Mississippi native Angie Thomas, author of "The Hate U Give" and "On the Come Up," recently partnered with her alma mater, Belhaven University, to launch the Angie Thomas Writers Scholarship program.

Belhaven will grant one incoming writing major freshman a full-ride scholarship, which will cover tuition, room and board at the university for four years. Several other applicants will receive scholarships through the program.

Thomas graduated from Belhaven in 2011 and later published her first novel, "The Hate U Give," which is about an African American teenager who sees a police officer shoot and kill her best friend, in 2017. A movie starring Amanda Stenberg released in 2018, and Thomas released her second book, "On the Come Up" in 2019. Thomas is currently working as a producer on a movie for her second book.

Scholarship applications are due March 1, 2020, and Belhaven will announce the winner on April 1, 2020. For more information about the scholarship or requirements to apply, visit gobelhaven.com/angie.

Duvalier Malone and Donna Ladd to Hold Emmett Till Panel at JSU

Community activist, author and motivational speaker Duvalier Malone will host a panel titled "Will There Ever be Justice for Emmett Till?" together with Jackson Free Press Editor-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer Donna Ladd on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. at Jackson State University's Margaret Walker Center.

Malone organized the "We Demand Justice Rally for Emmett Till" rally at the state capitol in Jackson in February 2017 after Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who accused Emmett Till of whistling at her, admitted to lying. Since then, Malone has been traveling the United States to raise awareness of the importance of Till's civil rights case. In 2018, he published a book about the Emmett Till case titled "Those Who Give a Damn: A Manual for Making a Difference."

In addition to his work as a community activist, Malone is CEO of Duvalier Malone Enterprises, a global consulting firm that serves nonprofits and underserved communities in America.

Malone will speak about "Those Who Give a Damn" at the panel and about the history of the case surrounding Emmett Till's 1955 death and his efforts to seek justice for him, a release from JSU says. Malone will also discuss the importance of joining the fight against racism and being a voice for justice and change in our own communities.

The panel is free and open to the public. Visitors can register for the event here, but registration is not required to attend.

MSU Legal Issues Conference

Mississippi State University will host its ninth annual Legal Issues Conference in Starkville from April 22 to 24. The conference is open to all levels of university practitioners.

Topics at the 2020 event will include behavioral intervention and threat assessment, employment law, free speech on campus, disability accommodation, National Collegiate Athletic Association compliance and more.

Keynote speakers will include Will Creeley, senior vice president of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, W. Scott Lewis, a partner at legal and consulting firm NCHERM Group, and Marisa R. Randazzo, CEO and founder of SIGMA Threat Management Associates.

Registration is $150 per person and will increase to $199 on March 1. Visitors must check in from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Mill at MSU on April 22. The university will host a mixer with hors d'oeuvres after the conference.

To register, visit legalissues.msstate.edu/registration. For a full event schedule, visit legalissues.msstate.edu/schedule. For more information, call 662-325-3611.