INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE
The 22nd Annual University of Michigan
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Symposium
1
January through February 2008
2
Table
of
Contents
4 A Letter from President Mary Sue Coleman
6 A Letter from Senior Vice-Provost for Academic
8
10
16
18
20
40
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
Affairs Lester P. Monts
2008 Theme Statement: “Injustice Anywhere Is A
Threat To Justice Everywhere”
Student Voices
Keynote Speaker: Lou Gossett, Jr.
Event Highlights
Calendar of Events
History of the Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Holiday
The Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Symposium Memorial Lectures Chronology
Special Thanks & Acknowledgements
Mission Statement
2007-2008 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Symposium Planning Committee
Regents of the University of Michigan,
Nondiscrimination Policy Statement, and the
University of Michigan Statement on Freedom of
Speech and Artistic Expression
Artist’s Statement
Contact Us
3
A Letter from
President
Mary Sue Coleman
For 22 years, the University has
celebrated the life of a great
man with our annual Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Symposium.
Our commitment to the values
espoused by Dr. King dates
back much further in the
University’s history.
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when sued over the use of affirmative
action in our admissions policies.
Henry Tappan, our first president, proclaimed, “We must take the world just
as full as it is.” Acting President Henry
Frieze opened our doors to women in
1870, and James Angell reinforced the
decision by announcing: “The ground
once maintained by some, that the
women have not the intellectual gifts
required to master the severe studies of
a collegiate course, seems to be generally abandoned.”
We have been doing this work for many
years at Michigan, and we are known
throughout the country for our leadership in diversity. We have a distinguished, enviable climate, and together
all of us share the responsibility of
maintaining and enhancing a vibrant
campus.
I encourage our students, faculty and
staff to join me in taking full advantage of the many activities being offered throughout the campus. Your
participation in this year’s Symposium
demonstrates your commitment to
building and supporting a university
that continually welcomes all ideas, all
backgrounds and all peoples.
It has been more than a century since
the Board of Regents resolved there
would be equal opportunity in the hiring of faculty, pledging that the University would not look at whether a scholar
was male or female, but rather was the
best person for the job.
This thinking has persisted and expanded over the decades. President
James Duderstadt challenged us with
the Michigan Mandate and its commitment to broadening our diversity,
and President Lee Bollinger stood firm
Sincerely,
Mary Sue Coleman
President
University of Michigan
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A Letter from
Senior Vice-Provost
for Academic Affairs
Lester P. Monts
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
It gives me great pleasure to welcome your
participation in the 2008 Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Symposium. This year marks
the 22nd annual celebration of the University
of Michigan’s designated time to reflect on the
life and work of Dr. King. Once again, we are
extremely proud of the extraordinary breadth
and depth of programming offered by staff,
faculty and students, and by local community
organizations as well. The magnitude of the
annual symposium continues to reflect the collective efforts and commitment of the campus.
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Each year, one of the responsibilities of our
MLK Symposium Planning Committee, which
represents all segments of the campus, is
to select a theme in honor of Reverend Dr.
King. The theme for this year’s symposium
is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.” Dr. King wrote those words in
a 1963 letter written from his cell in Birmingham, Alabama, where he had been jailed as
the result of a nonviolent protest he had led
against racial segregation. As a nation, we
have made considerable progress in the areas
of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. However, last year’s Passage of Proposal
2 by Michigan voters, and the public positions
of many of our presidential candidates on
immigration, global conflict and a variety of
social-justice issues, suggest that there is still
much to be accomplished. Dr. King’s message
is just as appropriate and meaningful today as
it was 45 years ago.
the Erascism Foundation, whose mission “is to
eradicate the systematic impacts of all forms
of racism by providing programs that foster cultural diversity, historical enrichment,
education, and antiviolence initiatives.” We
are honored to have him address the campus
community.
I wish to thank the members of the MLK
Symposium Planning Committee, our guest
speakers and artists, and the many individuals
involved in the program planning within campus units. As a result of their hard work, some
70 events are offered throughout January.
And once again, the University’s celebration
is drawing national attention because of the
scope of our comprehensive programming
reflecting the collective spirit of the University
community. A complete list of activities can
be found at www.mlksymposium.umich.edu.
We look forward to another outstanding observance of the life and teachings of the Rev.
Dr. King.
On behalf of the University community, I
also want to welcome the outstanding actor
and activist Louis Gossett, Jr., who will deliver
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Memorial Lecture on Monday, January
21. Mr. Gossett has received multiple Oscar,
Emmy, Golden Globes, NAACP Image, and
People’s Choice awards. Of equal importance
is his longstanding commitment to social
change and activism. He is the founder of
Sincerely,
Lester P. Monts
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Senior Counselor to the President for the Arts, Diversity, and Undergraduate Affairs
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music (Musicology)
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The 22nd Annual
Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Symposium
Theme
Statement
In April 1963, Dr. King responded to an invitation from
the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in
Birmingham to plan a program of “nonviolent direct
action” in protest of what he deemed as “probably
the most thoroughly segregated city in the United
States.” As a result of his participation in the protests, he was arrested by the infamous Bull Connor,
the Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner, for
parading without a permit.
While in jail, Dr. King received a letter, “A Call For
Unity,” signed by eight white Birmingham clergy
accusing him of participating as “an outsider” in a
situation in which they felt he had no knowledge or
experience, promoting protests over negotiations,
timing the protests at a time which was politically and
economically unfavorable, and breaking the city’s
anti-protest ordinance. Dr. King responded to his
fellow clergy “I am in Birmingham because injustice
is here,” and added:
“Injustice anywhere
is a threat to
justice everywhere.”
In response to the criticism of abandoning negotiations in favor of protest, Dr. King reminded the clergymen that entreaties of the Black community were
rejected by the leadership of the city and merchants
to integrate voluntarily. This lack of negotiation on
their part left no alternatives except to “present our
very bodies as a means of laying our case before the
conscience of the local and national community.” He
justified “non-violent direct action” over continued,
unsuccessful negotiation because direct action creates a crisis and fosters tension that forces a community that has constantly refused to negotiate to begin
doing so.
The 2008 MLK Planning Committee chose “Injustice
Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere” for
this year’s theme because King’s response from a
Birmingham jail in 1963 is still relevant today. We witness the devastating consequences of local, national,
and international injustice in the areas of healthcare,
education, race, economics, politics, gender relations, and religion. Injustice in every form burns and
destroys the hopes and dreams of its victims.
As for the accusation that he had timed the protest to
coincide with the change of the city’s administration
rather than wait for the new administration to take
office, King responded that the new administration
was equally dedicated to maintaining segregation.
The Easter season was chosen for the protest in
order to push merchants to make concessions to
the protesters.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood the
danger of ignoring injustice on any scale, in any location, at any time, and for any reason. He believed that
whenever one person takes a stand against injustice
anywhere, it gives hope and courage for victims of
injustice everywhere.
Are we, like King, willing to challenge unjust laws
and policies openly, lovingly, and with a willingness
to accept and submit to the penalty? Can we use time
creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always
right to do right? Do we have the strength, determination, and persistence, both individually and collectively, to root out all forms of injustice?
Dr. King told his accusers that he distinguished
between “just” and “unjust” laws. The difference, he
argued, is that just laws serve to unite people under
the universal rule of law, while unjust laws are used
to enforce separation between groups, and make one
group subservient to the other. He added that “an
individual who breaks a law conscience tells him is
unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the
community over its injustices, is in reality expressing
the highest respect for the law.”
Dr. King was willing to cross boundaries and sacrifice
his personal comfort to fight injustice. We must have
the same conviction or we will all become victims of
injustice or victims of apathy.
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Student
Voices
The Vessel
The vessel was feeling a little heavy
What rested within, did not meet the outside
It was tied down; it held its position
And it was told to accept the state that it was
in
You see the vessel was afraid of those open
seas
And so it pretended the weather was fair, but
never left its port
Each year, the University of Michigan’s
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
commemorative booklet has included a
reflective piece from various individuals in the
University community, including faculty, staff,
alumni, and community leaders. This year,
the MLK Day Symposium Planning Committee
decided to do something different. U-M
students were given an opportunity to provide
their own personal reflections on Dr. King’s life
and contributions, and tell how they have been
impacted by his bold actions. Our students
were born long after the death of Dr. King, yet
they continue to play a significant role in the
University of Michigan’s annual observance
of the national holiday honoring Dr. King.
The following is a sampling of the numerous,
students statements that were received.
But a King of the promised people
Spoke the good word to the vessel
He told her those tears she carried, that
pain enraptured
Was out of love, out of hope
And that only a vessel of her size could
handle it
So the travels have begun
But no longer was she afraid
Because the other vessels were there
In case she lost her way
And become desolate in those open seas
The flag was raised
The heart on deck
WE go onto our voyage of disobedience
And there will be nothing civil about it
Angela E. Washington
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This is an occasion when one realizes how
much he can impact the future generation.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. invested
in a commitment of nonviolence resistance.
As Minority Peer Advisors, we commit ourselves to bringing awareness to social identity
issues, while we, ourselves, emerge as leaders in the community’s battle for equality.
It is with great honor that I envision MLK
as a leader, a role model, and an investor in
the dream that he knew our society could
achieve. Thank you, Dr. King, for your leadership and courage.
the image of your supporters holding you up
during the march in Memphis. I also know
there were times when anger and frustration tempted you to use violence. Yet, you did
not; you displayed a love that those who were
blinded by racism and ignorance could not.
Thus, as we reflect upon your memory, I want
to thank you for being a model of love and
tolerance that we all can observe.
James Walker
Leonardo Caion-Demaestri
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very
important that you do it.
– Mahatma Gandhi
Thank you Dr. King, for the contributions you
made to my life. In the turbulent times of the
1960’s you encouraged social change through
nonviolence. By carrying the message of
Christ you played an intricate role in creating
the social progress that I benefit from today. I
admire you for making the ultimate sacrifice
in pursuit of equality and tolerance.
Though this quote at first glance may seem
pessimistic, when analyzed more carefully it
embodies how many people feel about social
justice and civil rights...it’s human to feel this
way. Social change doesn’t happen overnight,
noticeable change happens over time. As
community activists, the work we do is oftentimes frustrating, but people such as Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi remind us that it
is definitely worthwile. We may not always see
the fruits of our labor, but we must trust that
we have planted the seed at some point.
