Fox News Analyst, Author Speaking at CSULB

One of America’s leading political writers will be a featured speaker at California State Long Beach tonight at the Carpenter Center.

The event will take place on at 7:30 p.m. at the campus’ Carpenter Performing Arts Center; Preferred seating is $60 -- $30 for seniors and CSULB faculty and staff -- and $20 for CSULB students with a valid ID.

A political analyst at Fox News and the author of a best-selling book, Juan Williams will be the featured speaker at the fifth annual CSULB Distinguished Speakers Series. 

“We are thrilled to have Juan Williams coming to Cal State Long Beach and share his views on the political and racial dialogue in this country,” said Art Levine, director of the CSULB Distinguished Speaker Series in a press release.

The address, titled: “Muzzled: Political Debate in America,” will address issues facing the media, the role it plays in political debates and the continuing dialogue on race.

Williams is a Washington D.C,-based journalist who studies and reports on U.S. politics, civil rights, media, law and culture.

“In light of his firing by NPR, I don’t know that there is anyone more appropriate to discuss how the media limits political debate in the United States today.” 

Williams put his name on the map as an award-winning writer and columnist for  The Washington Post, where he worked for two decades.

Before taking a position with Fox News, Williams was a senior correspondent National Public Radio and the host of “Talk of the Nation.” 

After being fired from NPR for commenting that Muslims in traditional dress boarding planes made him nervous, he got started on his book: “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate.” Williams' book discusses “the countless ways in which honest debate in America … is stifled.” 

Williams has also written, “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965;

“My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience";

“Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America – and What We Can Do About It,”

and the acclaimed biography, “Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary.” 

He is known to challenge each individual across the political board to look deeper into personal assumptions and to take a second look at the role race plays in this country every day. 

Reserved tickets to the CSULB Speaker Series event are $45.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for sponsor exhibits, music and light refreshments. For ticket or additional information, visit the website at www.distinguishedspeakerseries.com.