By Alexa Cheaney
A two-day celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. begins on Monday, Jan. 15, with a keynote address from author and political commentator Melissa Harris-Perry.
In a combined effort with Grand Valley State University and Davenport University, Grand Rapids Community College will be hosting Harris-Perry at Fountain Street Church at 6 p.m. along with a live stream available here.
“It’s a time to reflect on his civil rights legacy: the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Ala., the March on Washington and his inspiring “I Have a Dream” speech. But it’s also a time to look at the work that remains for us to do,” stated GRCC President Charles Lepper in a recent email to the GRCC community.
A current professor at Wake Forest University, Harris-Perry is also the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, Women and Gender Studies, and the Program in Environment and Sustainability. She teaches classes on American politics at the intersection of race, place and gender.
In addition to her time in the classroom, Harris-Perry also writes columns for The Nation Magazine, and had her own MSNBC program titled ‘Melissa Harris-Perry’ that aired from 2012 to 2016.
Following Monday’s event, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, Harris-Perry will be speaking at GVSU at 10 a.m. in the Grand River Room of the Kirkhof Center, and Davenport University at 2 p.m. in the Lettinga Campus Auditorium. This event will also be live streamed and conclude with a silent march.
All events are free and open to the public.
GRCC offers the “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Inherit the Dream Scholarship” to high school seniors. To check your eligibility, click here.