I know it was not easy for you to make such
efforts. I would imagine that you grew weary
during those trying times. I will never forget
Alexzandria Poole
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“I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU”
“I Have a Dream” speech, in which he states,
“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters and righteousness like a
mighty stream.” Intellectual Minds Making a
Difference (IMMAD) strives to eradicate the
achievement gap and the inequalities that
persist in our urban schools, and we will not
rest until that task is completed. Dr. King had
a dream that “one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meanings of its creed:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that
all men are created equal.” Today, this nation still has not done so. We would not have
been so upset at the voters of the great state
of Michigan for passing the proposal that
banned the use of affirmative action if all
things were equal. However, we have to strive
EVERY DAY for the kind of equity where
we will not need affirmative action, and the
members of IMMAD are taking those muchneeded steps.
The day before his death, the Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., told a crowd in Memphis, Tennessee, that he had seen “the promised land.” By that, Dr. King meant that he
had faith that the struggle of the Civil Rights
Movement would have a happy ending. He
said that even though he might not personally make it to the “promised land,” his people
would, and that he would work to make this a
reality. Dr. King’s optimism in the midst of the
struggle and selfless giving of himself for the
betterment of people, are exemplified in this
speech. As an activist, a budding social engineer, a student, and a Black man I am inspired
by this example. I may not live to see the fruit
of my labors, but I understand (as King understood) that that is not the reason I labor.
Sheldon Johnson
James Logan
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed
in and dreamed of equality. Thirty-nine years
later, we are still pursuing this dream. Our
social situation has improved in many ways,
but in others we cannot be satisfied with the
lack of progress. Dr. King said it best in his
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, or so they say. Reading his words.
Mocking his rhymes with the inconsistency
of their own twisted lines. Using him when it
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sounds good. Making false promises for the
illusion of the betterment of society.
for one another, hoping that some day soon
all that Dr. King dreamed of and more will
become reality.
Overcoming boundaries
Patiently paving the way for the generation
after me.
Recognizing causes that are greater than
myself.
Hoping to lead by example,
With the hope of passing the torch to
somebody else.
Greater than where we have come from
Realizing that we are one of many
In spite of it all, We have only just begun.
Lindsey Dawson
The Civil Rights Movement has always been
an integral part of the United Asian American Organizations, a coalition of 30-plus
Asian American student organizations. Since
our official establishment in 1990, UAAO has
strived to create a space for Asian American
students on campus, using our weekly assembly meetings as a place to discuss issues that
concern our community’s rights and equality
and events that have occurred in the history
that are relevant to our identity. We strive to
make it more inclusive, so our community
can be heard as one unified voice and also as
diverse voices with different values.
Ashley Gilbert
Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Incorporated, was founded in part upon the ideals
of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our
motto, “Keeping the Dream Alive,” pays homage to those who came before us, such as Dr.
King. We support his dream by empowering
the community through social justice programming, community service endeavors, and
dedication to promoting multiculturalism.
We encourage our community to embrace
and spread diversity, understanding, and love
C.C Song
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The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not
attempt change through condemnation or
force. He changed the world by changing
minds through education. As a Minority Peer
Advisor Assistant and a future high school
teacher, my aim is social justice and my tool is
education. As the Blue Scholars wrote, “Dr.
Martin Luther King’s legacy is looking like
the streets we named after him, permanently
under construction.” So we all need to pick
up some tools and fill in the cracked asphalt.
We, the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraterni-
James Lloyd Dulin
AIDS awareness, we seek to ensure that
ty, Inc. Epsilon Chapter, recognize Dr. King’s
remarkable legacy. Fearless leader and beloved brother, Dr. King embodied the values
of humility, dignity, servitude, and character.
We strive to uphold these values by acting as
servicemen to the campus community and
the community at large. Through programming such as Minority Health Awareness and
film screenings aimed at promoting HIV/
the community benefits from invaluable
Acceptance, social justice, understanding;
three significant principles that the Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. advocated during his
influential lifetime. In concurrence with this
message, the Minority Peer Advisor position
is dedicated to the support and edification of
marginalized communities and/or cultures.
The interaction of numerous social identities
and communities within the Residence Halls
allows for unmatched learning opportunities.
The MPA/A staff has a passion for life’s most
valuable resource: people. It is through our
work that we hope to showcase this resource
to the rest of the Michigan community.
knowledge. Through weekly tutoring at
Christopher Harris-Hudgins II
Brandon Claxton
Bethel A.M.E. and our Alpha Esquires program, we recognize our responsibility to encourage younger generations to be successful.
The brothers of Epsilon Chapter continually
endeavor to attain the noble goal of a balance
between social and academic life. Brotherhood, scholarship, leadership, and service
continue to be the guiding values of Epsilon
Chapter, remaining ever mindful that we are
working towards the American Dream declared by Brother Dr. King over 44 years ago.
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Dr. King’s dream of integration, diversity, and
multiculturalism, achieved through peaceful
social justice, will forever live on. As a Minority Peer Advisor striving to promote these ideals, I have come to further comprehend the
passion King thrived on. I find myself advocating for those I may not even identify with.
I am driven to do so based upon an inclusive
sense of justice for all. It is my hope that generations from now, individuals will continue
to unite to act as King did, and that one day
humanity will advance beyond the ignorance
that this great man died to overcome.
I am not Black. But that does not mean the
words and actions of Dr. King do not affect
me. His life and work is evident in the daily
lives of all Americans of race, age, status, or
socioeconomic class. Unconsciously Dr. King’s
message is behind every thought, feeling, or
action I do. He has taught me not to judge
no matter what the difference or the degree
of difference may be. This is the man who
has made me the person that I am today, and
his words make me an even better person for
tomorrow.
Rachel Moy
Thank You,
Chanel Harris
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Keynote Speaker
Lou Gossett, Jr.
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The 22nd Annual
University of
Michigan Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Memorial
Lecture:
Lou Gossett, Jr.
Monday, January 21, 10:00 AM
• Hill Auditorium • Sponsored by
the MLK Symposium Planning
Committee
Lou Gossett Jr. remains one
of the most sought after and
busiest veteran actors in the
film and television industry
today. His great talent for
portraying powerful and
charismatic characters has
charmed audiences worldwide,
resulting in an impressive
amount of coveted awards,
including an Oscar, Emmy,
and Golden Globe.
Gossett first gained recognition in the New York theatre
scene, where at the age of 16
he won a Donaldson award
for “Best Newcomer,” beating
out James Dean. Soon he was
offered a prestigious Broadway
role opposite Sidney Poitier
in A Raisin in the Sun, and he
went on to star in the film
version, paving the way for a
long and rewarding career.
In 1977, Gossett captured an
Emmy, television’s highest
honor, for his compelling
portrayal of “Fiddler” in
the historic television miniseries, Roots. In 1982, he
electrified the screen with his
unforgettable portrayal of a
relentless military sergeant
in the hit film An Officer
and a Gentleman, earning
him an Academy Award for
“Best Supporting Actor.” He
struck gold again in 1992 for
his poignant work in HBO’s
The Josephine Baker Story, and
garnered a Golden Globe.
Even in a guest-starring role
for the popular CBS series
Touched by an Angel, Gossett’s
work was singled out, and he
received the 1998 NAACP
Image Award.
Throughout his career,
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Gossett has turned in
numerous outstanding
performances, resulting
in eight additional Emmy
nominations. His passion for
his work is matched only by
his strong belief in helping
others by giving back to the
community. He serves as a
spokesperson and a behindthe-scenes leader for many
charitable organizations.
Gossett is currently developing
a nonprofit foundation, The
Eracism Foundation, with
the aim of developing and
producing entertainment that
brings awareness and education to issues such as racism,
ignorance, and apathy.
Contact: Theda Gibbs
{ 734-936-1055,
http://mlksymposium.umich.edu }
Opening Lecture:
Terrence Roberts of The
Little Rock Nine, Lessons
from Little Rock
Thursday, January 17, 3:00 PM •
Michigan Union, Pendleton Room •
Sponsored by the MLK Symposium
Planning Committee
the 22nd annual
reverend dr.
martin luther king, jr.
symposium
Event Highlights
Dr. Roberts was one of the Little
Rock Nine (the nine students who
were the first to integrate the Little
Rock Public Schools in 1957). In his
presentation, Dr. Roberts guides
participants through the exploration of the lessons to be learned
from the chaotic events at Central
High School. He believes that there
are still great strides to be made in
terms of interactions across lines
of social division. He endeavors
to alleviate the confusion in all
the various arenas of difference
and diversity that characterize our
nation. Little Rock offered dramatic
examples of negative approaches to
difference and the problem those
approaches create. The major part
of Dr. Roberts’ presentation is
devoted to identifying the lessons of
Little Rock and urging the audience
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to use them.
Dr. Roberts holds a Ph.D. in
Psychology from Southern Illinois
University and a MSW from the
University of California, Los
Angeles. He is licensed in California
as both a psychologist and a social
worker. He has served since 1975
as CEO of Terrence J. Roberts
& Associates, a management
consultant firm. This group has
provided consultation to a wide
variety of clients, including Cedars
Sinai Hospital, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Internal Revenue
Service, and Pepperdine University.
The group offers expertise in
several areas, including managing
racial and ethnic diversity and developing multicultural awareness.
Since 1998, Dr. Roberts has been
a desegregation consultant for
the Little Rock School District. A
published author, he also maintains
a general psychology practice in
Pasadena, CA. He has received
numerous awards and is a member
of several boards, including Pacific
Oaks College Board of Trustees and
the Little Rock Nine Foundation.
Contact: Theda Gibbs { 734-936-1055,
http://mlksymposium.umich.edu }
An Afternoon with
Martin and Langston,
Featuring Dramatic
Presentations by Danny
Glover and Felix Justice
Monday, January 21, 1:00 PM • Power
Center for the Performing Arts 121
Fletcher Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109
• Sponsored by Business and Finance
Diversity Committee
This program will draw the audience inside the worlds of two of the
greatest orators of the 20th century.
