Update: Due to the inclement weather, Missouri S&T has
postponed Monday’s lecture by Jimmie Briggs, author of "Innocent
Voices" and UN Goodwill Ambassador, and the reception that was to follow.
Briggs’ lecture, "An African-American’s Lesson Learned: The Need for
Ethical Leadership in the Global Community," will be held at 7 p.m.
Wednesday in the Carver-Turner Room of the Havener Center, with the reception
to follow.

Jimmie Briggs, a St. Louis native and author of “Innocents Lost: When Child
Soldiers Go To War,” will give several public talks at Missouri University of
Science and Technology in February.

Briggs will discuss the need for ethical leadership in the global community
as part of the Black Man’s Think Tank Leadership series starting at 7 p.m. on
Monday, Feb. 11, in the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus. The
Black Man’s Think Tank is a student organization that encourages
African-American males to graduate from Missouri S&T and serves as a
resource for transfer students and those that may not be associated with
residential and fraternity life. The one-hour talk will include a
question-and-answer session, followed by an open reception with students.

On Tuesday, he will give a talk in Leach Theatre prior to the Free Film
Festival’s 7 p.m. presentation of “Innocent Voices” and lead a follow-up
question and answer session.

Briggs will wrap up his three-day appearance with an open campus lecture at
noon in the Havener Center. The talk will focus on covering the legacy of war,
child soldiers and today’s civil rights issues. He will also be available for a
book signing from 3-5 p.m. at the Missouri S&T Bookstore.

Briggs is a New York-based writer, teacher and freelance journalist who has
focused professionally on child soldiers and the lives of war-affected
children. He is the first African American to be appointed as a Goodwill
Ambassador and a Special Envoy for Children and Armed Conflict by the World
Association of Former United Nations Interns and Fellows at the United
Nations.

Briggs received the John Bartlow Martin Award from Northwestern University
for a Life magazine story on the Gulf War’s impact on children and was a
finalist for the National Magazine Award. In addition to Life, he has
written for The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Emerge, Vibe, George,
The Source, Junior Scholastic, XXL and The New York Times
Magazine.