April 14, 2009
Warren St. John. Download image.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Birmingham native and best-selling author Warren St. John will speak about his new book, Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, at a benefit at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. S., Birmingham.
Proceeds from the event, "An Evening with Warren St. John and Coach Luma Mufleh," will benefit the Fugees Family, a non-profit organization Mufleh founded to support the education of young refugees in Clarkston, Ga. The event is made possible by the support of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), The Altamont School and Catalyst for Birmingham.
Tickets are $35 for adults and $20 for students, and can be purchased online here. Tickets include a signed copy of the book. For tickets or more information, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.
Outcasts United is the inspirational story of a soccer team of refugee boys, their remarkable coach and the town where they live and play, a Southern suburb that has been transformed by refugee resettlement. That town, Clarkston, was a sleepy outpost of Atlanta until it was designated a resettlement center for refugees in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families from war zones in Liberia, Congo, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The town also became home to Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to help keep Clarkston's boys off the streets. These boys named themselves the Fugees.
St. John and Mufleh will talk about the book and the team whose story has prompted an outpouring of support from around the world. To learn more about the book, visit www.OutcastsUnited.com.
About UAB
Located on the UAB campus, the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center is one of the Southeast's premier performing arts centers, hosting the best in international, national and local performance. Home to the UAB departments of theatre and music and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the ASC also presents its own season, bringing the world's best music, dance, theater, comedy and family entertainment to Alabama.