Felix Justice transforms into Martin
Luther King Jr. through recitation
of Dr. King’s most memorable
speeches, recreating the power of
the man and his message. Justice
then introduces “an old friend of
mine,” and Danny Glover portrays
one of the greatest American
writers in modern history, Langston
Hughes. After the performance,
Glover and Justice will answer
questions from the audience.
Refreshments served following the
question-and-answer session.
Contact: Madolyn Lottman
{ [email protected] }
MOS DEF Big Band: A
Tribute to Detroit’s
J Dilla
Monday, January 21, 7:30 PM • Hill
Auditorium • Sponsored by University
Musical Society
Mos Def is a hip-hop, rap, and
spoken word artist and actor who
represents the community through
poetry and music. His infectious
rhymes — infused with an acute
social consciousness — reclaimed
hip-hop’s revolutionary soul,
critiquing the violence and deceit
found in “gangsta” rap and examining head-on the issues of the Black
experience in the US. He has been
presented by both the Lincoln
Center American Songbook Series
and the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, an indication of the cultural
significance of his work. For this
concert, which will be presented
only in Ann Arbor, he assembles his
Big Band to pay tribute to Detroit’s
most influential and respected hiphop producer, J Dilla, who died two
years ago at age 32 from complications from lupus.
Contact: The University Musical Society
{ http://www.ums.umich.edu/s_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=451 }
Closing Lecture: Theresa
Perry: co-author “To
Be Young Gifted and
Black: Promoting High
Achievement Among
African American
Students”
Friday, January 25, 1:00 PM •
Michigan Union, Pendleton Room •
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Sponsored by OAMI, LSA, and SOE,
and WISD
Theresa Perry is a professor in the
Departments of Africana Studies
and Education at Simmons College
and director of the Simmons
College/Beacon Press Race,
Education and Democracy Lecture
and Book Series. Her current writings and work have focused on the
development of a theory of practice
for African American achievement
and a meta-analysis of educational
environments that normalize high
achievement for Black students.
Dr. Perry is co-author, with the late
Asa Hilliard III and Claude Steele,
of Young Gifted and Black: Promoting
High Achievement Among African
American Students, co-editor with
Lisa Delpit of The Real Ebonics Debate:
Power Language and the Education
of African American Students, editor
of Teaching Malcolm X, and coeditor of Freedom’s Plow: Teaching
in the Multicultural Classroom. She is
completing a book titled, Educating
African American Students: What
Teachers, Teacher Educators and
Community Activists Should Know.
the 22nd annual reverend dr. martin luther king, jr. symposium
Calendar
Thursday
January
10
Rose Moss, Reading From
Her Work
4:30 PM • 2239 Lane Hall, 204 S.
State St. Ann Arbor • Sponsored by
Women’s Studies Department, MFA
Creative Writing Program and Institute
for Research on Women and Gender
Since immigrating from South
of
Events
Africa to the United States in 1964,
Rose Moss has published four
books, prize-winning stories, and
articles. Her most recent book, In
Court, published in South Africa as
a Penguin Modern Classic, brings
together short stories written over
many years.
Her novel The Terrorist, also published as The Schoolmaster, presents
a man anguished at apartheid. He
eventually bombs the Johannesburg
train station. Her non-fiction
account of two defendants in a
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major treason trial, Shouting at the
Crocodile, presents leaders of the
non-violent, non-racial internal antiapartheid movement of the 1980s.
This book is currently optioned for
a documentary movie. Other short
stories, set in the United States,
present dilemmas that juxtapose art
and suffering, beauty and cruelty,
kindness and guilt.
Rose Moss now lives in Cambridge,
Massachusetts and teaches creative
writing at Harvard Law School and
in Harvard’s Nieman Program for
mid-career journalists. For more
information, please see her web
page www.rosemosswriter.com.
Student Panel including:
Book Club discussion facilitated
Bayyinah Muhammad, Junior
by Dr. Patricia Coleman-Burns,
Nursing Student
Director of the Office of
Contact: Donna Ainsworth
{ 734-763-2047 }
Maria McDade, PhD Student
Multicultural Affairs and Assisant
Finale: Debut of 2007 ¡Cuidate!
Professor at U of M School of
Video
Nursing.
Refreshments served following the
Book Synopsis: What’s in a word?
discussion panel session.
When it comes to “nigger,” the bet-
Contact: Irene Felicetti { 734-764-9519,
ter question is what isn’t? Whatever
[email protected], www.nursing.umich.
one thinks of its usage, the grand-
edu }
daddy of ethnic slurs is much more
Tuesday
January
15
Addressing Health
Disparities in African
American and Latino
Populations
11:30 AM • Palmer Commons Forum
Hall 4th Floor • Cosponsored by the
School of Nursing Office of Multicultural
Affairs, Grants and Research Office and
the MESA Center for Health Disparities
School of Nursing Research
Seminar and Poster Session
Moderator: Dr. Patricia ColemanBurns
Overview of MESA Project: Dr.
Antonia Villarruel
Investigator: Dr. Carolyn Sampselle
Panel including:
Dr. Cynthia Arslanian-Engoren
Dr. Karen Stein
Dr. Barbara Therrien
Jody Lori
than a stick or stone that can be
The N Word: who can say
it, who shouldn’t and why
– School of Nursing Book
Club Discussion
5:00 PM • School of Nursing Room
deflected with self-esteem and
forgotten until the next encounter.
Please join us for this in-depth and
controversial discussion!
1334 400 N. Ingalls • Sponsored by
Contact: Paige Prieskorn { ppriesko@
School of Nursing Office of Multicultural
umich.edu, 734-936-1615, www.nurs-
Affairs
ing.umich.edu/oma }
Events FYI
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise
indicated.
Campus maps are available online at http://umich.
edu/~info/maps.html.
For a continuously updated list of all events, visit our website
at http://mlksymposium.umich.edu
21
Calendar
Wednesday
January
16
NO! The Rape
Documentary Film
Screening and Discussion
with Director Aishah
Simmons
7:00 PM • Lorch Hall Auditorium •
Sponsored by Sexual Assault Prevention
and Awareness Center (SAPAC),
Women’s Issue Commission (WIC), and
the Michigan Student Assembly Budget
Priorities Committee
NO! The Rape Documentary unveils
the reality of rape, other forms of
sexual violence, and healing in
African-American communities.
This documentary by Aishah
Simmons features testimonials from
Black women survivors who defy
victimization. Violence prevention
advocates, sociologists, historians,
anthropologists, and other leading
scholars provide an interdisciplinary context with which to examine
sexual violence in African-American
communities. Powerful archival
footage, spirited music, dance, and
performances from award-winning
of
Events: January 16
poets take viewers on a journey
from enslavement of African people
through present day.
Since 1992, Aishah Shahidah
Simmons has used the written
word and the camera lens as a
producer, writer, and director, to
make central the impact of the
intersections of oppressions on
the lives of Black women. She is an
award-winning African American
feminist, lesbian independent
documentary filmmaker, television
and radio producer, published
writer, international lecturer, and
activist based in Philadelphia. Her
previously completed internationally acclaimed short videos Silence…
Broken and in In My Father’s House
explore the issues of race, gender,
homophobia, rape, and misogyny.
Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize
winning author of The Color Purple
says, “If the Black community in the
Americas and in the world would
save itself, it must complete the work
NO! begins.”
Join us on the evening of
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 to
view NO! and to discuss with Ms.
Simmons the issues raised by her
film. Additionally, SAPAC will hold
22
a brown bag lunch the following
afternoon during which attendees
of the previous evening’s event can
engage in a more intimate conversation with Ms. Simmons about the
important work that she does.
Contact: Alexis Watts and Jamie
Budnick { 734-998-9368, SAPAC
Business Office }
Discussion of
Environmental Justice
and Opportunities to
Make a Difference
8:00 PM • Michigan Union,
Room TBA • Sponsored by MSA
Environmental Issues Comission
Contact: Maia Dedrick { 651-303-0490,
[email protected] }
Thursday
January
17
Jews & Blacks in New York
City
12:00 PM • Frankel Center for Judaic
Studies 202 S. Thayer St., Room 2022
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 • Sponsored by
Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic
Studies
How is Harlem represented in modern African-American literature?
And how is the Lower East Side portrayed in modern Jewish-American
literature? In this presentation,
Catherine Rottenberg, a Frankel
Institute Fellow, will compare the
depiction of these two “ethnic” enclaves in the works of Michael Gold,
Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurman,
and Anzia Yezierska, arguing that
the representation of city space can
tell us about the different ways these
minority groups understood their
racial, class, and gender identities in
the early twentieth century.
Catherine Rottenberg is a Lecturer
in Gender Studies at Ben-Gurion
University. She is at the Frankel
Institute for Advanced Judaic
Studies for the 2007-08 academic
year.
Contact: Matt Weingarden
{ [email protected] }
Dr. Terrence Roberts
of The Little Rock Nine
Lessons from Little Rock
3:00 PM • Michigan Union, Pendleton
Room • Sponsored by the MLK
Symposium Planning Committee
Dr. Roberts was one of the Little
Rock Nine (the nine students who
were the first to integrate the Little
Rock Public Schools in 1957). In his
presentation, Dr. Roberts guides
participants through the exploration of the lessons to be learned
from the chaotic events at Central
High School. He believes that there
are still great strides to be made in
terms of interactions across lines
of social division. He endeavors
to alleviate the confusion in all
the various arenas of difference
and diversity that characterize our
nation. Little Rock offered dramatic
examples of negative approaches to
difference and the problem those
approaches create. The major part
of Dr. Roberts’s presentation is
devoted to identifying the lessons of
Little Rock and urging the audience
to use them.
Dr. Roberts holds a Ph.D. in
Psychology from Southern Illinois
University and a MSW from the
University of California, Los
Angeles. He is licensed in California
as both a psychologist and a social
worker. He has served since 1975
as CEO of Terrence J. Roberts
& Associates, a management
consultant firm. This group has
provided consultation to a wide
variety of clients, including Cedars
Sinai Hospital, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Internal Revenue
Service, and Pepperdine University.
The group offers expertise in
several areas, including managing
racial and ethnic diversity and developing multicultural awareness.
