Geneva Smitherman, distinguished professor of English at Michigan State University and former WSU faculty member, will discuss the controversial topic of ebonics at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center. Smitherman, author of Talkin' and Testifyin' and Black Talk, will present "Talkin' and Testifyin' About Ebonics" as part of the Black History Month activities sponsored by Wayne State's Africana studies department. An authority on black English and dialects, Smitherman recently has been interviewed by print and electronic news media nationwide about an Oakland, Calif., school board proposal to treat ebonics, or black English, as a separate language. Theme of the Africana studies department's Black History Month activities is "Transatlantic Africa." The events include: · Danis Perez-Prades, an Afro-Cuban, presenting a lecture-dance demonstration in Spanish at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 10, in Purdy-Kresge Library Auditorium. Translation will be provided by local artist Francisco Mora, who also will serve as a percussionist; · Hilbourne Watson, Caribbean and international relations scholar at Bucknell University, discussing "Global Techno-Industrial Restructuring and the Implications for the Caribbean" at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 17, at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center; and · Horace Campbell, Syracuse University professor of African-American studies and political science, presenting "Pan-Africanism Renewal in the 21st Century" at 11 a.m. at McGregor. Campbell is the author of Rasta and Resistance and From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney, and numerous essays on Pan-African thought. For more information on these events call 577-2321.