Author and Columbia University professor of history Manning Marable will speak on race relations at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 8, in Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center. His topic will be "Race-in" Justice: Race and Inequality in Urban America."

Marable, founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, is the author of 12 books and is among the most prominent black intellectuals in the country.

His books include The Crisis of Color and Democracy; Race, Reform and Rebellion; Beyond Black and White; and What Black America Thinks. His latest book, Let Nobody Turn Us Around, will be published next year.

He has been a faculty member at Ohio State University and the University of Colorado and was the founder of Colgate University's Africana and Hispanic Studies Program. Since 1976, he has written "Along the Color Line," a syndicated commentary series on African-American politics and public affairs.

A frequent guest analyst on the politics of race in America, Marable has appeared on ABC Weekend News, Fox Network News, C-Span, PBS and the BBC.

His WSU visit is sponsored by the university's College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information call 577-6558 or 577-1811.