Iowa State’s new director of African American studies, J. Herman Blake, will speak tonight on “The Challenge of Race — Going Where We Have Never Been Before.”

The speech will be held in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union at 8 p.m.

“This speech will be difficult because it is not something that I’m comfortable with,” Blake said. “This is the issue of race in American society and we are looking at a higher level challenge beyond that.”

Blake is speaking as part of ISU’s participation in the national Campus Week of Dialogue, which started Monday and runs through Thursday.

Campus Week of Dialogue is part of U.S. President Bill Clinton’s initiative on race relations.

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley has asked colleges and universities to observe the week with campus events.

“I have already contacted four different institutions that are involved in the week,” Blake said. “Iowa State is joining in on a national pattern looking at the issue on race.”

Across the nation this week, new insights and understandings of racism will be encouraged, he said.

As a child, Blake grew up in New York City. Since then, he has lived in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Indiana, California and Iowa.

He received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from New York University and a master’s and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Blake has done extensive research and writing on African Americans and is involved in many community development programs.

“I have visited places such as Vienna, London, Italy, Asia, Latin Asia and Africa in relationship to improving lives of poor people,” Blake said. “I included with that an emphasis on women and children.”

Blake currently works with African American programs at Berea College in Kentucky and Earlham College in Indiana.

Blake joined ISU this January as director of African American studies.