Corey D.B. Walker, associate professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies, will deliver the keynote address for the Joint Legislative Black History Month Celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, at the State House. Walker's address, titled “Is America Possible? The Challenge of Black History,” will highlight the ways in which African American history provides us with a fresh understandings of American democracy. The program, “Hope, Unity and Action,” will begin at the rise of the House and Senate, around 5 p.m. The event is sponsored jointly by the Rhode Island General Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) and the Rhode Island Black and Latino Caucus of State Legislators. Also on the speaking program are Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, Speaker of the House Gordon D. Fox, and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed.