ESPN's THE UNDEFEATED Presents: A Conversation on Race, Sports & Culture

The Undefeated, ESPN's content HUB on sports, race and culture, will present its first conversation of 2017 during SUPER BOWL week in Houston. The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication and the African American Studies Program at the University of Houston will host the public forum. The event will take place on Friday, Feb. 3, from 2-4:30 p.m. CT at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Wortham Theater, 3351 Cullen Boulevard Houston, TX 77204

The forum will be streamed live on www.TheUndefeated.com.

The conversation is part of a recurring series of public forums, lectures, debates, one-on-one conversations with key newsmakers and more, convened by ESPN's The Undefeated to address pertinent concerns in the community or topical issues at the confluence of sports, race and culture. Highlights:

Panel I: Black Stars - Navigating Professional Responsibility and Personal Passion

Moderator: Kelley Carter, Senior Writer, The Undefeated

Panel: Entertainer Anthony Anderson and New York Jets WR BranDon Marshall discuss how entertainers and athletes balance professional obligations with their commitment to causes that are dear to them. Anderson and Marshall will address:

The challenges of speaking out and taking positions on politics, policy, and social issues
The responsibility athletes and entertainers feel toward fans, owners, coaches, studios/networks/record labels, agents, sponsors and others, while trying to be responsible members of the community.
Panel II: Players in the Media - Black Athletes Talking Black Athletes

Moderator: Jason Reid, Senior Writer, The Undefeated

Panel: Former Baltimore Raven and NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth (The Undefeated); former Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Clark (ESPN NFL analyst); former New England Patriot Willie McGinest (NFL Network analyst); and an ex-athlete (TBC).

A discussion on how athletes transition from the sports they played to analyzing and writing about those sports and the players.

What do ex-athletes see that the rest of the media don't?
What do the ex-athletes bring to the conversation around athletes' personas, on-and-off-field behavior, locker room relations, social activism, race, domestic violence, and more.
The Undefeated is ESPN's multiplatform content initiative exploring the intersections of sports, race and culture. The digital hub, TheUndefeated.com, which launched in May 2016, combines innovative long-form and short-form storytelling, investigation, original reporting and provocative commentary to enlighten and entertain African Americans, as well as sports fans seeking a deeper understanding of black athletes, culture and related issues.

In addition to its cutting-edge content, The Undefeated seeks to be a thought-leader on race, sports and culture in the country - convening insightful forums to discuss and debate topical issues affecting sports and race in America.

About the University of Houston: The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 43,700 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.