23
Since 1998, Dr. Roberts has been
a desegregation consultant for
the Little Rock School District. A
published author, he also maintains
a general psychology practice in
Pasadena, California. He has received
numerous awards and is a member
of several boards, including Pacific
Oaks College Board of Trustees and
the Little Rock Nine Foundation.
Contact: Theda Gibbs { 734-936-1055,
http://mlksymposium.umich.edu }
Were we always
Christian?
6:00 PM • Michigan League Hussey
Room • Sponsored by University Unions
Arts and Programs, Iota Phi Theta
Be it Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical
or non-denominational, the
majority of Americans practice
Christianity. According to the 2001
U.S. Census, 77% of Americans
identify themselves as Christian.
African-Americans are not an
exception to this rule; in fact,
Christianity has played an important role in the historic struggles
and progression of Black life. So it
raises the question: Were African
Americans always Christian? Join
us in a short film and presentation/
discussion session by a faculty
member in the Near Eastern Studies
Department on the influences and
Calendar
of
Events: January 17
presence of Christianity and what
is often seen as the “other religion”
in Black life: Islam. Food will be
provided.
and our own activism history that
began in 1971, when East Wind,
the first Asian American student
organization, was formed.
Contact: Nicholas Smith
{ 734-763-3202, filmconnect@umich.
edu, www.umich.edu/~uuap }
Dan Tsang, a founder of East Wind,
will be speaking to us about his activism experiences on the University
of Michigan campus as an Asian
American and a member of the
LGBT community. He will also be
speaking directly to the challenge
of coalition building, as our campus
climate is at a crucial point after the
passing of Proposal 2.
Power of Hair
7:00 PM • The Union - 2105A •
Sponsored by Sigma Lambda Gamma
A program to discuss the role of
hair in our lives as minority women.
Contact: Erica Galvan { emgalvan@
umich.edu }
Asian American Activism
Now and Then: Fireside
Chat with Dan Tsang
from East Wind
7:00 PM • Yuri Kochiyama Lounge,
South Quadrangle (west side) •
Sponsored by United Asian American
Organizations, Asian/Pacific Islander
American Studies
The Asian American Movement, a
legacy of the Civil Rights Movement,
has always been seen as a coastal
movement, where large populations
of Asian Americans reside. Little
do we know about our own campus,
Refreshments will be provided.
Contact: C.C. Song { ccsong@umich.
edu }
Friday
January
18
Ross Net Impact Forum
8:00 AM • Michigan Union, 2nd floor
• Sponsored by Stephen M. Ross School
of Business Net Impact Club
We cordially invite you to join us for
the 2008 Ross Net Impact Forum:
Leading in Thoughtful Action.
This year’s forum will explore the
24
continued
positive role that business can play
in society. Corporations across
the globe are recognizing the
value of incorporating social and
environmental issues into their
core strategies, and civil society
organizations are increasingly
partnering with the private sector
to achieve public benefits. Through
career-specific and industry-specific
panels, the Ross Net Impact Forum
will allow attendees to network with
representatives from the private,
non-profit, and public sectors and
learn more about the significance of
these issues for future leaders.
Contact: Nina Henning { http://
webuser.bus.umich.edu/Organizations/
netimpact/forum2008 }
Linguistics Colloquium
Series presents Benjamin
Bailey
4:00 PM • 4448 East Hall • Sponsored
by Department of Linguistics
Benjamin Bailey is an Associate
Professor in the Department of
Communication at University
of Massachusetts-Amherst. His
research addresses questions of
language, identity, and social
categories, especially focused on
issues of race. He has published
works on multilingualism, interethnic communication and conflict,
and immigrant communities in
the United States, particularly
Dominican Americans.
Contact: Sandra Petee { 734-764-0353,
linguistics.colloquium.committee@
umich.edu }
Monday
January
21
reverend dr. martin
luther king, jr. day
the end of the program schedule.
The schedule is as follows:
8:30 AM–9:10 AM Registration
9:10 AM–3 PM Program (Lunch will
be served)
3:00 PM Pick up
Contact: { Pre-register at http://www.
umich.edu/~tauep/mlkkids.html }
Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Lecture: Lou Gossett, Jr.
10:00 AM • Hill Auditorium •
Sponsored by the MLK Symposium
Planning Committee
8:30 AM • Modern Languages
Building, 812 East Washington,
Ann Arbor • Sponsored by School of
Education
Lou Gossett Jr. remains one of
the most sought after and busiest
veteran actors in the film and
television industry today. His great
talent for portraying powerful and
charismatic characters has charmed
audiences worldwide, resulting in
an impressive amount of coveted
awards, including an Oscar, Emmy,
and Golden Globe.
The K-12 community throughout
Washtenaw County is invited to explore the life and legacy of the Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, in a day of
planned entertainment, dialogue,
and creativity. Parents may drop off
their children and pick them up at
Gossett first gained recognition in
the New York theatre scene, where
at the age of 16 he won a Donaldson
award for “Best Newcomer,” beating out James Dean. Soon he was
offered a prestigious Broadway role
opposite Sidney Poitier in A Raisin
MLK Children & Youth
Program: A mixture of
creativity, dialogue, and
entertainment for the
K-12 community
25
in the Sun, and he went on to star in
the film version, paving the way for
a long and rewarding career.
In 1977, Gossett captured an Emmy,
television’s highest honor, for his
compelling portrayal of “Fiddler” in
the historic television mini-series,
Roots. In 1982, he electrified the
screen with his unforgettable
portrayal of a relentless military sergeant in the hit film An Officer and a
Gentleman, earning him an Academy
Award for “Best Supporting Actor.”
He struck gold again in 1992 for
his poignant work in HBO’s The
Josephine Baker Story, and garnered a
Golden Globe. Even in a guest-starring role for the popular CBS series
Touched by an Angel, Gossett’s work
was singled out, and he received the
1998 NAACP Image Award.
Throughout his career, Gossett has
turned in numerous outstanding
performances, resulting in eight
additional Emmy nominations. His
passion for his work is matched
only by his strong belief in helping
others by giving back to the community. He serves as a spokesperson
and a behind-the-scenes leader
for many charitable organizations.
Gossett is currently developing a
nonprofit foundation, The Eracism
Foundation, with the aim of
Calendar
of
developing and producing entertainment that brings awareness and
education to issues such as racism,
ignorance, and apathy.
Contact: Theda Gibbs
{ 734-936-1055,
http://mlksymposium.umich.edu }
March & Rally to
Reverse the Drop in
Minority Enrollment and
Undo Proposal 2
11:00 AM • Gather at South University
and South Forest and March Rally at
12noon at the Diag • Sponsored by
BAMN
Contact: Liana Mulholland
{ 734-904-4424, [email protected],
[email protected] }
“Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice
everywhere”: A dialogue
with Spero M. Manson
11:45 AM • Dow Auditorium in the
Towsley Center, UM Hospital, Second
Floor • Sponsored by the Schools
of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Public Health, Social Work, College
of Pharmacy and the University of
Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers
Events: January 21
Spero M. Manson, Ph.D. (Pembina
Chippewa) is a member of the U.S.
Institutes of Medicine and Professor
of Psychiatry. He also heads the
American Indian and Alaska
Native Programs at the University
of Colorado at Denver and Health
Sciences Center. Spanning eight
national centers, totaling $63
million in sponsored research,
program development, training, and collaboration with 102
American Indian and Alaska
Native communities, Dr. Manson is
widely recognized as the foremost
authority in the nation on American
Indian and Alaska Native health,
with special emphasis on alcohol,
substance abuse, and mental health.
Dr. Manson will discuss both the
intersections of social justice, and
the strategies for addressing and
resolving health disparities in the
United States.
continued
12:10 PM • 182 Dennison Auditoriums
Church Street UM Main Campus, Ann
Arbor MI • Sponsored by BIO 102
Practical Botany, Dept of Ecology and
Evolution
This event is an MLK day teach-in
lecture at the time and place when
BIO 102 Practical Botany would
otherwise take place. The topic is
related to the subject matter of the
course but also oriented toward
African American culture of the
late 19th century in Southeastern
USA. The lecture discusses the
home gardens of plantation slaves,
how these gardens complemented
other food provided, and the nutritional value of the resulting diet.
Contact: Professor George F. Estabrook
{ [email protected], 734-764-6219 }
Contact: Valener Perry, Assistant Dean
for Student Services, College of Pharmacy
{ 764-5550, [email protected] }
An Afternoon with
Martin and Langston,
Featuring Dramatic
Presentations by Danny
Glover and Felix Justice
The Roots of Soul
Food: African American
Nutritional Traditions
of the late 19th Century
in Southeastern USA
This program will draw the
26
1:00 PM • Power Center for the
Performing Arts 121 Fletcher Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 • Sponsored
by the Business and Finance Diversity
Committee
audience inside the worlds of two
of the greatest orators of the 20th
century. Felix Justice transforms
into Martin Luther King Jr. through
recitation of Dr. King’s most
memorable speeches, recreating
the power of the man and his
message. Justice then introduces
“an old friend of mine,” and Danny
Glover portrays one of the greatest American writers in modern
history, Langston Hughes. After the
performance, Glover and Justice will
answer questions from the audience.
Refreshments served following the
question-and-answer session.
Contact: Madolyn Lottman {
[email protected] }
Environmental Justice
and Environmental
Health
1:00 PM • The University of Michigan
School of Public Health, Community
Crossroads Building • Sponsored by The
EHS Student Organization and the EHS
Department
We are sponsoring a mini-symposium on Environmental Justice to
commemorate one of the many
important legacies of Dr. King.
Full details are pending and will
be available on our Department’s
website in the weeks preceding the
event (http://www.sph.umich.edu/
ehs/index.html).
Contact: Howard Hu, M.D.
{ [email protected] }
Civil Rights Behind
Bars? The Voices of the
Incarcerated on Dr.
