Norval Reece, Community Contributor
Kevin LaVigne Antoine, former Associate Vice President for Student and Veteran Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer at Bucks County Community College, will speak about his spiritual journey, “New Black Power” at the Newtown Quaker Meetinghouse at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, February 23. Following the presentation, there will be worship in the manner of Friends at 11:00 a.m. with people speaking out of silence as they are moved to do so. The public is welcome at all events.
Kevin Antoine is a political and legal analyst who has been called “a trailblazer in every sense.” His writings on civil rights, race, the right to healthcare, and politics reflect his pioneering spirit. A native of Pass Christian, Mississippi, he shares his journey in his book New Black Power: A Memoir of Kevin LaVigne Antoine. He discusses the challenges he faced within the National Democratic Party and the Mississippi Democratic Party during his 1996 campaign for the US Congress. He was the first African American to win a political party’s nomination in Mississippi’s majority-white 4th Congressional District.
Antoine is a former Fellow of the Harvard School of Public Health and a former Fulbright Specialist Scholar. He earned his law degree from the College of William & Mary School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi on an Air Force ROTC Scholarship where he was the first African American elected Vice President of Student Government and President of the Student Senate at a predominantly white college in Mississippi.
Kevin Antoine served as a Captain in the United States Air Force’s NORAD Command as an air battle manager controlling fighter aircraft in air combat training and missions, intercepting hostile aircraft approaching North American air space, air refueling, and search and rescue missions.