Lawrence University’s celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will expand from a day of service and reflection on Jan. 16 to a multi-week observance that includes a series of speakers on issues of race and education.
Jan. 16 will remain a day of service, with no classes scheduled. The day will include a kick-off breakfast, various volunteer opportunities for students, an anti-racism workshop hosted by the Office of DEI, and the 32nd annual Fox Cities Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, to be held virtually.
In addition, Justice, Peace, & Righteousness, an MLK Teach-In Series, is being launched, featuring weekly presentations on campus. The series debuts on Jan. 10.
The MLK Day celebration on Jan. 16 includes:
- Transformational Leaders of Color Breakfast: Students, faculty, and staff are invited to gather for food and fellowship at 9:30 a.m. in the Warch Campus Center Somerset Room to hear from local business owners of color. The panel will be moderated by Lawrence Professor Jesus Smith. This event is open to the public. Registration is required.
- Volunteer programs and service opportunities: With collaborations between the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), the Committee on Volunteer Engagement (COVE), and Volunteer Fox Cities, numerous on- and off-campus service opportunities are available on MLK Day. Options to sign up for any of the activities are listed on the GivePulse page. https://www.givepulse.com/group/807376-mlk-day-2023
- Anti-Racism and Allyship Workshop: Hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s peer educator, this workshop is aimed at understanding our own implicit biases on race as well as those that we encounter in our everyday structure. When people begin to understand these biases, they can begin to address them as they encounter them. In this workshop, participants will talk about key terms such as anti-racism, implicit bias, and Derrick Bell’s Theory on Racism in America, as well as encourage discussion of personal experiences. Light refreshments will be provided. This workshop is reserved for current LU students. Registration is required.
- The annual Fox Cities MLK Day celebration will feature Henry Sanders, CEO of Madison 365, as the keynote speaker. The event, to be held virtually from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 16, also will include musical performances and the announcement of the annual community educator awards. To register, go to: https://go.lawrence.edu/mlk32
Meanwhile, the Justice, Peace, & Righteousness Teach-In Series, presented by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, will run from Jan. 10 through Feb. 1. The presentations include:
- Dr. Elliot Ratzman, Martin Luther King Jr., the Jews, and Questions of Antisemitism: 7 p.m. Jan. 10, Main Hall 201. The talk will illuminate King’s collaboration with American Jews, including his thoughts on Zionism and the Palestinians, antisemitism, and other Jewish issues. Ratzman is chair in Jewish Studies at Earlham College.
- Dr. Sigma Colon, Black and Brown Solidarity: MLK to Wakanda Forever: 7 p.m. Jan. 18, Main Hall 201. The talk will explore cross-racial alliances from King’s Poor People’s Campaign for economic justice to more recent economic arguments about the “solidarity dividends” to be gained through coalition building. Colon is an assistant professor of environmental and ethnic studies at Lawrence.
- John Holiday and Company, The John Holiday & MLK Experience: 7 p.m. Jan. 25, Warch Campus Center. Countertenor and voice professor John Holiday will present a recital of classical vocal works and songs performed by his studio as well as performances inspired by the words, life, and times of Dr. King.
- Dr. Stephanie P. Jones, Where Do We Go from Here? Ending Curriculum Violence and Antiblackness in Schools: 7 p.m. Feb. 1, Warch Campus Cinema. This will be Lawrence’s second annual “Community Conversation.” The lecture will cover the historical context and definitions of racialized trauma and curriculum violence in the classroom, which aims to help students and educators rethink, recognize, and dismantle these acts in their classrooms, curriculum, and pedagogies. Jones is an assistant professor of education at Grinnell College and is the founder of Mapping Racial Trauma in Schools.
The teach-in series is open to the public.