King’s Dream
1:00 PM • Anderson Room: Michigan
Union • Sponsored by the Prison
Creative Arts Project
In this year’s MLK Symposium,
incarcerated citizens will respond
to the messages of Martin Luther
King Jr. and discuss current civil
rights issues. We will receive the
prisoners’ responses through mail
correspondence and will print the
responses in an anthology. Some
of these responses will be read
at the event by our speakers. We
hope to expose students to a new
perspective on incarcerated citizens
and on civil rights issues that
affect this population. The United
States currently has the highest
incarceration rate in the world,
with rates disproportionately high
for the African American population. Our goal is to give a voice to a
community that is often not heard,
especially in regards to civil rights
issues. By exposure to the thoughts
27
of incarcerated citizens, we hope
that the University of Michigan and
Ann Arbor community can better
understand current civil rights
issues and reflect on the ideals of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Contact: Ollie Ganz
{ [email protected] }
Socio-Economic Barriers
to Health
1:00 PM • 3735 CCRB (Bickner
Auditorium) 401 Washtenaw Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 • Sponsored by
Kinesiology Student Government
This will be a panel discussion
regarding health care disparities.
Contact: Tim Martin { martints@
umich.edu }
Rackham Graduate
School’s “Journeys
Toward Understanding”
1:30 PM • Amphitheatre, 4th flr,
Rackham Graduate School, 915 E.
Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI
48109
Rackham Graduate School presents,
“Journeys Toward Understanding.”
Three films will be shown that
illustrate how racism can be eradicated when there is concern and
Calendar
of
commitment toward equality for
everyone — no matter where or how
the racism occurs.
Cry, The Beloved Country
Start time: 1:30 p.m.
Directed by: Darrell Roodt
Starring: James Earl Jones and Richard
Harris
Release date: 1995
Running time: 106 minutes
Genre: Drama
Referred to as part of the South
African collective zeitgeist, Cry the
Beloved Country is a poignant tale
of two prominent members, one
White, one Black, of the same small
town. However, because of racial
segregation, the two men do not
know each other until a similar tragedy hits them both. It is this twist of
fate that brings them together and
allows them to begin healing both
emotionally and metaphorically
as a nation. It is clichéd to say that
the world would be a better place
if we were collectively more understanding and tolerant of those who
were different from us, but Cry the
Beloved Country brings this sentiment
forward in a way that is realistic and
powerful.
(Break: 15 minutes)
Events: January 21
Journey to Little Rock
Start time: 3:30 p.m.
Directed by: Rob Thomson
Released: 2001
Running time: 52 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Critically acclaimed Journey to Little
Rock is the story of Minnijean Brown
Trickey, a member of the Little Rock
Nine. Motivated by the decision
of Brown vs. The Board of Education
in 1954, nine African American
students enter an all-white school in
1957 against the will of many whites,
including the Arkansas Governor and
the National Guard. In their fight
for an education that was rightly
theirs, Minnijean and the eight other
students have become iconic figures
in the fight for civil rights. This film
is a winner of the Audience Choice
Award: Feature Film Category at
the Sprockets Toronto International
Film Festival for Children (April
2004) and the Best of Fest Award
at the 2003 Chicago International
Children’s Film Festival (CICFF),
chosen over 200 films from 40
countries. It was the first time in the
20-year history of the CICFF, the
only Academy Awards® qualifying
children’s festival, that a documentary was voted as the best film.
28
continued
(Break: 8 minutes)
4 Little Girls
Start Time: 4:30 p.m.
Directed by: Spike Lee
Released: 1997
Running time: 102 minutes
Genre: Documentary
This Spike Lee film retells the
story of four African American
girls who lost their lives in the
racially motivated bombing of the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.
A terrorist attack orchestrated by
Robert “Dynamite Bob” Chambliss,
the bombing was one in a series of
racial attacks against Black people
across the country, but one that had
a tremendous impact on America.
Told through the eyes of people
who were there—survivors, witnesses, defenders and prosecutors—
the film conveys not only the pain
immediately caused by the atrocity
but also its lingering effects.
Contact: Lynne Shivers { lshivers@
umich.edu }
“Divided We Fall:
Americans in the
Aftermath” Documentary
Screening and Discussion
with Filmmaker Valarie
Kaur
2:00 PM • Michigan Union Ballroom
• Sponsored by University Library,
Bentley Historical Library, Information
Technology Central Services, Law
Library, School of Information, and
University Housing
A powerful new feature-length
documentary film on hate violence
in the aftermath of 9/11. Driven to
action by the murder of a turbaned
man in her community, a college
student drives across America in the
aftermath of 9/11 to discover stories
that did not make the evening news.
From the still-shocked streets of
Ground Zero to the desert towns of
the American West, Valarie Kaur’s
inspiring journey uncovers remarkable stories of hate, violence, fear,
and unspeakable loss – until she
finds the heart of America halfway
around the world, in the words of
a widow. Five years in the making,
Divided We Fall deftly explores race,
religion, and identity in times of
national crisis.
Filmmaker Valarie Kaur present for
Q&A following the screening.
About the Filmmakers:
Valarie Kaur began this film in fall
2001. It became part of her senior
honors project at Stanford, where
she graduated in 2003 with a double
major in religious studies and
international relations. She recently
completed a master’s degree at
Harvard Divinity School and will
enter Yale Law School in 2008.
Valarie Kaur has been interviewed
by numerous media outlets, including NPR and the BBC, and her story
was featured in a book by Frances
Moore Lappe, You Have the Power:
Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear
(2004).
Sharat Raju graduated from
the University of Michigan and
received an MFA in directing at the
American Film Institute. American
Made, his thesis film, earned both of
the AFI’s top two honors in directing. The film has won seventeen
international awards. Among the
accolades are: Tribeca Film Festival
Student Visionary Award; Angelus
Award Grand Prize; San Diego Film
Festival Best Short Film; and British
Academy of Film and Television
Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles)
Excellence in Short Filmmaking
Award. It has been screened on
PBS television stations across the
country. He is currently a directing fellow with the ABC-Disney
Television Group.
29
Contact: Helen Look { http://www.lib.
umich.edu/mlk }
Circle of Unity
3:00 PM • Diag • Sponsored by
Michigan Community Scholars
Program, Lloyd Hall Scholars Program,
Health Science Scholars Program,
Comprehensive Studies Program,
Ginsberg Center, Couzens Hall
The 2nd annual “Circle of Unity,”
sponsored by the MCSP Program &
Adelia Cheever Program, will take
place on the Michigan Diag on Jan.
21, 3–4 pm. Help fill the entire Diag
in songs of freedom and spoken
word performances with your fellow
students, staff, faculty, and community members. Free wristbands for
first 250 participants.
Contact: Amanda Hooper or Jelani Bayi
{ 734-647-4860, [email protected]
or [email protected] }
Law School Presents
James Forman, Jr
2:30 PM • 250 Hutchins Hall •
Sponsored by Law School Office of
Student Affairs and Various Law School
Student Groups
James Forman, Jr., co-founded the
See Forever private school and
the Maya Angelou Public Charter
Calendar
of
School, both in Washington,
DC. He is currently teaching at
Georgetown University Law School.
The title for his talk is “Race, Crime
and Schools: A Civil Rights Agenda
for This Generation”.
Contact: Trudy Feldkamp
{ 734-936-0776, [email protected] }
A Time to Break the
Silence
Events: January 21
(Princeton University), author of
Black on the Block: The Politics of Race
and Class in the City, and Sandra
Smith (University of California,
Berkeley), author of Lone Pursuit:
Distrust and Defensive Individualism
Among the Black Poor. Both scholars
will discuss their books with comments by University of Michigan
Prof. David Harding. Reception and
book signing to follow.
2:30 PM • Michigan League Vandenburg Room • Sponsored by
School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Contact: Sarah Marsh { skmarsh@
umich.edu, npc.umich.edu }
Panel discussion on the arts and
social justice.
Black Indians: An
American Story
Panelists to include Aaron Dworkin
of the Sphinx Organization.
4:00 PM • School of Social Work,
MacGregor Commons • Sponsored by
School of Social Work
Contact: Daniel Washington
{ 734-615-3734, [email protected] }
Jobs and Housing: Trust,
Distrust, and Social Class
in the Black Community
3:00 PM • Gerald R. Ford School of
Public Policy Annenberg Auditorium,
1120 Weill Hall 735 S. State Street •
Sponsored by National Poverty Center
and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public
Policy
Symposium featuring Mary Patillo
Black Indians: An American Story is a
distinguished documentary presenting the rarely told story of the
racial fusion of Native Americans
and African Americans. It is a story
that literally begins with the birth
of America, in the presence of the
mixed-race Boston Massacre martyr
Crispus Attucks, and follows the
deadlier aspects of the 19th century
through the Seminole War (where
runaway slaves joined Seminole warriors in Florida in armed conflict
30
continued
against the invading U.S. Army),
and the expulsion of the Cherokee
nation on the infamous Trail of
Tears (where Black Indians within
the Cherokee orbit faced the no-win
choice of either leaving with their
brethren into forced exile or staying
behind to live in slavery). Rich with
interviews with people of Native
and African American heritage,
the documentary addresses issues
of silence, invisibility, and justice.
Professor Momper will introduce
the documentary and facilitate a
30-minute panel discussion and
community dialogue after the
presentation. Light refreshments
will be available.
Contact: Sandra Momper { smomper@
umich.edu, 998-6323 }
School of Music, Theatre
& Dance Concert
4:00 PM • Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
• Sponsored by School of Music, Theatre
& Dance
Faculty and student performers.
Contact: Daniel Washington
{ 734-615-3734, [email protected] }
Marjorie Lee Browne
Colloquium: Juan Meza
presents “I Want to
Be a (Computational)
Mathematician”
4:00 PM • 1360 East Hall, 530 Church
Street • Sponsored by Department of
Mathematics
Dr. Juan Meza, Head of the High
Performance Computing Research
Department at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, writes:
“Twenty years ago Halmos wrote
a wonderful book titled I Want to
Be a Mathematician, describing his
life as a mathematician, while also
giving us a history of mathematics
from the 1930s to the 1980s. I read
his book while in graduate school
and delighted in the stories and his
perspectives on life as a mathematician. In this talk, I’d like to give my
own perspective, beginning when I
became interested in mathematics
as an undergraduate, to today,
focusing on some recent work on
new algorithms, massively parallel
computers, and the application of
both to some of today’s most challenging problems. This combination
of mathematics with computers
has given rise to the field of computational mathematics, which has
helped to advance computational
science to the point that many
people today now view it as the
third pillar of science alongside
experiments and theory. I will give
examples of the power of computational mathematics drawn from my
personal experiences and explain
how mathematics amplifies scientific
research. I will conclude with some
thoughts on the future of computational and applied mathematics and
what I see as the challenging new
opportunities for helping science
and society as a whole.”
presented by both the Lincoln
Center American Songbook Series
and the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, an indication of the cultural
significance of his work. For this
concert, which will be presented
only in Ann Arbor, he assembles his
Big Band to pay tribute to Detroit’s
most influential and respected hiphop producer, J Dilla, who died two
years ago at age 32 from complications from lupus.
