Day 2010 by attending a number of educational, musical and
inspirational events at the college on Monday, January 17, and
Tuesday, January 18.
Monday's events include a 9:30 a.m. "Walk for Change," activities for
youngsters, a free word poetry presentation, seminars on racial
relations and matters of justice, and an evening gospel concert.
Just one event will be held on Tuesday. Poet and social activist Nikki
Giovanni will speak at 11 a.m. in Duke Family Performance Hall.
There is no admission charge to attend any of the events. For more
information, call 704-894-2225. The complete schedule is below.
Monday January 17, 2011
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Walk for Change
9:30 a.m. beginning in Richardson Stadium
Sponsored by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
The walk will proceed about 1.5 miles around campus, and conclude on
the front steps of Chambers Building with the reading of Dr. Martin
Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
King Day for Kids
9:30 a.m to 11:30 a.m.
Alvarez College Union
C. Shaw Smith 900 Room
King Day for Kids focuses childen on literacy, social justice, and
community involvement. Youth (kindergarten through 5th grades) will
take part in a "read –in," storytelling, and bookmaking. At the end of
the session, children will receive literacy-based goody bags. Please
RSVP by calling 704-894-2872.
"Poetic Reflections of Social Justice"
11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Alvarez College Union
C. Shaw Smith 900 Room
Davidson student members of the Free Word Spoken Word Club will bring
to life the historic voices of social justice through poetic expression.
MLK Seminar Series
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Women of Color and Visions for a Just Future
Alvarez College Union Room 302
Presenter: LaKisha Michelle Simmons, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept.
of History
In 1970, Toni Cade Bambara published the anthology The Black Woman,
one of the foundational texts of the black feminist movement. Bambara
collected essays, poems and stories by Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni,
Audre Lorde, singer Abbey Lincoln and Chinese American activist Grace
Lee Boggs. This session will look back at The Black Woman to consider
what that text can teach us about envisioning a racially just future.
The King Legacy and Responses to Environmental (In)Justice
Alvarez College Union Room 313
Presenters: Matt Samson, Visiting Asst. Professor of Anthropology and
Annie Ingram, Thomson Prof, of Environmental Studies and Professor of
English
The presenters will examine Dr. King's language on social justice and
community and its relationship to environmental and sustainability
movements today. Participants will be invited to consider how the
social ethic underlying the Civil Rights movement is alive and well in
the contemporary efforts to foster environmental justice, particularly
in the post-Katrina world in which we live.
Film: "Citizen King the Documentary"
C. Shaw Smith 900 Room
This film explores the last few years of the life of Dr. King. It
traces his efforts to recast himself by embracing causes beyond the
civil rights movement, becoming a champion of the poor and an
outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam.
3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Isn't Stepping For Everybody? Racial Divisions as a Communicative
Barrier to Building Community.
C. Shaw Smith 900 Room
Presenter: Dr. Damion Waymer, Visiting Professor, Communications
Department.
Normative communication theories suggest that organizations, via
communication, have a social responsibility to help build community
and to help make society more fully functioning. However, divisive
social constructs (such as race) must be considered carefully so that
such a vision of society (very similar to King's Dream) can be
realized. This presentation explores contemporary racial challenges.
It demonstrates that organizations must understand the history and
challenges of race if they are to demonstrate their commitment to
diversity via actions—and not just through their Web sites or mission
statements.
Lessons with a Leader: A Conversation with King
Alvarez College Union Room 313
Presenter: Julia Jones, Director of the Chidsey Center for Leadership
Development
This session will use the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a
starting point to focus on leadership. King spoke of concepts like
molding consensus, creative altruism, unconditional love, and power.
What do his words mean for our leadership today?
MLK Community Celebration Gospel Extravaganza
7 p.m. in Duke Family Performance Hall
This gospel concert will include music by the Davidson College Gospel
Choir, K.J. Sciven of Fayetteville, Shameka Dwight of Columbia, S.C.,
The New Glory Bounds Singers of Milwaukee, Wisc., and Ronica & The
Mighty Blazing Stars of Mooresville.
Tuesday January 18
MLK Community Convocation
11 a.m.to 12 p.m. in Duke Family Performance Hall
Keynote speaker Nikki Giovanni (in photo above) is a world-renowned
poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator who has taught at
Virginia Tech University since 1987. She hasattracted attention over
the past 30 years through outspokenness in writing and in lectures.
One of the most widely-read American poets, she prides herself on
being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English."
The civil rights<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955-1968%29
> and black power<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_power> movements
inspired her early poetry that was collected in Black Feeling, Black
Talk (1967), Black Judgment (1968), and Re: Creation (1970). She has
since written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry,
illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays.
Her most recent work, Bicycles: Love Poems (2009), expresses notions
of love in unexpected ways, touching on the deaths of both her mother
and her sister, as well as the massacre on the Virginia Tech campus.
She has received about 25 honorary degrees, and was named "Woman of
the Year" by Mademoiselle magazine, The Ladies Home Journal, and Ebony
magazine. She was tapped for the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame and
received Governor's Awards from both Tennessee and Virginia. She was
the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks "Woman of Courage" award, and
has also been awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry. Her
autobiography, Gemini, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
