Columbia College will host a moderated forum this Thursday with a panel of politically active women from the Midlands area to talk about the hot buttons of race and gender in the presidential campaign. The forum will be held at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 27, in the Breed Leadership Center (BLC room 201-202) on the Columbia College campus.
 
The format will include statements by the panelists, followed by Q&A and moderated discussion on politics, race and gender, and the media.  “Certainly it seems our unfinished conversations on racism and sexism are creating almost daily brushfires,” says event organizer, professor Claudia Smith Brinson. Brinson will moderate the discussion.
 
This free event is linked to celebrations of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, and the public is welcome. Convenient free parking is available around BLC and at the corner of Columbia College Drive and Colonial Drive (Lot A).
 
Panelists include:
 
Kelly Adams, who recently served as state director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in South Carolina , is director of the S.C. House Democratic Caucus. She also worked as the state’s deputy director for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004.
 
Katie Baham recently served as Midlands field director for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. She worked on the S.C. GOP’s victory campaign in 2006 and for Greg Ryberg in his run for state treasurer the same year.
 
Tameika Isaac Devine is an attorney with Jabber, Gray and Isaac, the city’s first all-female African-American law firm. In 2002, she was elected to Columbia City Council, the first African-American to win an at-large seat.
 
Carol Fowler is chair of the S.C. Democratic Party. She is a superdelegate for the upcoming national convention, and she has stated that she is backing Barack Obama.

Lisa Manini Sox is executive director of the S.C. Senate Republican Caucus. A Columbia College graduate, she also serves as president of the West Metro Republican Women, secretary of the Lexington Republican Party  and state treasurer of the S.C. Federation of Republican Women.