Contact: Suzanne Rogers { suzannej@
umich.edu }
Contact: The University Musical Society
{ http://www.ums.umich.edu/s_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=451 }
MOS DEF Big Band: A
Tribute to Detroit’s
J Dilla
7:30 PM • Hill Auditorium • Sponsored
by University Musical Society
Tuesday
January
22
Please note: Tickets must be
purchased for this event.
Multicultural Career
Fair
Mos Def is a hip-hop, rap, and
spoken word artist and actor who
represents the community through
poetry and music. His infectious
rhymes — infused with an acute
social consciousness — reclaimed
hip-hop’s revolutionary soul,
critiquing the violence and deceit
found in “gangsta” rap and examining head-on the issues of the Black
experience in the U.S. He has been
2:00 PM • Michigan Union •
Sponsored by The Career Center,
Division of Student Affairs
31
The Multicultural Career Fair is
an opportunity for students and
alumni to interact with employers
actively seeking to diversify their
workforce.
Contact: Steve Williams
{ 734-764-7460, [email protected] }
Calendar
of
Events: January 22
continued
6:00 PM • Rackham Auditorium •
Sponsored by Undergraduate Research
Opportunity Program
identical mechanisms demonstrate
Tyrone Hayes, Professor of
Integrative Biology, University of
California, Berkeley, will speak
about his experiences conducting
research on the herbicide atrazine,
a potent endocrine disrupter that
chemically castrates and feminizes
exposed male amphibians. His
findings threatened the corporate
sponsor of his research and led to
attacks on his academic credentials
and personal integrity.
impact on public health. Many
are at risk: more likely to live in
Contact: Joseph Person { personj@umich.
edu, 734.936.1875, www.igr.umich.edu}
Professor Hayes is a professor of
integrative biology at the University
of California, Berkeley. Pesticides
such as atrazine are ubiquitous,
persistent contaminants and, though
more pronounced in amphibians,
the effects described above occur
in all vertebrate classes (fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals) examined, via common mechanisms.
These observations demonstrate the
critical impact that pesticides have
on environmental health.
From Silent Spring to
Silent Night: What have
we learned?
Furthermore, reproductive cancers and birth defects associated
with exposure to many of these
same chemicals (e.g. atrazine) via
Wednesday
January
23
The Social Identity
Binary: Who Gets Left
Behind? A Brown Bag
12:00 PM • MSA Chambers •
Sponsored by the Program on Intergroup
Relations
In talking about issues of social
justice, social identity is often
discussed as a binary: men/women;
people of color/white people; LGB/
heterosexual, among others. To
what extent is a binary construct
necessary to bring about social
change? To what extent is it harmful? In a binary construction of
identity, who gets left behind and
why? This brown bag session will
explore these questions and engage
Dr. King’s assertion that “injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.”
32
that the impact on environmental
health is an indicator of a negative
of these mechanisms are being
revealed only now in the scientific
literature, and agencies (such as
the US Environmental Protection
Agency) are ill-equipped to deal
with this emergent science and
translate it efficiently into healthprotective policies.
In particular, ethnic minority and
lower socio-economic communities
contaminated communities, work
in occupations that increase hazard
exposure, and less likely to have
educational and healthcare access.
Given the importance of this
science and its relevance to public
health, there is a strong need to
translate this information and provide public access to this knowledge.
Command of the science and active
involvement by the public in policy
decisions are vital.
Contact: Sandra Gregerman { 615-9000
[email protected] }
to the public. This event is for
Thursday
January
24
The Diagnosis and
Management of
Autoimmune Blistering
Disease in the 21st
Century
UCCF staff and students only.
This retreat will focus on helping
participants identify the multiple
identities they have, and how these
affect their work with others.
Contact: Jerry Miller { jmmiller@umich.
edu }
8:30 AM • 1911 Taubman Center •
Sponsored by Department of Dermatology
Foreclosing on the
American Dream
Jennifer Haley, M.D.
Assitant Clinical Professor
Department of Dermatology
David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA
6:00 PM • Art + Architecture Building,
Dr. Haley is the MLK Visiting
Professor to the U-M Department of
Dermatology. Her lecture will take
place in the dermatology conference room. Space is limited.
Contact: Lisa Clark { lisclark@umich.
edu }
Room 2104 • Sponsored by UP-MLK
Committee, Department of Urban
Planning and Regional Planning,
Taubman College of Architecture and
Urban Planning, and the School of
Social Work
Why have people of color been
more affected by the recent home
foreclosures? Should homeownership be the ideal for all families?
The Urban Planning MLK committee will bring together a panel of
The Multiple Identities
We Bring to our Clinical
Work
local community leaders, civil rights
activists, and university professors to
examine why this problem occurred
8:30 AM • East Hall • Sponsored by
University Center for the Child and the
Family
and better understand the impact
Please note: This event is not open
edu }
on our communities.
Contact: Rachel Wells { rbwells@umich.
33
Friday
January
25
Closing Lecture: Dr.
Theresa Perry: co-author
“To Be Young Gifted
and Black: Promoting
High Achievement
Among African American
Students”
1:00 PM • Michigan Union, Pendleton
Room • Sponsored by the OAMI, LSA,
and School of Education
Theresa Perry is a professor in the
Departments of Africana Studies
and Education at Simmons College
and director of the Simmons
College/Beacon Press Race,
Education and Democracy Lecture
and Book Series. Her current
writings and work have focused
on the development of a theory
of practice for African American
achievement and a meta-analysis
of educational environments that
normalize high achievement for
Black students. Dr. Perry is coauthor, with the late Asa Hilliard
III and Claude Steele, of Young
Gifted and Black: Promoting High
Achievement Among African American
Students, co-editor with Lisa Delpit
of The Real Ebonics Debate: Power
Calendar
of
Language and the Education of African
American Students, editor of Teaching
Malcolm X, and co-editor of Freedom’s
Plow: Teaching in the Multicultural
Classroom. She is completing a book
titled, Educating African American
Students: What Teachers, Teacher
Educators and Community Activists
Should Know.
SATURday
January
26
Parent Engagement
Workshop
9am-12pm • Ypsilanti High School
Auditorium • Sponsored by the Office
of Academic Multicultural Initiatives,
School of Education, College of
Literature, Science & Arts, Washtenaw
Intermediate School District
The purpose of the workshop is to
instruct parents on how to effectively
engage their child’s teachers and
administrators and how to prepare
parents to effectively advocate for
the proper math placement for
their child.
Guest Speakers to include Theresa
Perry, Author of “To Be Young,
Gifted and Black: Promoting High
Achievement Among African
American Students, administrators,
teachers, staff, students and parents
from the Ann Arbor, Lincoln,
Ypsilanti, and Willow Run School
Districts.
Events: January 25
Tuesday
January
29
North Campus MLK Spirit
Awards Ceremony
4:30 PM • Slusser Gallery, School of Art
and Design • Sponsored by Taubman
College of Architecture & Urban
Planning; School of Art and Design;
College of Engineering; School of Music,
Theatre & Dance
Please join the North Campus
community as we celebrate the
recipients of the 13th Annual North
Campus MLK Spirit Awards.
Contact: Jennifer Wegner { 647-7155 }
Thursday
JanuarY
31
Standing on Stolen Land:
Poetry from the Margins
9:00 PM • U-Club Michigan Union
• Sponsored by U-Club Poetry Slam,
Women’s Forum
The U-Club Poetry Slam with
Women’s Forum will be hosting
a poetry slam with open mic and
a featured poet. Poetry emerging
from the intersections of race,
gender, sexuality, class, etc. will
be presented in order to educate
34
continued
others as well as celebrate our own
multiple identities. Bring your own
poems or just listen.
Contact: Amy Bowers { bowersam@
umich.edu }
Friday
February
1
Hip Hop Congress
Midwest Summit –
“Politics, Globalization
and the Hip Hop
Generation”
12:00 PM • See description below for
locations. • Sponsored by Office of
Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs & Trotter
Multicultural Center
Please note: This event is not open
to the public. This event is free for
U-M students with ID.
This event is one of several MESA
Black History Month Events.
The Summit will encourage participants to educate themselves on
world and domestic issues, organize
action, and recognize how hip hop
culture can be used to create positive change. It will bring together
a diverse group of people who
comprise this youth-driven, youthbased, and youth-inspiring community. The goal of this year’s summit
is to connect those interested in
hip hop with education, social
consciousness, and community
action. Furthermore, it will raise
comprehensive discussion related
to the politics and the globalizing
dimension that define our world
today.
Noon – 8 PM
Union Lobby/Art Lounge
Registration/Black History 101
Museum Kickoff
8 – 10 PM
U-Club, Michigan Union
Film Screening and Discussion w/
DJ Charlie Chase of the legendary
Cold Crush Brothers and more.
10 – Midnight
U-Club, Michigan Union
Welcome Party w/ performances by
Chicago’s “Five Elements Warriors”
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
Black History 101 Mobile
Museum
Noon–9:00 PM • Art Lounge, 1st Floor,
Michigan Union • Sponsored by Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs &
Trotter Multicultural Center
This event is one of several MESA
Black History Month Events.
The Black History 101 Mobile
Museum provides students with the
opportunity to see rare artifacts and
read stories of the achievements,
contributions, and struggles of
African Americans. Engaging
exhibits will reinforce classroom
lessons and expand students’ prior
knowledge base. People will be immediately drawn to the artwork on
the exterior of the museum, which
was conceived by the award winning
and internationally known artist
Tyree Guyton of the Heidelberg
Project. On the inside of the mobile
museum, there is an eye catching
exhibition space designed by the
Design Center of the University of
Detroit Mercy and masterfully constructed by the skills trade students
of Young Detroit Builders. U-M
students are encouraged to stop by
to admire these rare artifacts and
be a witness to such valuable aspects
of African American culture.
