January 12, 2006

Celebrating King’s legacy

Kweisi Mfume, former head of the NAACP, will deliver Evanston campus keynote

By Judy Moore

Northwestern will commemorate the life and legacy of the late civil and human rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in January with special events on the Evanston and Chicago campuses. All of the following events are free and open to the public.

On Monday (Jan. 16), the University has set aside three hours — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — for the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. All classes on both campuses are cancelled during those hours.

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Evanston campus events

The Evanston campus programs include an 11 a.m. Monday (Jan. 16) celebration at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall featuring keynote speaker Kweisi Mfume, former president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); a 7:30 p.m. Friday

(Jan. 13) Candlelight Vigil at Alice Millar Chapel with a keynote speech by Northwestern alumna Roslyn McCallister Brock, vice chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors; and a 4 p.m. Monday

(Jan. 16) Gertrude and G. D. Crain Jr. Lecture at the McCormick Tribune Center by Chicago writer and lawyer Christopher Benson, who will discuss the 1955 Mississippi kidnapping and brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, an act that fueled the Civil Rights Movement.

The Crain Lecture will be followed by a reception and viewing of the Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers exhibition “The Journey: The Next One Hundred Years” that was unveiled in November in the McCormick Tribune Center and is on display through Jan. 20. For more information, call (847) 491-5401.

A live broadcast of the Pick-Staiger program will be shown in the Owen L. Coon Forum in Leverone Hall and in the Ryan Family Auditorium, Technological Institute. A Webcast will be shown at www.northwestern.edu/mlk.

Mfume, the Evanston campus keynote speaker, represented his Maryland district in Congress for 10 years prior to serving as president and CEO of the NAACP from 1996 to 2004. He remains an outspoken activist for minority rights and has declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. His background in broadcasting includes 13 years in radio and nine years of hosting the award-winning television show “The Bottom Line.” His best-selling autobiography is entitled “No Free Ride.”

The Evanston campus celebration at Pick-Staiger includes musical performances by pianist Christopher Thompson, soprano Joelle Lamarre, the University Chorale and the Northwestern Community Ensemble.

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Chicago campus events

On the Chicago campus, the 11 a.m. Monday (Jan. 16) “Live the Legacy” program at Thorne Auditorium, Arthur Rubloff Building, will feature a tribute to the late Rosa Parks and the women of the Civil Rights Movement. The keynote speakers are Chicago-born film, television and stage actor and Northwestern alumnus Harry Lennix, who is currently starring in ABC-TV’s political drama “Commander in Chief,” and Deborah Mathis, assistant professor, Medill School of Journalism, Washington Program; and managing editor of the Medill News Service Washington Bureau.

The topic of their talk is “The Media Today: Helping or Hurting the Movement?” Mathis and Lennix will reflect on their involvement in the media from different perspectives — Lennix from an artistic viewpoint and Mathis from a political perspective — in advancing or hindering the civil rights agenda. A reception will follow.

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Northwestern has planned other events on the Evanston campus in memory of Dr. King.

The 5 p.m. Monday (Jan. 16) Faculty Teach-In, “The King Legacy in a Contemporary Global Context,” in Swift Hall, Room 107, will feature a panel of Northwestern faculty members who will discuss Dr. King’s domestic and global legacies and the Civil Rights Movement.

Other Evanston campus events include a noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 17) Martin Luther King Jr. Public Interest Job and Intern Fair in the Louis Room at Norris University Center that will provide students with a chance to interact with non-profit, government and education agencies regarding employment and internship opportunities.

African American Student Affairs will present a 6 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 17) Evening Dialogue with Northwestern’s Jennifer A. Richeson, associate professor, department of psychology, and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research. This event will be held in the Conference Room of African American Student Affairs.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 18) Lewis V. Baldwin, professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt University, will lecture on “The Meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. for the 21st Century” at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 18) civil rights activist Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, will speak about her lifelong commitment to the Civil Rights movement, which began when her Birmingham home was bombed by segregationists. Her talk will be held in McCormick Auditorium, Norris University Center.

At 11 a.m. Thursday (Jan. 19) a Worship Celebration featuring guest speaker Robert Burns, retired Protestant Chaplain of Chicago’s West Side VA Hospital (currently known as the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center), will be held at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Chapel.

Muslim Awareness Week will be held from Jan. 16 to 20 on the Evanston campus. Related events will be announced at a later date and will be presented by the Muslim Cultural Student Association.

For more information, go to www.northwestern.edu/mlk/program.html.