May 13, Wednesday -- The many sides of Barack Obama -- pop icon, quilt inspiration and Chicago politico -- will be explored in a 7 p.m. panel discussion, "The Meanings of Obama," on Wednesday, May 13, in MU II of the Memorial Union at UC Davis. An audience question-and-answer period and reception will follow the discussion. The Black Family Week activity is free and open to the public.

Panelists and topics will include:

* Halifu Osumare, associate professor of African American and African Studies, on Obama as a hip-hop generation pop icon who inspired college-age young people to become involved in electoral politics for the first time. Osumare is the author of "The Africanist Aesthetic in Global Hip-Hop: Power Moves."

* Patricia Turner, professor of African American and African Studies, on the quilts and quilters inspired by Obama's road to the White House. Turner 's latest book, "Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters," includes a profile of a Northern California woman whose Obama quilt was displayed in Washington, D.C., during Obama's inauguration.

* Lisa Materson, assistant professor of history, on the historical origins of the Obama presidency in Chicago's south side. Materson is author of the new book, "For the Freedom of Her Race: Black Women and Electoral Politics in Illinois, 1877-1932."

* Nicki King, a youth and family development specialist in the Department of Human and Community Development, on Obama and the post-civil rights era of African American leadership. King, who has a Ph.D. in urban planning, researches the postsecondary academic choices of low income and minority youth.

The event is sponsored by the UC Davis Humanities Institute, African American Studies Research Cluster, and Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission of the Associated Students of the University of California, Davis.

For more Black Family Week programs and information, visit: spac.ucdavis.edu/programs/bfw