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
Saturday
February
2
Please note: This event is not open
to the public. This event is free for
U-M students with ID.
This event is one of several MESA
Black History Month Events.
The Summit will encourage
participants to educate themselves
on world and domestic issues,
organize action, and recognize
how hip hop culture can be used to
create positive change. It will bring
together a diverse group of people
who comprise this youth-driven,
youth-based, and youth-inspiring
community. The goal of this year’s
summit is to connect those interested in hip hop with education,
social consciousness and community
action. Furthermore, it will raise
comprehensive discussion related
to the politics and the globalizing
dimension that define our world
today.
11 AM–12:15 PM:
Union
Concurrent Sessions
See the calendar on www.mesa.
umich.edu for details on where
each session will take place or call
734-763-9044 and ask for Amer
Ahmed.
Hip Hop Congress Midwest
Summit: “Politics,
Globalization and the
12:15–12:40 PM:
Hip Hop Generation”
Lunch Break
11:00 AM • See description below for
locations. • Sponsored by Office of
Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs & Trotter
Multicultural Center
35
12:45–2:00 PM:
Union
Concurrent Sessions
Calendar
of
See the calendar on www.mesa.
umich.edu for details on where
each session will take place or call
734-763-9044 and ask for Amer
Ahmed
2:10–3:50 PM:
Union
Hip Hop Activism Panel w/
Professor Griff of Public Enemy and
many more.
4–6 PM:
Union
Hip Hop Element Workshops (DJ,
MC, Graffiti, Breakdancing)
6–8 PM:
Break and Dinner on your own
8 PM–Midnight
Pendleton Rm
Hip Hop Concert featuring
Baatin of Slum Village, OnBeLo,
Invincible, Versiz, Supa Emcee, 5
ELA and more.
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
27th Annual King’s Feast
6:00 PM • The Michigan League 911
North University Ann Arbor, MI 48109
• Sponsored by Student National Dental
Association
Please note: Tickets must be
purchased for this event.
Events: February 2
The King’s Feast is an annual dinner hosted by the Student National
Dental Association in honor of
Martin Luther King’s legacy. This
year’s event is themed “Celebrating
Martin Luther King’s Royal Dream”.
Tickets are $25 and include dinner.
Please RSVP by January 14, 2008
and indicate number of guests
and whether vegetarian dinner is
preferred.
continued
Monday
February
4
Black History 101 Mobile
Museum
Noon–9:00 PM • Art Lounge, 1st Floor,
Michigan Union • Sponsored by Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs &
Trotter Multicultural Center
Semi-formal attire is requested
Please see Friday, February 1 for a
complete description.
Contact: Ebone’ Jordan { kingsfeast08@
hotmail.com }
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
Sunday
FebruarY
3
Tuesday
February
5
Black History 101 Mobile
Museum
Black History 101 Mobile
Museum
Noon–9:00 PM • Art Lounge, 1st Floor,
Michigan Union • Sponsored by Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs &
Trotter Multicultural Center
Noon–4:00 PM • Art Lounge, 1st Floor,
Michigan Union • Sponsored by Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs &
Trotter Multicultural Center
Please see Friday, February 1 for a
complete description.
Please see Friday, February 1 for a
complete description.
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
36
Dr. Warren Washington,
Senior Scientist, Climate
Change, National
Center for Atmospheric
Research
2006. In 1997, he was inducted into
the National Academy of Sciences’
Portrait Collection of African
Americans in Science, Engineering,
and Medicine.
4:00 PM • Stamps Auditorium,
Walgreen Drama Center, 1226 Murfin,
Ann Arbor • Sponsored by College of
Engineering and the School of Natural
Resources and Environment
Contact: Mary Nehls-Frumkin
{ [email protected] }
Black History 101 Mobile
Museum
Dr. Washington is an internationally
recognized expert in atmospheric
science and climate research specializing in computer modeling of
the Earth’s climate. In recent years
he has served his science in a broad
range of capacities. He was appointed to the National Science Board
in 1994 and reappointed in 2000;
in 1998, he was appointed to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Science Advisory
Board; in 2000, he was appointed a
member of the Advanced Scientific
Computing Advisory Committee
by the U.S. Secretary of Energy;
in 2002, he was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering
and elected chair of the National
Science Board; in 2003, he
was elected to the American
Philosophical Society; and he was
elected honorary member of the
American Meteorological Society in
MLK Scholarship Awards
Program & Reception
6:00 PM • Alumni Center, 200
Fletcher Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
• Sponsored by U-M African American
Alumni Council (UMAAAC)
Noon–4:00 PM • Art Lounge, 1st Floor,
Michigan Union • Sponsored by Office
of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs &
Trotter Multicultural Center
Since 1976, the UMAAAC has
supported students through
numerous efforts including its
MLK Scholarship Fund. Each year,
students who show a strong commitment to and understanding of the
importance of diversity and exhibit
academic excellence are awarded
the MLK scholarship. Join alumni,
students, faculty, administrators,
parents, business leaders, and Ann
Arbor community members for a
program and reception honoring
awardees receiving the honor of
MLK Scholar.
Contact: Michael Henry, Jessica
Condelee, Sheldon Johnson
{ 734-647-9605, www.umaaac.org,
[email protected] }
37
Wednesday
February
6
Please see Friday, February 1 for a
complete description.
Contact: Amer Ahmed { 734-763-9044,
www.mesa.umich.edu }
National Black
AIDS Awareness Day
Performance to Benefit
the HIV/AIDS Resource
Center
7:00 PM • Peace Neighborhood Center
1111 N. Maple Road Ann Arbor, MI
48103
Ann Arbor native Charlotte Young
Bowens directs Cheryl West’s
AIDS awareness play, Before It Hits
Home ,at a local community center.
Tickets are $25 per person, and all
proceeds go to benefit local HIV
and AIDS services through the HIV/
AIDS Resource Center, the only
AIDS service organization serving
Calendar
of
Washtenaw, Lenewee, Livingston
and Jackson counties. Many community leaders support the performance, including Aaron Dworkin of
the Sphinx Competition, Dr. Oveta
Fuller of the U-M Medical School,
Dr. Rockelle Rogers, Wendy Ann
Woods, and Alma Wheeler-Smith.
Call Carrie at HARC for tickets. We
look forward to seeing you there!
Contact: Carrie Rheingans { crheinga@
r2harc.org, 734-572-9355, www.r2harc.
org }
“Why White Kids Love
Hip-Hop,” presented by
author Bakari Kitwana
8:00 PM • Michigan Union Ballroom
• Sponsored by Office of Multi-Ethnic
Student Affairs & Trotter Multicultural
Center
This event is part of the MESA
Distinguished Lecture Series.
Co-founder of the first ever National
Hip-Hop Political Convention
and the author of the book Why
White Kids Love Hip Hop, Kitwana
addresses relevant questions, such
as: Are Americans achieving Martin
Luther King’s dream through hiphop? Does hip-hop belong to Black
kids? What in hip-hop appeals to
Events: February 6
White youth? What does class have
to do with it? Reception will follow
the lecture.
For more information on Bakari
Kitwana, please visit: http://www.
bakarikitwana.com/main.html
Additional events:
Lunch 12–1:30 PM Bates Rm,
U- Club. Lunch is by RSVP ONLY!
To RSVP, email: [email protected].
Contact: Kathleen Kirkland {
734-763-9044, www.mesa.umich.edu }
Thursday
February
7
Struggling Toward
Justice in Education:
Thoughts from James
Anderson
4:00 PM • Rackham Amphitheatre,
4th floor, Rackham Graduate School,
915 E. Washington Street • Sponsored
by National Center for Institutional
Diversity
As a professor of history and
educational policy studies at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-
38
continued
Champaign, James Anderson has
written extensively on the history
of African American education,
the history of higher education
desegregation in southern states,
the history of public school desegregation, institutional racism, and the
representation of Blacks in secondary school history textbooks. Most
recently, his work has concentrated
on the history of African American
public higher education and the
development of African American
school achievement in the twentieth
century. Come and learn from
this dynamic speaker and scholar!
Reception immediately following.
Contact: Nancy Abinojar { ncidinfo@
umich.edu / 764-6497 / www.ncid.
umich.edu }
If you want to say I was a drum major,
Say that,
I was a drum major for Justice
I was a drum major for Peace
I was a drum major for Righteousness
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
From The Drum Major Instinct
39
History of the Annual
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
intensive organizing of a nationwide citizens
lobby for a national Martin Luther King,
Jr. Holiday. The King Center launches new
nationwide King Holiday petition campaign,
which is signed by more than 300,000 before
the end of year. President Carter calls on Congress to pass a national King Holiday. Energized by a grass roots “prairie fire,” the King
Holiday bill finally begins to move through
congressional committees.
November 1979: King Holiday bill is defeated in floor vote in U.S. House of Representatives.
1980: Stevie Wonder releases “Happy Birthday,” a song celebrating Dr. King and urging
a holiday in his honor. It becomes a hit and a
rallying cry for the holiday.
November 1980: The King Holiday bill is
defeated again, but only by 5 votes.
1981: The King Center mobilizes coalition to
lobby for the holiday. Stevie Wonder funds
holiday lobbying office and staff based in
Washington, D.C.
February 23, 1982: Mrs. King testifies in
support of the Holiday before the Subcommittee on Census and Population of the House
Committee on Post Office and Civil Service.
1982: Mrs. King and Stevie Wonder present
King Center petitions bearing more than 6
million signatures in support of an MLK Holiday to Congressman Thomas “Tip” O’Neill,
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
National Holiday
April 8, 1968: Four days after Dr. King is assassinated, Detroit’s Congressman John Conyers introduces first legislation providing for a
Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday.
April 1971: Petitions gathered by SCLC
bearing 6 million signatures in support of a
King Holiday are presented to the U.S. Congress. But Congress takes no action to move
the holiday legislation forward.
1973: First state King Holiday bill (sponsored
by then—Assemblyman Harold Washington)
signed into law in Illinois.
1974: Massachusetts and Connecticut enact
statewide King Holidays.
