec. 22 for the manslaughter of Daniel Cicciaro Jr. Cicciaro, who, according to conflicting accounts, was killed after White shot him, or after the gun, a .32-caliber Beretta, discharged accidentally hitting him in the neck.
The fatal incident, which stemmed from a fight between Cicciaro and White’s son, Aaron, escalated to a one-on-one confrontation on the front steps of White’s eastern Long Island home.
Brewington compared the confrontation to “Mississippi Burning” and was quoted by the Daily News just days before Christmas as saying the guilty verdict, was “disappointing for African-Americans.”
Asked by a student what he thought of Bill Cosby’s controversial remarks directed at the black community, he said there are “too many people talking simplicity to complexity,” explaining that there are those who “simplify” the matters that face the black community.
Cosby was the subject of scrutiny after making controversial comments at a Washington, D.C., gala in 2004 in which he told blacks to stop blaming the “white man.”
Urging today’s generation to begin a racial dialogue which he says should be “honest, open and respectful,” he concluded, “If we don’t start dealing with it today, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
Students echoed Brewington’s message. “Though Long Island is one of the most historically segregated parts in the world, it does not reassure me that we as minorities are making strides towards total equality,” said Lamar Cheston, a junior who is president of the African-American Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. “If anything, it helps to strengthen the fact that we have a long way to go.”
His speech, which opened with performances by members of InTouch Arts, a politically motivated theater group, was closed with an A cappella performance by a Hofstra-based trio.
Melissa Henderson contributed reporting to this story.