As part of the 2022 Edwin H. Simmons Creative Minds Series, Bowling Green State University will welcome Academy Award-winning filmmaker, writer and social activist Dustin Lance Black for a keynote at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in Kobacker Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center.

Awarded an Oscar for his screenplay “Milk,” the biopic of activist Harvey Milk, Black’s keynote “The Power of Story” will highlight the transformative power of storytelling — whether onstage or at home — by sharing a handful of his own creative, personal and political stories.

Black’s free public keynote is limited to 400 people and seats will be available on a first come, first served basis.

Additionally, the LGBTQ+ activist will meet with BGSU students for workshops focused on screenwriting, activism and art.

The Edwin H. Simmons Creative Minds Series highlights the importance of the arts at BGSU and beyond and is made possible by a donation from the late Mary Cranker in honor of her father.

Black is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, writer and social activist. He won the Oscar and two Writers Guild of America awards for “Milk,” the biopic of activist Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn and in 2018 received the Valentine Davies Award from the WGA for his body of work.

In 2017, Black created, produced and directed the ABC mini-series “When We Rise,” which chronicled the true stories of the personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of activists who pioneered the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Black merged his creative and civil rights work in 2012 with “8,” a play based on the Federal Proposition 8 trial.

In addition to creative work, Black was a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which successfully led the federal cases for marriage equality in California and Virginia. He is also one of the co-founders of the Uprising of Love Coalition that seeks to raise awareness of violence and discrimination committed against LGBTQ+ people in the global community.

Black has taught MFA screenwriting at UCLA; has lectured at a long list of international Universities including Oxford, Cambridge, USC and Harvard; has appeared regularly on MSNBC, BBC and CNN; has had four books published, including his best-selling, award winning memoir Mama’s Boy; and has been named as one of the 50 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in America for the last decade.