1975: New Jersey State Supreme Court rules
that state must provide a paid holiday in the
honor of Dr. King in accordance with the
state government’s labor contract with the
New Jersey State Employees Association.
November 4, 1978: National Council of
Churches calls on Congress to pass King
Holiday.
1979: Mrs. King testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee and before joint hearings
of Congress in behalf of the King Holiday.
She directs the King Center staff to begin
40
August 1983: The House of Representatives
passes the King Holiday Bill sponsored by
Reps. Katie Hall and John Conyers by a vote
of 338 to 90.
August 27, 1983: King Center convenes the
“20th Anniversary March on Washington,” in
which more than 750,000 demonstrators at
the Lincoln Memorial call on the U.S. Senate
and President Reagan to pass the King Holiday.
October 19, 1983: Holiday Bill sponsored
by Sen. Ted Kennedy passes U.S. Senate by a
vote of 78-22.
November 3, 1983: President Reagan signs
bill establishing the third Monday of every
January as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.
August 27, 1984: President Reagan signs legislation providing for the Martin Luther King,
Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.
January 20, 1986: First national King Holiday observed.
January 16, 1989: Number of states that
have legislated an MLK Holiday grows to 44.
1990: The United AutoWorkers negotiate
contracts with the Big Three auto companies
requiring a paid MLK holiday for all their
employees.
January 15, 1990: The Wall St. Journal reports
that only 18% of 317 corporate employers
surveyed by the Bureau of National Affairs
provided a paid King Holiday.
November 3, 1992: After a coalition of citi-
zens for an Arizona King Holiday launches
successful protest and boycott campaigns, the
citizens of Arizona pass referendum establishing Martin Luther King, Jr. state holiday.
January 1993: Arizona observes first statewide King Holiday, leaving only New Hampshire without a state holiday in honor of Dr.
King.
August 23, 1994: President Clinton signs the
Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday and
Service Act, expanding the mission of the
holiday as a day of community service, interracial cooperation, and youth anti-violence
initiatives.
1996: Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday
Commission concludes mission and transfers
responsibility for coordinating nationwide
holiday activities to the King Center.
1998: A Bureau of National Affairs survey of
458 employers found that 26 percent provided
a paid holiday for their workers on the King
Holiday. The survey found that 33 percent of
firms with union contracts provided a paid
King Holiday, compared with 22 percent of
nonunion shops.
June 7, 1999: Gov. Jean Shaheen of New
Hampshire signs King Holiday legislation into
law, completing enactment of holiday in all
states.
October 29, 1999: U.S. Senate unanimously
passes legislation requiring federal institutions to fly the U.S. flag on the Martin Luther
King Jr. Holiday.
41
The Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Symposium Memorial Lectures
1996 Jocelyn Elders, U.S. Surgeon General
1995 Benjamin Hooks, Executive Director of
the NAACP
1994 Charles Long, Director for Black Studies,
University of California, Santa Barbara
1993 Shirley Chisholm, U.S. Representative,
State of New York
1992 Maulana Karenga, Director of Black
Studies, California State University, Long Beach
1991 Adelaide Sanford, Regent, State University of New York
1990 Cesar Chavez, President, United Farm
Workers Union; and Kevin Locke, Traditional
Native American Dancer and Musician, Lakota
Nation
1989 Willie Brown Jr., Mayor, City of San
Francisco.
1988 Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia
1987 William Gray III, U.S. Representative
from Pennsylvania
Chronology
2007 Kweisi Mfume, former member of Congress
and Immediate Past President NAACP
2006 Anna Deavere Smith, actor, playwright
and teacher
2005 Henry Cisneros, Chairman of American
CityVista and former Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development
2004 Lani Guinier, Professor of Law, Harvard
Law School
2003 Grace Lee Boggs, Community Activist
and Writer; Founder, the Boggs Center and Detroit
Summer Youth Program
2002 Dr. Benjamin Carson, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Medical School
and U-M Alumnus
2001 Edward James Olmos, Actor and Humanitarian
2000 Henry Louis Gates Jr., Director of African American Studies, Harvard University
1999 Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Author and Essayist
1998 Cornel West, Professor of African American Studies and Religion, Harvard University
1997 Mary Frances Berry, Chairperson of
the US Commission on Civil Rights
Positions and titles reflect status at time of address.
42
Special Thanks +
Acknowledgements
Kevin Brown, the University Record
Kim Clarke, Office of the President
Ashley Gilbert, Student Staff
Britton Goetz, Goetzcraft Printers, Inc.
Laura Harrington, Office of the Provost
Mark Jacobson, University Musical Society
Anne-Marie Kim, Graphics & Publications
Pam Kitson, Campus Inn
John H. Matlock, Associate Vice-Provost & Director,
Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Lester P. Monts, Senior Vice Provost for Academic
Affairs, Senior Counselor to the President for the Arts,
Diversity, & Undergraduate Affairs, Professor of Music
(Musicology)
Patrick Murphy, Michigan Productions
Shannon Rice, University Productions
Gloria Taylor, Associate Director, Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives
Wesley Taylor, Graphics & Publications
Deanah White, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
John Woodford, Editor
Robin Wylie, Website Design & Publications
43
Mission Statement
The mission of the MLK Symposium Planning Committee is to work collaboratively through
the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI) to provide guidance in the University of Michigan’s Annual Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium. Every year,
faculty, students, staff, academic units, departments, and community members develop
programs and initiatives to continue and remember the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to events that focus on historical authenticity and the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s, programs highlight historical and contemporary issues of race,
class, social justice, diversity, and societal change.
The MLK Symposium Planning Committee supports the campus effort by working through
OAMI to provide leadership in the following areas:
• Developing a brand identity for the Symposium that will establish a graphics image,
overall theme, theme-statement, and suggestions for lectures and program topics.
• Implementing a centralized event registration process, general and targeted
marketing and advertising plan, and interactive and print media products for the
promotion of the overall Symposium effort.
• Programming and implementing a campus-wide system of events that will speak
to a diversity of constituencies and include, but not be limited to, a major opening
lecture, keynote speech on the MLK Holiday, major closing lecture, and entertainment event.
• Collaborating with faculty, students, staff, academic units, departments, and
student organizations in the development and promotion of MLK Symposium events
and activities.
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2007-2008
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Symposium
Phillip Rutherford, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Vanita Sanders, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Lynne Shivers, Rackham Graduate School
Pamela Smith, Facilities and Maintenance
Services
Tesenga Smith, School of Public Health
Je’Nai Talley, Office of Academic Multicultural
Initiatives
Gwendolyn Tandy, Conference Management
Services
Gloria Taylor, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Phyllis Taylor, Alumni Association
Brett Thames, Student Representative
Robbie Townsel-Ransom, University Housing- Residence Education
Daniel Washington, School of Music
Carol Williams, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Rochelle L. Woods, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Evans Young, College of Literature, Science, &
the Arts
Planning Committee
Edward Burnett, Trotter Multicultural Center
Patricia Coleman-Burns, School of Nursing
William Copeland, Ginsberg Center for
Community Service & Learning
Alma Davila-Toro, Athletic Department
Karen Downing, University Library
Larry Gant, School of Social Work
Theda Gibbs, Office of Academic Multicultural
Initiatives
Ashley Gilbert, Student Representative
Lumas Helaire, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Kurt Hill, College of Engineering
Lynnette Iannace, Ross School of Business
Bree Juarez, University Musical Society
Helen Look, University Library
John Matlock, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
Henry Meares, School of Education
Michelle O’Grady, School of Nursing
Joe Person, Program on Intergroup Relations,
Conflict & Community
Charles Ransom, University Library
Cynthia Redwine, College of Engineering
45
Regents of the
University of Michigan
Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor
Laurence B. Deitch, Bingham Farms
Olivia P. Maynard, Goodrich
Rebecca McGowan, Ann Arbor
Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor
Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe
Park
S. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe Farms
Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor
President Mary Sue Coleman
(ex officio)
ted to a policy of nondiscrimination
and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color,
religion, creed, national origin or
ancestry, age, marital status, sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender
expression, disability, or Vietnamera veteran status in employment,
educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or
complaints may be addressed to the
Senior Director for Institutional
Equity and Title IX/Section 504
Coordinator, Office of Institutional
Equity, 2072 Administrative Services
Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan
48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY
734-647-1388. For other University of Michigan information call
734-764-1817.
The University of Michigan
Statement on
Nondiscrimination
Policy Statement
Freedom of Speech and
Artistic Expression
The University of Michigan, as
an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer, complies with all
applicable federal and state laws
regarding nondiscrimination and
affirmative action, including Title
IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The
University of Michigan is commit-
Thank you for attending this program. The University of Michigan
strives to create a truly open forum,
one in which diverse opinions can
be expressed and heard.
It is the right of members of the
University community, speakers, artists, and other invited guests to express their views and opinions at the
46
University. We will protect the right
of individuals to speak or perform,
and the rights of those members of
the University community who wish
to hear and communicate with an
invited speaker or artist.
Protesters also have a right to express their opposition to a speaker
in appropriate ways, both within the
confines of this building and outside the facility. However, protesters
must not interfere unduly with communication between a speaker or
artist and members of the audience.
If the hosts of this event or University representatives believe that
protesters are interfering unduly
with a speaker or performer’s freedom of expression, those protesters
will be warned. If the warnings are
not heeded and the interference
continues, then the individuals
responsible may be removed from
the building.
We reaffirm these policies in order
to most fully protect the rights of
free expression for speakers, performers, and protesters alike, as set
forth by our Civil Liberties Board
in our Student Handbook, and in
accordance with the U-M Standard
Practice Guide; Regents’ Ordinance
Article XII, Section 1; and state
statutes.
Artist’s Statement
This graphic art depicts the
ongoing conflicts affecting
people, communities and nations
throughout the world and shows
that no continent on Earth is
without them. I intend this work
to underscore the significance
of the theme of the University of
Michigan’s 2008 Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Symposium:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere” — words Dr.
King wrote on April 16, 1963, in his
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
Wesley Taylor
47
Contact us
The MLK Symposium Planning Committee
c/o The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
The University of Michigan
3009 Student Activities Building
515 East Jefferson
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1316
phone: (734) 936-1055
fax: (734) 764-3595
C
Printed on Recycled Paper
48