YWCA of Greater Charleston
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2016
MEDIA CONTACTS
For more information:
To arrange media interviews:
LaVanda Brown
Executive Director, YWCA of Greater Charleston
843.722.1644 | [email protected]
Tiffany Jonas
YWCA of Greater Charleston Communications
843.224.3698 | [email protected]
2017 MLK Celebration Theme, Keynote Speakers Announced
Charleston, S.C. – Charleston’s ten-day Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, the largest
and longest running event of its kind in South Carolina, will be headlined in January by social justice
activist and attorney Benjamin L. Crump, Esquire and Eugene Woods, president and CEO of Carolinas
HealthCare System. The annual tribute’s theme will be “A Dream Unfulfilled.”
The MLK Ecumenical Service will be held on Sunday, January 15 at 4:00 p.m. at Morris Street Baptist
Church, where Mr. Crump will deliver the address to more than 1,000 expected attendees. The service is
free and open to the public.
The noted civil rights attorney, who is currently representing the family of slain black teenager Trayvon
Martin, is also the president of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association and CEO of the
Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute, created to address social issues that disproportionately impact
the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. He has been recognized by Ebony magazine as one of the 100 Most
Influential African Americans and has received the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award, the
American Association for Justice Johnny Cochran Award, the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, and
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award.
The MLK Business and Professional Breakfast will cap the ten-day tribute. Held at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday,
January 17, the event will feature Eugene Woods as keynote speaker and Mayor John Tecklenburg as
honorary chairman.
As president and CEO of Carolinas HealthCare System, Mr. Woods leads one of the most comprehensive
healthcare systems in the nation, with over 900 care locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia where 62,000 employees provide care through 12.5 million patient encounters per year. He has
spent 24 years as a leader in the healthcare field, overseeing non-profit and for-profit managed hospitals,
academic and community-based delivery systems, and rural and urban facilities. On January 1, 2017, he
will become the Chairman of the Board of the American Hospital Association.
The MLK Breakfast is again expected to be attended by hundreds of Charleston’s business, civic, and
clergy leaders; at the 2016 event, more than 600 attendees packed a large ballroom, joining hands at the
close of the event in a show of unity.
This year’s theme was chosen to call attention to what remains to be done. “As a committee, we felt that
‘A Dream Unfilled’ speaks to the fact that even though our society has made progress, we still have a lot
of work to do,” says LaVanda Brown, executive director of the YWCA of Greater Charleston. “Many of
the changes Dr. King fought for have been won, but the work is not done.”
Kerri Forrest, board chair of the YWCA of Greater Charleston, is eager to hear the keynote speakers’
messages. “Benjamin Crump and Eugene Woods are leaders in two critical issues in our society: the fight
for justice for people of color, and the struggles that women and people of color continue to experience in
the U.S. healthcare system,” she says. “There is the potential for a major healthcare shift in 2017, and Mr.
Woods will be leading an organization charged with creating healthier communities in a potentially
challenging time. And to have Mr. Crump, who is squarely at the forefront of the fight for justice for
people of color at this time in history, particularly as the Charleston community continues to heal in the
aftermath of two violent, high-profile incidents being played out in the court system, is tremendous.”
Organizations can sign up to sponsor the breakfast now at ywca-charlestonsc.org or by calling 843-7221644. Individual breakfast tickets will be available for $45 per person on January 1.
ABOUT THE MLK CELEBRATION
The 45th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is one of Charleston’s longest running
events, predating Spoleto Festival USA and other well-known local events. The annual celebration was
founded by the YWCA of Greater Charleston and first held in January 1972—one of the first such
tributes to Dr. King in the nation. The breakfast was added in January 2000 in partnership with former
Mayor Joseph P. Riley. Today the celebration is the largest tribute to Dr. King in South Carolina,
attracting 30,000 celebrants each year.
ABOUT THE YWCA OF GREATER CHARLESTON
For more than 100 years, the YWCA of Greater Charleston has served women, children, and families in
Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties in its mission to empower women and eliminate racism.
By engaging area residents and organizations, it seeks to create opportunities for the personal growth,
leadership, and economic development of women and people of color in order to attain justice, freedom,
and dignity for all people. It is a longstanding local association of YWCA USA, one of the oldest and
largest multicultural women’s organizations in the United States. For over 150 years, the YWCA has been
at the forefront of most social movements—from civil rights, affordable housing, and pay equity to
domestic violence prevention and healthcare reform. For more information, visit ywca-charlestonsc.org.
ABOUT THE BENJAMIN CRUMP SOCIAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE
For more information about the Benjamin Crump Social Institute, visit www.bcsji.com.
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